REVIEW:
There’s a lot to like about Superman and there’s also a lot to be displeased with. For James Gunn, it is actually one of his weaker films. But that’s only because his other films have been so good. The first Guardians of the Galaxy movie and The Suicide Squad in particular were both great. But all of his Guardians movies (he helmed the entire trilogy,) were solid films. And before any of those, Gunn made the darkly enjoyable superhero movie Super. He also made Slither, which was absolutely awful, but we’re going back aways, towards the start of his career, in talking about that film.
The fact is, Gunn is an accomplished and smart filmmaker. Which is why it’s so surprising that he has the missteps he does in this movie. You see, Suerpamn, the Gunn version, is not an origin movie. And that’s okay. The last Spiderman incarnation we got (Tom Holland) never had an origin story and he’s the best Spiderman there has been yet (sorry Tobey and Andrew.) The last Batman wasn’t an origin story (this would be the Robert Pattinson one,) and it turned out to be a pretty fantastic film. So we definitely don’t need to see Krypton being blown up and Kal El (bady Superman) being sent to earth in a spaceship again. That’s not the problem. The problem is that this movie doesn’t give us a beginning about anything. Not the hero, not the villain, not the team of heroes that join our character, not the relationship between Clark Kent and Lois. Nothing. We don’t get a beginning to the story in any way.
Here’s the thing. Even sequel movies have a new conflict and a new villain and begin with the introduction of that new villain. They start us at or before the start of the conflict. Not so here. Gunn throws us right into the middle of things telling us that all stories have already begun before this movie did. Clark already knows and is dating Lois. Lois already knows Clark is Superman. Superman and Lex Luthor are already fighting each other. Superman even knows the Justice Gang already. So there are no introductions here whatsoever. It’s a mistake. You would think that such an accomplished filmmaker as Gunn would know that all stories need a beginning. I get not wanting to tell the same old origin story that we have seen before, again and again, (just like Spider-Man and Batman didn’t want to tell us them again,) but at least introduce us to the villain and the conflict.
Aside from not having a beginning, this is a pretty good film. There is a twist involving Superman’s parents that comes at the halfway point or so, and it’s incredibly interesting. In fact, it is absolutely the best thing about this movie and very creative. The action here is pretty good too. That being said, Superman never seems to be in any real danger, considering that at one point nanobots cover his entire face and body, including going down his throat and attacking his insides, and still Superman comes out okay. How are we supposed to buy any threat when it appears even this can’t hurt him?
The movie is definitely overstuffed with characters, which is another problem. Yes, Gunn is at his best when working with a team of characters. Look at both Guardians and The Suicide Squad. His humor works well with an ensemble. But here it kind of feels forced. We get three villains (Lex and his two henchmen, Ultraman and the Engineer.) Then we get four other heroes besides Superman (Green Lantern, Mr Terrific, Hawkgirl, and Metamorpho.) It’s a lot. And it’s not the way you kickstart the relaunching of a character, let a long a whole new cinematic universe. Just look at Iron Man. All it introduced in terms of heroes wad Iron Man and Nick Fury but the post credits scene. That’s it. This Superman movie goes way too far.
That being said, there are lots and lots of ideas here and many of them are interesting. This includes the using and spinning of the media to further ones own agenda. It also involves conflict of war. It addresses some really interesting points, but is far from a great film. This Superman is a solid way to start the new cinematic universe, but it also makes a lot of mistakes.