The world is coming to terms with the existence of a supreme, powerful alien being known as "Superman" (David Corenswet), who intervened in an invasion by an ally of the United States government, courting controversy with his unsanctioned actions. Billionaire Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult) is determined to bring him down by any means necessary, aided by technology, brains and an endlessly ambitious ego. Forces collide, with the world as their battle ground, over ideologies and symbols on the line.
The movie is a good fun, a throwback to the bright, garish, colourful Saturday morning cartoons one grew up with and would associate with Superman, and in a good way it feels like those old movies and shows designed to sell toys: Lex Luthor has a detachable spaceship in his tower, there's a revolving crystal fortress, eclectic superhero trio "The Justice Gang" do battle with intergalactic imps in the background, etc. We get things like Superman discussing things with a rather excellent Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan) illuminated by a battle between a neon "Dimensional Imp" and the "Justice Gang" in the night skies behind him, pretty stuff and all good fun. There's even that cute little quirk/trademark of Gunn's where he has a character (here Edi Gathegi's "Mr Terrific", a character I was unfamiliar with, showcasing Gunn's wonderful nerdy love of comic books, and here played as a genius done with life and the bullshit of idiots around him) do a creatively done fight scene well-shot, to a pop song you've not heard in years (though here the song's one I don't really like, so... great job there), and Gunn embraces the weird stuff. It feels, in some regards, very much a "Gunn Film" - harking back to his "Guardians of the Galaxy" trilogy and, to a lesser extent, "The Suicide Squad", what with its bright colours and garish pastels and overwhelming sense of anarchic glee.
The character work is strong across the board, always a strength of Gunn's:
Corenswet is endearing, wonderfully cast as Superman: he's a big joyful good boy trying to do his best, and going out of his way to save squirrels and little girls so they don't get squished in his monster battles, he dives in headfirst to resue his asshole dog (a highlight of the film, and set to become a fan favourite. Because of course he is: it's Krypto!) because "he's scared and alone". He's a great Superman, what you think about when you think of the character.
Rachel Brosnahan (fantastic name) is also marvellous as Lois Lane: she's integral to the plot, investigating and poking and solving things whilst Superman does the smashing, yet also questioning him and forcing him to confront his own actions and morality (there's a bloody excellet scene of a mockup interview between the two of them), and is not merely relegated to doe-eyed love interest or sassy quip machine, I enjoyed her very much. Her sugar scene was nice.
Nicholas Hoult was one of my favourites going in, one of the most interesting actors working today, and his Lex Luthor is suitably cartoonish, over the top, grandiose, arrogant, and a foil for all that is good in the world. He gets an excellent scene where Superman tears through his office like a hurricane and he is unfazed, and a great speech at the end about his grandiose desire for attention, humanity's need to innovate, and why he despises Superman. Lex Luthor is not "relatable": he's a billionaire who despises a man for being good. I'll save the scholarly examinatons of Superman and Lex Luthor and how they relate to current events for other blogs.
As is par for the course with Gunn: we get excellent character work even in the smaller parts, again proving the adage that there are no small parts, only small actors. Skyler Gisondo (another actor I was excited to se cast, he's great in "Santa Clarita Diet" and yet another arrow in the quiver of "Everything Gets Better if you Cast from the Booksmart Cast") is a delightfully cast Jimmy Olson, played here as a complete pussy magnet and a joy to watch, who weaves into the plot masterfully. On a similar note is Sara Sampaio (I appreciate that Gunn focuses on talent rather than names) as Luthor's selfie-obsessed girlfriend Eve, who kind of stole the show for me and got a brilliant payoff to her writing, making her more than a gag character: pictured here imprinting herself in my brain and heart forever:
Nathan Fillion shows up as Guy Gardner and nails it, the ever-wonderful Isabela Merced shows up (side note: her "Dora the Explorer" is still an all time favourite performance) for about 5 minutes as Hawkgirl and whilst I was gutted her dialogue was not entirely screeching and feral screaming she was good fun.
It's a breezy ride.
Unfortunately it is also a ride of one central paradox: it's simultaneously not James Gunn enough, whilst being too James Gunn.
I've followed Gunn's work since the start: I love "Tromeo and Juliet" and maintain "Super" is the best superhero movie ever made, hell I had him respond to me on Facebook about "The Specials" years ago. I've been in his corner forever, and so beyond happy to see him come so far and do well. He loves films, making them and creating in general. But "Superman" has been somewhat neutered of 2 of things which made him great: the anarchic blood and guts DIY filmmaking and chaos bred from the Troma mines (the CGI and backdrops and gleaming things all seem to blur together after a while), and his attention to leting emotional beats land by weaving the darkness and sorrow into the proceedings (here the characters are a tad glib and cartoony, which whilst fun does undercut it all a bit). I'm not an idiot: I'm not asking for "Superman" to be a bloodbath. The movie's constant clamouring for activity and action and fun and hijinks and jokes is never on the scale of a Marvel production (though there is a forced and somewhat excruciating joke about a Harem which feels too forced for my tastes), but it does mean that the emotional beats don't get as much of a chance to breathe. I was missing that soaring emotional high I wanted from it all in favour of fun, and it felt more like a James Gunn movie than a Superman movie in some of its dialogue, but never enough to be quite subversive. The touches were there (an alien baby so ugly it became adorable, a gang of oddballs, hints at body horror with the character of The Engineer) but pulled back a little too much. It's a good intro, and I look forward to when it can breathe properly and spread its wings.
It does well as a blockbuster and breezy fun time, its tone is all over the place, and it's a wild and crazy time. But despite my flaws and ranking of it in the middle of Gunn's ouvre (below "Super" and above "Slither"), the central messages are still good: kindness is decent, billionaires and corporations are bad, and we should (and can) all strive to be better people by remembering what makes us human. There's a lot to love, maybe too much, but it has Frank Grillo and a cameo from the golf club wielding Flo from "The Suicide Squad" too, so endeared itself to me.
