Premise
Superman must reconcile his alien Kryptonian heritage with his human upbringing as reporter Clark Kent. As the embodiment of truth, justice and the human way he soon finds himself in a world that views these as old-fashioned.
THE GOOD STUFF
Corenswet: The key element for me liking this movie at all was whether David Corenswet could hold his own against Henry Cavill in terms of his Superman-ing. And thank goodness… he does. He doesn’t quite have the natural movie star charisma that Henry Cavill has. As I watched, I came to realize that this kind of thing isn’t necessary for this superhero in the same way it is for other superheroes.
This Superman film has a drastically different vibe altogether than anything Zack Snyder has done. You don’t get the impression that this is the guy that has the answer to every problem, and that is quite refreshing to see in a movie about this character, especially after all that DCE s*** that told you (somewhat truthfully) that this man could solo the most powerful villains that Earth had to offer. Everything works. He even manages to distinguish the difference between Clark Kent and Superman. There’s a different energy on screen when he’s both of them, and it’s exciting to observe.
The Absence of Origins – Many people who saw this movie before me complained that we didn’t necessarily see the origins of Superman, as we do in every other iteration of this superhero story. For some reason, people still feel that not showing this aspect of Superman’s beginnings means we don’t get to know him as a character, and I have to say that’s an incredibly dumb take. We are all familiar with Superman’s origins at this point. 10-year-olds who have never seen a Superman movie probably know the origins at this point, and we’ve seen Superman’s origins in at least three different movies now. It’s refreshing to see this movie start with all the familiar beats already established. As complicated as these comic book fans want to make Superman, it ain’t that hard to figure out.
“Truth, justice, and the American way,” that’s never not been the tagline. You don’t need to know why he feels these things; you need to know that he does and that it’s not going to be some Zack Snyder remix of a conflicted man who might want to save human beings from peril. There’s a part in this movie where a squirrel is about to get crushed by a building, and he saves the squirrel. That’s who Superman is. You don’t need to know at this point why that needs to be explained.
Nicholas Holt – I don’t have much to say about this performance because you can say the same thing about Nicholas Holt whenever he appears on screen, regardless of what he does. He’s excellent. He is incredibly versatile in the choices he makes. He’s never uninteresting nor uncomplicated. His performance as Lex Luthor is possibly the best Lex Luthor performance to date (outside of Michael Rosenbaum). Sure, there’s no depth to what they present in Luthor here, but so what? Lex Luthor has always been portrayed as one-note.
Before this movie, Luthor was often portrayed as a character who took on Superman because he knew that Superman was the biggest obstacle in his path to achieving some world-conquering goal. In this movie, however, Luthor is portrayed as being a hateful person. A guy who wants to take down Superman simply because he has the natural abilities that normal humans don’t have. Sure, the movie wants us to believe that there is a bigger plan beyond that, but the performance is not telling that tale. Just look at the close-ups of this man’s face every single time he gets a leg up on Superman. It’s not just a business deal. It’s pure hater s***. The kind of pettiness that only cheesy 90s movie villains had. What a performance this is.
The Justice Gang – Please give these three characters their movie or something. Every single time Nathan Fillion, Isabella Merced, and especially Edi Gathegi popped up on screen, they were a joy to watch. They added to the story in a much bigger way than I thought they would.
THE BAD STUFF
Crypto – Look, he’s adorable. And I get why he’s here. AND I DON’T HATE DOGS…..
But… Like… Get out of the way. You’re just in the way all the time. You’re not making things any better, except for in the third act of the movie. Otherwise, you’re pretty f****** annoying. There I said it. This dog was irritating all the time, except in the third act. I feel terrible for saying that, oddly.
THE UGLY STUFF
The Third Act – The trailer to this film includes a fight scene that is seen in a baseball stadium. (which is Progressive Field, home of the Cleveland Guardians in case anybody was wondering) That brief fight scene is worth noting because after that fight scene happens this film, the story completely plateaus because of a reveal that is supposed to be shocking… but to those like me who are not Superman fans per se, I couldn’t help but to roll my eyes.
It’s a reveal that’s completely telegraphed throughout the film, taking any thrill out of the climactic sequence. If you don’t have rose-colored glasses on and want to find a place to criticize this film, it’s here. I’m not saying it’s predictable from this moment forward, but anything you can’t predict from this point in the story will not surprise you.
*******
It should be noted that this movie does not live up to its hype. But that’s not saying much given the fact that this is the most histrionically over hyped movie since STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS, and it would have had to have been quite literally one of the greatest films to have ever been made to reach the outright saccharine responses to the teaser, all the trailers, even the poster. This was impossible hype to live up to.
That being said… It’s very good. This movie is good enough to do two big things at once. It’s a fitting beginning to a new cinematic universe for the DC characters, and it’s also a testament to how the Snyderverse got everything wrong when it came to this character. Looking back, it seems audacious to darken the aesthetic or the mood of this particular superhero, and it’s a damn shame that Henry Cavill’s efforts to play that character seem to have gone wasted in the movies that he was in. The material he had never gave him a chance.
He deserved a movie like this. A movie that does not present Superman as an omnipotent god who is so powerful that he can one-piece all of of the Justice League and make them look like useless bums. A movie that does not present him as the one with the answer to every problem. A movie that is not so focused on hero shots of him that it takes away from the action itself. A movie that actually has a use for Lois Lane other than to be a damsel in distress, and a movie that knows how to introduce side characters without them being spoiled in the promotional material of the movie.
I could have cared less about Superman as a boy, found the comics boring as a teen, rolled my eyes at every movie (other than the RICHARD DONNER VERSION of SUPERMAN 2) as an adult, and became completely indifferent about the character….until now.
I’m looking forward to the next Superman movie. I can honestly admit that. That’s how good this is.
SUPERMAN is in theaters now
