Superman review: "A triumphant reinvention and a promising start for the DCU"

Is there a more important movie this year than Superman? Director James Gunn’s red and blue reboot isn’t just the latest in a long line of spandex-clad summer event movies, it’s something far more significant than that – the launch proper (let’s call animated show Creature Commandos a false start) of new world-building venture the DCU, which aims to take Kal-El and his universe of super-pals soaring into the next decade.

That's a lot of pressure to put on a single movie, particularly the umpteenth feature film to center Big Blue since 1978’s Superman made the world believe a man can fly. But like Supes shouldering the Daily Planet Globe in a nod to Atlas lifting the heavens, Gunn’s big screen re-do doesn’t buckle under the weight. It’s a triumphant reinvention for the character, taking Superman back to a more hopeful, optimistic place and situating him in an unapologetically strange comic-book world that feels refreshingly distinct from the last two decades of superhero fare.

Understanding that today’s seasoned audiences don’t need a recap of Krypton’s destruction or Clark Kent’s Smallville years, Superman starts in medias res, three years after Kal-El’s public debut as Superman (David Corenswet)... and 3 minutes after his first defeat at the hands of the Hammer of Boravia. This mystery villain is swiftly revealed to be a pawn of Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult), a mega-mind with limitless resources and a singular aim: to rid the world of Superman.

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Wasting no time introducing boisterous, scene-stealing super-dog Krypto, Superman Robots, fire-spewing Kaiju, “weird baby” Joey, pocket universes, the Justice Gang (among them, a very fun Nathan Fillion as Grade-A jerk Guy Gardner), and plenty more oddball elements – pun intended in the case of element man Metamorpho (Anthony Carrigan) – Superman often feels ripped from the pages, never ashamed of its four-color origins. And like much of the best Superman storytelling, Gunn finds a way to keep the last son of Krypton on the back foot throughout, his weaknesses exploited at every turn, making Lex a more than credible threat for the most powerful being on the planet.

There’s ample debt owed to Richard Donner’s Superman (echoes of John Williams in John Murphy’s stirring score, a laser-show title treatment that’s straight homage), but the Guardians films are the closest comp to what Gunn is going for here. Superman is sincere, heartfelt, and unafraid to hit the brakes for a human character beat. It puts parental trauma at the emotional core of its lead character, and even finds frequent opportunities to spotlight a menagerie of furry friends (watch out for the delightful moment Superman swoops in to save a wayward squirrel from being squished mid-monster rampage). And much like the Guardians films, a bit of Gunn’s R-rated origins creeps in here and there, pushing the limits of that PG-13 rating with a tonally jarring Russian roulette moment, and some gnarly violence.

But despite leaning into the comics, Gunn doesn’t shy away from some surprising real-world parallels. It’s nothing new for Superman movies, as such, but the film’s choice to put the character in the middle of a contentious geopolitical dispute between two fictional nations, and making him wrestle with the fact that unilateral action has consequences, however black and white the situation may appear to be, is a pretty gutsy thing to include in a mainstream superhero tentpole. Especially when the clear priority here is to entertain.

Taking flight

And entertain it does. As an awe-inspiring spectacle, Superman doesn’t disappoint, with high-flying action captured by vertiginous, corkscrew camerawork. Often basked in the light of the yellow sun, it’s literally and symbolically bright in a way that separates it from a decade-plus of visually and tonally darker DC storytelling. Cinematographer Henry Braham (Gunn’s go-to since Guardians 2) shoots the action through wide-angle lenses with a strange, almost fish-eye effect. Equal parts striking and unconventional, it doesn’t totally work, creating a peculiar, warped point of view as athletic, high-speed characters stretch and bend around the screen in a way you might expect The Fantastic Four's Reed Richards to. But it’s the kind of big swing you wish superhero movies took more often, and is at least something you haven’t seen before.

The same can’t be said for Superman on screen, with a long history of great performances, even the underrated Brandon Routh. Corenswet stands comfortably alongside Reeve and Cavill as a Superman for this world, and this moment. The stature and strength all feel right, but this Superman’s most distinctive characteristic is that he’s quick to fluster, often the least assertive character in any given situation. There’s a humility and vulnerability here that works for the character. He’s a Superman still finding himself and reckoning with the fact that, even though he’s dedicated his life to protecting the people of Earth, he’ll always be an alien in the eyes of some.

Chief among those doubters is Luthor. Hoult drops most of the comic edge that defined Gene Hackman’s Lex, and all the odious tech-bro baggage of Eisenberg’s upstart genius, as a more spiteful, ego-centric Luthor fueled by vindictive hatred for Superman. Of the big three, Rachel Brosnahan’s Lois Lane gets the least radical screen reinvention, largely sticking to the Margot Kidder template and suffering from not quite having enough to do in the film’s later stages, despite a fiery interview scene early doors that makes the most of Brosnahan’s gifted way with rat-a-tat dialogue.

Lex appeal

Similarly, the bulk of the film’s ample supporting cast fail to make enough of an impression as, with so many characters to service, it’s hard for anyone to truly stand out. Villains the Engineer and Ultraman are pure muscle. Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced) mostly eyerolls during her minimal screentime. Most of the Daily Planet newsroom barely feature. Metamorpho disappears after a relatively brief pocket universe sequence. Mr. Terrific (Edi Gathegi) gets a great action beat and some enjoyable, deadpan quips, but little more. Skyler Gisondo’s Jimmy Olsen, meanwhile, receives a funny makeover as an unlikely ladies’ man, but is barely involved in the main plot (and doesn’t take a single picture, weirdly).

When the film ups the ante with potentially world-ending consequences in the final act, it never feels like anyone is impending danger, and is all wrapped up a little too neatly, with an underwhelming, heavily signposted villain reveal. Added to the fact there’s precious little setup for what the future of this new world has in store, Superman ends at its lowest point.

But after the messy, unadventurous Phase 5 of the MCU, Superman is a breath of fresh air, and a world with a reassuring vision, thanks to Gunn. While it’s unlikely to reconfigure comic-book movies as we know them in the same way that Batman Begins and Iron Man changed the game before it, Superman is a promising start for a new superhero universe, with huge potential to break the mould when it comes to the kind of comic book fare audiences have become accustomed to. Superman may not be a perfect movie, but in a word, it’s pretty super.

Superman opens in cinemas on July 11. In the meantime, check out our guide to the rest of this year's biggest upcoming movies.