SPOILER-FREE PLOT
Three decades after Superman (played by David Corenswet) fell to Earth, he gets involved with a war between two countries in order to save lives. While hailed as a hero by most, a minority see it as meddling in political affairs and, therefore, picking an idealogical platform. This is only exacerbated when Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hault) breaks into Superman’s secret Antarctic lair and learns about the message Kal-El’s parents sent him to Earth with. The public turns on Superman as a result and he begins to face an uphill battle in the public eye for the first time. Meanwhile, colleague and girlfriend Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan) tries to navigate their relationship during this tumultuous time, all while being loyal to her job at the Daily Planet newspaper. Luthor and his band of thugs finally kidnap Superman, paving the way for Boravia and Jarhanpur to finally escalate their war, thereby paving the way for him to benefit both financially and militarily. Lane enlists the help of a sympathetic Mister Terrific (Edi Gathegi) to find Superman and bring him home so he can stop Luthor once and for all.
SPOILER-FREE REVIEW
Plagued by box office bomb after box office bomb, DC hired James Gunn away from Marvel with the express intention of constructing a new, respectable, money-making entertainment universe. SUPERMAN is his first foray into building that foundation. In other words, fairly or unfairly, this is so much more than just another superhero film.
Playing the character of Superman is no small task. Those are some huge shoes — err, boots?? — to fill but Corenswet does a great job. Playing Lois Lane may not be as pressure packed but there are a laundry list of actors who have portrayed the Daily Planet’s number one reporter which, of course, brings its own kind of pressure. It’s great to see Brosnahan effortlessly step in and become a strong, independent, confident-yet-conflicted version of the character.
SUPERMAN is not without it’s problems, however. There are far too many supers to keep track of, Hault is great (per usual) but could’ve been even more menacing and it’s pretty convenient how all of the city’s battles come in the same empty space in an otherwise concrete jungle.
As we’ve seen with THE DARK KNIGHT and a lot of the Marvel films, superhero movies don’t have to just be non-stop action and cool gadgets. The genre is at its best when it has those things and a degree of empathy attached to the different storylines or arcs. Thankfully, SUPERMAN is one of those.
This is an above-average superhero movie and that’s a welcome sign for the damaged DC brand whose reputation has suffered mightily despite their great characters over the past 10 years. So, while I wouldn’t call SUPERMAN great, I would call it great fun.
JKG SCORE: 6.5
Untitled Film Project 