The “Superman” and “Jesus” comparisons have been around for years. Both emerged of divine origins. Both are required to make sacrifices for the good of others. Both serve as a beacon of hope to offer belief in something greater than ourselves. Both live, and would die, to save humanity. One’s symbol is an “S”. One’s symbol is a lowercase “T”.
It’s difficult to imagine anyone wanting to save humanity these days, what with how we’ve laid waste to our planet, essentially tossed out the Rule of Law, and allowed our petty grievances and complacency to allow for the rise of a country, and world, that seems foreign somehow. So, maybe that makes this a perfect time for Superman. Created in 1938 by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, we’ve seen many iterations of the “Man of Steel” over the years, from Christopher Reeve’s four picture stint, to Brandon Routh’s single underrated outing, to Henry Cavill’s most recent uber-serious attempts. A Superman film is only as good as its “Superman”.
What writer/director James Gunn has found in actor David Corenswet is someone who was born to play Superman. Like Reeve before him, Corenswet understood the assignment from top to bottom. It’s a comic book character…in a comic book movie. It doesn’t need to feel like an episode of The Shield. As handsome as he is charismatic, Corenswet is effortlessly charming, adept at two-handers with Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan) and Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult), and surprisingly nimble with his physical comedy and line deliveries. I would never say he is better in the role than Christopher Reeve, but he is ‘as good’ – and, in some regards, better.
The genius here is the confidence Gunn has in the audience. He understands the Superman franchise is burrowed into our collective consciousness. We know things about the story that we don’t even realize. Here, we are placed right into this world. A brief, but effectively cheeky, opening tells us that Superman exists, what he can do, and what he’s doing now. That’s all we need. Then – BOOM – we’re right alongside him. Superman and Lois? Already an item. And, also – she knows Clark Kent is Superman. So do others. It was such a relief to not have to spend the first half of a film learning the same information we’ve learned 100 times.
As with every Gunn picture, the supporting cast is stacked with reliable Gunn regulars and a new crop of talent who fit right into his weirdness. Rachel Brosnahan is a perfect Lois Lane, though maybe lacking a bit of the unpredictability that Margot Kidder brought to the role. Skyler Gisondo is the best Jimmy Olsen we’ve ever seen on screen. Nathan Fillion is having the time of his life as Guy Gardner, a Green Lantern. And, Nicholas Hoult. What an inspired choice for Lex Luthor. Played as a Elon Musk-esque billionaire, Luthor wants to kill Superman simply because he considers him…an alien. I won’t get into the prescience of all that, as we already have plenty of think pieces for that purpose, but this film really felt like it set the stage for a long and bloody battle between Superman and his ultimate arch-nemesis.
As for Krypto, who seems to be this year’s “Grogu” – he’s a divine creation, meticulously animated, and a constant source of levity and frustration. But Krypto is not the real star here. Neither is Corenswet…not really. It’s James Gunn. Here’s a filmmaker sprung from the School of Troma, with professor Lloyd Kaufman, who has created the most memorable superhero films for Marvel, and then decided to do the same for DC. With Superman, you can tell where Gunn’s true allegiances lie as a comic book fan. Having been offered this project for years, he never took it because he didn’t have the right story to tell. How fortunate for all of us that Gunn found his story, and we were given a Superman for a whole new generation. I don’t know of another filmmaker or storyteller working on James Gunn’s level right now. I could spend several more films with this team.
All I’ve heard all week is how this Superman film is ‘woke’, with has-beens like Dean Cain taking this opportunity to catch a headline. Some critics (even ones I respect) are even calling this film ‘mean spirited’ and ‘nasty’. I don’t know what movie they saw, but it wasn’t this one. Superman is all about goodness. The practice of it. The aspiration for it. When Superman exclaims to Lois that he made the decision he made because, “People were going to die!” – we believe it. Just as we believe it when Superman takes a moment in the middle of a battle to save a squirrel. That’s right – a squirrel. That tells you everything you need to know about this Superman, as opposed to Snyder’s version who murdered hundreds of thousands of people in the service of ‘justice’. There is nothing ‘woke’ about this Superman. But then again – Republicans have never really understood Jesus, so what made us think they would understand Kal-El?
Rating: ****/***** (now playing in theatres everywhere)
