Maybe I’m hard to please — I’m just kidding, I’m a film critic, of course I am — but I’ve never loved any of the live-action Superman movies. They all have something I admire, from the golly gee whiz wonder of “Superman: The Movie” to the epic scale of “Man of Steel.” Heck, even disappointments like “Superman III” and “Quest for Peace” had, respectively, an impressive lead performance and intriguing ideas. But it always seemed like Superman was too much for one movie to handle. His universe was too weird. His morality was too grand. And for some reason in all these years he’s never fought one Godzilla-sized monster.
Until today. James Gunn’s “Superman” may not be the greatest superhero story ever told but it’s trying to be, and I respect that. The director of “Guardians of the Galaxy” shoves everything super about Superman into a single motion picture, and it’s bursting at the seams with strange, wonderful, intricate ideas. “Superman” is a fabulously smart and entertaining film whose flaws stem from trying too hard… which are the best flaws a film can have.
David Corenswet (“Twisters”) stars as Clark Kent, aka Superman. He’s already been a superhero for three years and in all that time he’s never lost a fight, until the very first scene of this movie. We meet the Man of Steel at his most vulnerable, facing his biggest challenges. He’s the most human he’s ever been — in the theater, I mean — even when he’s doing the impossible.
The billionaire Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult) is trying, as usual, to kill Superman. He’s assembled his own department of geeky evil — young tech goons who control Superman’s villains like gamers who mastered all the “Street Fighter” combos — and they hack the high-tech Fortress of Solitude. Luthor also manipulates world events, forcing Superman to take a public stand against one nation attacking its neighbor. Even reporter Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan) interrogates him about it, and questions if doing the right thing is always the right thing to do.
On top of it all, Luthor uncovers a secret from Superman’s past that makes everybody — even his superhero peers Green Lantern (Nathan Fillion), Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced) and Mister Terrific (Edi Gathegi) — suspect his motives. He hasn’t committed any crimes but he sure is mighty suspicious, so the American government strips this extraterrestrial immigrant of his Constitutional rights, sends an army of faceless xenophobic goons to arrest him, and outsources his detainment to a cruel and unusually punishing prison.
James Gunn has done a lot of thinking about what Superman would fight for, and against, in 2025. The countries may be fictional but we know he’s talking about Israel and Palestine. Lex Luthor, who’s been partly based on Donald Trump since DC rebooted its comic book universe in the 1980s, is now Elon Musk. And his minions are thinly veiled versions of DOGE and ICE.
This is dark, heavy stuff, and it makes the edginess of some of the other, recent Superman movies look performative and superficial by comparison. But James Gunn doesn’t let the oppression Superman faces ruin the world he inhabits. The movie argues that people want goodness to prevail but people like Lex Luthor make saving the world seem like a greater risk than letting them destroy it. “Superman” isn’t just about the battle against cynicism. It is the battle.
It’s significant that Gunn set his “Superman” in a world where superheroes — excuse me, “metahumans” — have already existed for 300 years. This isn’t just a shortcut to a new DC cinematic universe where filmmakers can breeze past or ignore origin stories (although that’s a time-saver, no doubt about it). It also forces Gunn, and his audience, to ask what makes Superman special besides his powers.
In the earlier movies, Superman was humanity’s first introduction to godlike beings. His strength felt like the biggest threat to our collective identity. But in “Superman” he’s only the mightiest hero by a matter of degrees. It’s what Superman represents that challenges people. He proves a person can be both powerful and selfless, which makes corrupt billionaires (read: billionaires) and even his own crimefighting peers feel insecure.
Killing Superman isn’t enough for Lex Luthor. He wants to prove Superman is a hypocrite. Because if Superman is a hypocrite then Luthor doesn’t have to reflect on his own sins. Some men will literally destroy the world instead of going to therapy, which is true even outside a movie theater.
The cinematography (Henry Braham, “The Suicide Squad”) is bright and inviting. It’s a smart ploy, introducing a cinematic universe where any superhero can live, without having to adhere to — or fight — an established and specific visual aesthetic that may not serve them. There are dark corners in this new DC Universe. We visit a few. But this is Superman’s story and we mostly see it through his generous, optimistic lens.
David Corenswet gives a superstar performance, embracing the ethos that Superman is the costume and Clark Kent is the real person. His hero is charming, funny and has relatable flaws. Clark remembers his three-month anniversary with Lois but kinda whiffs her present, cooking a meal he enjoys more than she does. He loves his dog, Krypto, but he’s too busy to train him or give him enough attention, so Krypto always makes a mess and tests Superman’s otherwise unlimited patience. Every actor in the film is delightful, or wicked, but Corenswet carries the movie like a champion. He’s just a great Superman, dang it.
James Gunn, however, isn’t Superman. Even though his movie espouses Superman’s ideals, he can’t always live up to them. Gunn’s attempt to campaign against isolationism ultimately falls face-first into white savior territory, which undermines the message. A lot. He also brings up the thorny issue of journalistic ethics — always a challenge where Clark and Lois are concerned — but eventually he tosses that conflict aside with a shrug. And although Superman doesn’t kill, the other superheroes in the DC universe do. Gunn can’t seem to resist the urge to play one of those deaths like it’s cathartic. It’s hard to believe Superman would approve of putting that scene in a Superman movie. It’s easy to imagine the Man of Steel giving this writer/director a stern talking to.
But as Superman himself argues, making mistakes is what makes us human, and trying to do the right thing is noble even if you don’t always get it right. James Gunn tried to make a great Superman movie, one that embraces the wonder of the character as an action hero and a moral paragon, which derives its drama from how people react to his faith in us. He succeeded. “Superman” is as super as a Superman movie gets, and it’s worthy of our love.
“Superman” opens exclusively in theaters on Friday, July 11.
