Considering the love most have for Henry Cavill’s Superman, and all the drama that went down about that prior to the casting process, James Gunn had his work cut out for him before filming even began. This is why immense kudos must be given to the marketing team handling the promotion of this film, because that laid the groundwork for us to accept these characters before they even showed up on our big screen. We became invested in the chemistry, the camaraderie, and so seeing the film felt like a natural next step.
Gunn’s choice to immerse the audience immediately in the world without any origin story set-up is a fantastic choice. After all, we know these characters and we know enough about Superman that he doesn’t need to establish how things came to be. From the get-go, Clark (David Corenswet) and Lois (Rachel Brosnahan) are in a relationship, and Lex sees Superman as his nemesis. David Corenswet’s version of Superman is the embodiment of all things good – he’s driven to do good, to protect all living things, but doesn’t always seem to evaluate the complex nature of the situation before diving in.
This is where Lois Lane comes in, and I love Brosnahan’s portrayal of the character. She’s everything Lois is supposed to be: smart, opinionated, fearless. Lois isn’t afraid to ask the tough questions and doesn’t have Clark on a pedestal. There’s an extensive conversation between the two of them that’s at least 10-15 minutes in the movie, and while it does affect the pacing a little – almost felt like a play in the way it’s staged – it helps shape the dynamics of the relationship and also allows us to see how new the relationship is. Corenswet has tons of charisma as Superman; he’s flashing us those dimples, dropping glib lines and giving us a very human version of Superman. The opening moments of the film already show him getting hurt and overwhelmed, and this is a deliberate choice from Gunn, who wants Superman’s humanity to be front and centre.
While I do appreciate the directional and creative choices with regard to the character, I do feel that the set pieces didn’t do enough to help me see and relate to him as human. When met with an earth-shattering truth, the movie doesn’t allow him to properly crumble, and he rebuilds way too quickly. Gunn’s ability to handle ensemble films feels a little bit of a Catch-22 here, as we spend more time with the other characters than the titular character. The best choreographed action set piece in the movie belongs to Mr. Terrific (Edi Gathegi), and while Gunn proves once again how he’s a master of the perfect needle-drop, I do wish Superman himself had more of such moments.
When it comes to scene-stealing, no one does it better than Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor. He makes us feel the ruthless nature of the character, and at every turn we get to see how brilliant he is. We know we’re supposed to hate him, but when he’s strutting about debonairly in the snow, we can’t help but think “that’s a cool dude right there”.
I won’t be hyperbolic and claim this is the best Superman movie to ever exist, but hey, it’s a super start.
REVIEW SCORE: 3.5/5
