I finally got to see Superman last night, and I loved it. I will admit, when I first heard James Gunn was put in charge of DC, I was skeptical. I did not think he was the right person to do a Superman movie. Having watched Guardians of the Galaxy 1 thru 3, I felt like his human was too mean spirited, and that he lacked the hopefulness and aspirational optimism that makes Superman who and what he should be. I was afraid Superman would get turned into Starlord, but with powers.
I was wrong. James Gunn fucking gets it. He took a classic, Silver Age superman and dropped him into the modern day, and it just works. It works because unlike Marvel movies, and the DC movies from the Nolan/Snider era, James Gunn is not ashamed of making a comic book movie. Right from the start, he embraces the weird, silly, ridiculousness that is a hallmark of comics in general, and just runs with it. There is so much fun and joy in this movie, that even when it’s commenting on deadly serious issues like war profiteering, illegal immigration, denial of due process, human rights abuses, for profit prisons and America’s willingness to look the other way as our allies commit horrible atrocities up to and including genocide, the movie never feels preachy or didactic.
The Good:
Krypto is an absolute delight. I have loved Krypto forever, and seeing him in live action brought joy to my heart from the first preview. And the best part is, he’s not treated as a gimmick or as fan service. He’s part of the plot. Yes, he’s rowdy, rambunctious, he doesn’t listen to Clark half the time, he trashes the Fortress. At the same time, his presence helps drive the plot forward. Key story beats in the movie can only happen because Krypto is there. It’s perfect.
Guy Gardener is Guy Gardener. In a way, I think James Gunn was the perfect person to write Guy Gardener. He’s the character that carries the sort of humor that I found so distasteful in the Guardians of the Galaxy movies. Here though, it doesn’t come across as mean spirited, it just comes across as Guy being Guy.
Mr. Terrific. I have to admit, I’m mostly familiar with him from the Arrowverse shows, but honestly, I like this version a lot better. He’s smart, he’s confident, he’s a bad ass.
Lois Lane. At work, she’s a bad ass. Emotionally, she’s a disaster. This is Lois at her best.
Clark/Superman. His entire Character arc is just note perfect. Also, the best part is, we actually get to see him rescue people, and not just punch bad guys.
Lex Luthor. This is absolutely the best Lex we’ve ever gotten on screen. Hands down, bar none.
Supergirl. She’s on screen for all of about 60 seconds, but I love this version of Kara SO FREAKING MUCH.
The baby. I can’t say any more without spoilers, but the entire sequence was awesome.
The Bad:
Hawkgirl doesn’t get nearly as much screen time or character development as Guy or Mr. Terrific. I understand why, but it was still a bit frustrating because I love Hawkgirl as a character.
The Weird:
Okay, this is the part where I say something odd. Superman is one of the best sequels I’ve ever seen. What’s it a sequel too? 80 plus years of comic books, a bunch of movies and cartoons and books and TV shows and radio serials. Just the entire general concept of Superman’s origin story. This movie, despite being the first live action movie in the new DC Cinematic Universe, feels very much like a sequel. It doesn’t give an origin story. It starts three years into Superman’s career. There is a sort of proto-Justice League forming. There are multiple superheroes already active and well known. Lex is already a villain. It feels very much like the second or third movie in a series of Superman movies, and honestly, it’s better for it. The same way Spiderman: Homecoming skipped the entire Uncle Ben getting killed storyline, this skips Superman’s origin and all the set up, and drops us right into the action after a brief text description of the situation. Basically four lines of text establishing what’s going on, and then your dropped into the story.
TLDR:
Superman is absolutely fantastic. Go check it out.