Director James Gunn both cracks the mystery of how to refresh the story of one of the most iconic characters in pop culture history and nails his version of “Superman.”
Gunn passes on the grittiness of recent incarnations of the character such as Zack Snyder’s in “Man of Steel” along with eschewing the romance, but not necessarily the magic, of Richard Donner’s “Superman: The Movie” to create a film that feels plucked from the pages of DC Comics with respect to pacing, humor and overall tone. The ultimate result: a film that earns a high place in the “Superman” cinematic canon.
But even with an that tonal shift from grit and grime of the most recent version of the Man of Steel, who was born in Cleveland when two young men, Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel, dreamed him up in a home in the Glenville neighborhood, the strength that helped comic books evolve over decades – the ability to modernize and tell an allegorical story – exists in abundance – and cleverly – here.
If Gunn felt the weight of adapting Superman for the screen, it certainly doesn’t show. He wisely decides not to tell another origin story, instead electing to drop the audience smack dab in the middle of a universe were Superman (David Corenswet) and other metahumans Green Lantern (Nathan Fillion), Hawkgirl (Northeast Ohio native Isabela Merced) and Mr. Terrific (Edi Gathegi), a corporate sponsored superhero team are the norm, not the exception.
But in one regard Superman is different in that he’s not of this world and he’s not been shy about sharing his heritage with the people of Earth and, for the most part, he’s been accepted for it. Perhaps that acceptance was made easier due to his heroic deeds. It’s those good works, however, that raise the ire of Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult), a billionaire tech bro with a group of mostly Gen Z followers with high level tech skills who eagerly follow him and do his bidding and that includes developing a plan to kill Superman, who stands in Luthor’s way of achieving something he wants.
Luthor is an arms dealer among other things and he’s made a deal with a dictator to have that country’s military invade a neighboring country so Luthor can take half and establish his dream country run by him for tech bros.
If that feels like a homage of sorts, it does as “Superman: The Movie” had a real estate “deal” at the heart of Luthor’s goals in that classic. There exist numerous nods to that film, but this “Superman” stands firmly on its own.
And it takes the opportunity to explore our fraught times and the issue of the day by subtly dealing with immigrant status and how the media culture of today villainizes and lionizes. It’s comic book film that leans into the strength of the genre in that best often have something to say about where we are as a society.
Gunn, however, doesn’t pass on the fun and the epic – and they are epic – action sequences that are at times jaw dropping.
As for his cast: Corenswet fills the cape ably. He takes the prime criticism of the character of Superman – his kindness – and turns it into an asset. Hoult’s Luthor fits this particular moment in time – alternately believable, but so over the top in action based on envy and greed that he’s hard to believe. An unexpected turn from what could have been just a peripheral character comes from Gathegi as Mr. Terrific. He and Fillion bring the humor and sarcasm that Superman can’t.
The only minor quibble: much of how the characters of Ma and Pa Kent were written.
Otherwise, Gunn has taken a character that needed a refresh and given it one that provides optimism for what’s ahead for the DC Universe going forward.
George M. Thomas covers a myriad of things including sports and pop culture, but mostly sports, he thinks, for the Beacon Journal.
Review
Movie: “Superman”
Cast: David Corenswet, Nicholas Hoult, Rachel Brosnahan, Nathan Fillion
Directed by: James Gunn
Running time: 2 hours 9 minutes
Rated: PG-13 (for violence, action and language)
Grade: A-
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: James Gunn’s ‘Superman’ earns a spot as one of character’s best moments on film | Review
Reporting by George M. Thomas, Akron Beacon Journal / Akron Beacon Journal
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