“People are tired of superheroes.”
Well, let’s hope not. In this reboot of the classic character from the realm of DC Comics, we get moments of self-awareness like that. We also get a lot of sound and fury, highly refined production design, cinematography and art direction, too many visual and verbal asides and non sequiturs and, honestly, too little of Clark Kent and Lois Lane together. It’s a bird. It’s a plane. Yes, it’s another superhero movie.
When James Gunn became co-CEO of DC Studios (along with his longtime producing partner Peter Safran) three years ago, he wanted to invigorate its “Extended Universe” brand. It had made a dubious debut nine years earlier with the Zack Snyder/Henry Cavill Man of Steel. Its sequel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, wallowed in shallowness and incoherence, for all of its big-name cast. Enter Gunn, with his Guardians of the Galaxy credentials and a wealth of artistic freedom. He and co-writers Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster introduce all kinds of elements to refresh the proceedings, with uneven results, mainly due to overplotting.
We meet this incarnation of Superman/Kal-El three minutes after losing his first fight. It plunges us into the narrative, absent a typical origin story. This effective approach gives the audience credit for knowing the basics of the “Man of Steel,” a character introduced in a syndicated newspaper comic strip in 1939. It also gives us a running start on the spectacle which ensues.
We also meet Superman/Clark Kent and Lois Lane as a couple, working as diligent reporters for the Daily Planet in Metropolis. David Corenswet ( Pearl) and Rachel Brosnahan ( House of Cards, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) portray them. Nicholas Hoult ( X-Men, Nosferatu) plays the dastardly billionaire Lex Luthor, controller of Superman’s nemesis (and clone) Ultraman. The Justice Gang–the group’s name provides fodder for a clever running gag–join Superman in battling a kaiju (a nod to the Godzilla franchise) and sparing the city from a ravaging black hole. That’s just a modest part of Gunn’s ambition here.
Three weeks before the on-screen story begins, Superman had thwarted an invasion of the country of Jarhanpur by its neighbor, Boravia, an ally of the United States. That makes bedfellows of Lex Luthor and high-ranking military officers in D.C.--the Washington one. Meanwhile, Krypto, the enterprising dog with a gift for mischief and powers not unlike Superman, bursts onto the scene to save his master and drag him to the Fortress of Solitude for a heady dose of healing solar radiation.
In addition to all of the expected sly humor, the script wants to develop several timely themes. Consider the role of a free and independent press, the integrity of international borders, the imprisonment of political enemies, character assassination and the plight of refugees. Superman is presented as an immigrant from Krypton, his life enriched by his human adoptive parents here in the States. The people of Jarhanpur are the potential victims of voracious military and geopolitical appetites. The intrepid staff of the Daily Planet–let’s not forget Jimmy Olsen–are indispensable to “Truth, Justice and the American Way.” Gunn is not subtle about driving these points home. Hence, we get interpolations of a squirrel, a poor child with a banner, and a woman in a car on a bridge. If the audience gets credit for grasping the basics of the protagonist’s backstory at the outset, perhaps we should receive credit for the “humanity” baked into this cinematic adaptation as well.
The movie excels in its look and special effects, although several scenes would benefit from more subtle, varied lighting. The production pops with color, reflecting its comic book origins. In other respects, it stumbles.
David Corenswet, a relative newcomer who certainly looks the part, plays the title character in an amiable, often self-deprecating, fashion. Heaven knows Superman had become pretty dour in his recent outings, but Corenswet’s line readings are often flat, lacking sufficient inflection. The more experienced Nicholas Hoult overplays his Lex Luthor, becoming progressively (and unnecessarily) more unhinged as the plot thickens with his manipulations of lasers and a pocket dimension.
Conversely, Rachel Brosnahan hits all the right notes in her portrayal of Lois Lane, an intuitive and feisty woman who “isn’t so sure” about Clark Kent. Indeed, in what may well be the movie’s single best scene, she conducts a private, off-the-record interview of Superman. He becomes increasingly uncomfortable as she probes him about his parentage, his motivations, and the best use of his metahuman powers. The dialogue crackles, and the exchange has a rat-a-tat, perfectly edited quality suggestive of the 1940 classic His Girl Friday. Maybe not “faster than a speeding bullet,” but close.
On the other hand, Superman’s little speech about his humanity comes across as obvious. We get it. Besides, what really resonates in this movie is his character’s vulnerability as both Kal-El and Clark Kent.
The most egregious miscalculation on Gunn’s part occurs at the end. Superman, back at the fortress in recuperative mode again, gazes at home movies of his adoptive parents, Jonathan and Martha Kent, and his rather idyllic childhood in Smallville, Kansas. As he absorbs the gauzy images on the video screens which surround him, the camera swirls in an overtly nostalgic way. It’s a beautiful moment, beautifully staged, but diluted by the loud, rock-accented music on the soundtrack. In case you’re wondering, composers David Fleming ( Dune: Part Two) and John Murphy ( The Suicide Squad) do integrate John Williams’ iconic theme into their own soaring melodies.
With the DC Extended Universe now under new management, look for fun cameos. Look for plot surprises. Look for familiar characters, with twists. Look for the spectacle. James Gunn’s Superman has all of that, to be sure, but it also has its kryptonite moments.
