For me, there is no such thing as superhero fatigue. Put a man or woman in a suit with special powers on screen and I will be seated. However, superhero fatigue is in the air, the X-Men movie is in production and the rent was due for Supes.
As a long-tenured Superman superfan, I would say this is the best movie of all time. For the sake of this review, though, I’m taking that hat off and putting my casual viewer hat on.
If you want to spend two hours enjoying yourself and leave the theater with a sense of hope that's hard to come by these days, then Superman is the movie for you.
The first thing this movie does right is throw the audience directly into the story. Superman’s origins are explained but not shown, a reversal of the “show, don’t tell” rule that other comic book movies should take note of. One of the main appeals of this approach is it clarifies for the audience that this is not a Superman origin movie — this is a Superman movie.
Character-driven superhero movies are rarely done, but it’s this film’s strongest aspect. If you’re a Superman fan, you’ll be excited to enter the universe that has been ripped from the pages of your favorite comic. If you're a casual viewer, you can easily connect with characters that drive the story and keep you engaged. None of this would be possible without the outstanding performances of the entire cast, from David Corenswet’s Clark Kent/Superman to Nathan Fillion's Guy Gardner/Green Lantern. Each actor did their homework and embodied their characters.
At the heart of the story are Corenswet’s Clark Kent/Superman and Rachel Brosnahan’s Lois Lane. Their chemistry is the backbone of the film, and remains an anchor for the audience as we’re sucked into a geopolitical crisis, a pocket universe and the edge of the Arctic.
With all that being said, for better or worse, this is clearly a James Gunn film. Color, humor and insane needle drops abound, but so does fast pacing — at a detriment to the story. Gunn is no stranger to impactful moments, but in Superman, he doesn’t let us sit with them for very long. Save for one scene near the end, most of the emotional performances are quickly ended with a joke or cut to another scene. Not to say that these moments don't pack a punch, but there are at least three scenes I can think of where I would've enjoyed a longer pause to take it in.
Despite the pacing, there’s no doubt that this movie has heart. Attribute it to Corenswet’s performance, Gunn’s writing or even the inclusion of Krypto the Superdog if you must, but I give all the credit to the source material. While complaints that Superman is a boring character have abounded in the past decade, there’s a reason why his comics continue to sell and resonate with audiences. The core values of Superman that have been lost in previous media adaptations shine through in comics such as ‘All Star Superman,’ which Gunn said was a heavy influence for this Superman film. When source material is followed and appreciated as Gunn has done, a product as good as this one is a given.
The “S” (well, not an S, but we won’t get into that) emblem stands for hope: hope for a better tomorrow, hope that more movies will abandon their dark color schemes and hope for the superhero genre.
Gabriella Hartlaub is the former arts editor for The Daily Cardinal. She has also written state politics and campus news. She currently is a summer reporting intern with Raleigh News and Observer. Follow her on Twitter at @gabihartlaub.
