Review: The New Superman Film Delivers
James Gunn hits the right notes with the initial film in the DC Universe.
When DC Studios announced James Gunn would head up a shared universe of films, there may have been questions raised about how he would treat the hero that the DC Universe starts with: Superman.
Sure, Gunn demonstrated he could make things work with Guardians of the Galaxy, but the way he made it work was he took a bunch of characters who, if you didn't follow comic books, you had no idea who they were and made them relatable. Furthermore, the characters in question would be considered odd types who made frequent use of snark, quips and one-liners.
When Gunn launched his first DC Universe project, Peacemaker, he once again took a character who you wouldn't know much about if you weren't a comic book fan and, again, made frequent use of snark and quips.
Now Gunn was tasked with launching the new DC Universe films with Superman, a superhero who you know even if you don't know much about comic books, and is the last superhero you would think should ever be associated with snark.
But to Gunn's credit, he not only found a way to make a Superman movie work but do it in a way that builds intrigue for what's to come next in the DC Universe.
Unlike Guardians of the Galaxy and Peacemaker — both productions in which character backstory is explained for those who don't follow comic books — Gunn doesn't bother much with backstory or origins for Superman. He summarizes the history of metahumans on Earth and Superman's arrival from Krypton with titles on the screen, then goes right into the plot, in which we learn that "three minutes ago," Superman has suffered his first defeat.
The movie's plot, of course, focuses on Superman and his nemesis Lex Luthor. When it comes to Luthor, Gunn borrows a bit from the Superman movie featuring Christopher Reeve (in which Luthor is a real estate mogul) and from Superman: The Animated Series (in which Luthor was a corporate player in the military industrial complex), while adding "tech bro" elements, in which one could ask the question about how far one should go with technological achievements.
As for the plot, it all goes back to Superman stopping the fictional country of Boravia from invading neighboring Jarhanpur — a move that raises questions because Boravia is allied with the United States and government officials wonder if Superman might represent a threat. This leads to the "Hammer of Boravia" coming to Metropolis to attack Superman and injuring him — except the individual is working for Luthor, who uses the attack to track Superman and, thus, discover the secret location of Superman's Fortress of Solitude.
Luthor then looks for any information he can get to prove Superman is not really Earth's savior — a motive Luthor has given not only his distrust for Superman being an alien, but the bigger motivation Luthor has always had: His jealousy of Superman being worshipped by many when Luthor wants people to worship him.
Of course, the movie wouldn't be a Superman movie without Lois Lane. She's already in a relationship with Clark Kent (again, Gunn assumes people know that Lois knows Clark's true identity) but, as one might expect, it's complicated given Lois has her own questions about Superman's motives (namely that he would go so far as to insert himself into the affairs of governments).
But Lois gets proper treatment from Gunn, as he never lets her stray away from her relentless pursuit of the truth — and it’s that relentless pursuit of the truth that makes her a hero in her own right, along with her willingness to stand by Superman even when things look bleak.
As for the snark and quips, they do exist but nothing is forced. Green Lantern Guy Gardner is clearly there to allow Gunn to drop snark (you don't get his backstory but, then again, you don't need to) and Mr. Terrific gets in his share of quips and humorous moments, but it's more about what you expect from a comic book once in a while. And the humor always comes naturally and is never forced.
Most of all, Gunn finds natural ways to work humor into the mix by incorporating Krypto. Superman may have a superpowered dog who can fly through the air and shoot beams of heat from his eyes, but Gunn's choice is to focus less on the powers and more on the type of situations to which all dog owners can relate. In other words, Krypto may be a superpowered dog, but he's still a dog — and, yes, that's why we love him.
What makes the film work most of all is that Gunn tackles the question about what makes Superman human, even if he is a strange visitor from another planet. And while there can be questions raised about a superpowered being trying to stop a conflict between two nations, there are still the questions to raise about someone trying to capitalize on such a conflict (and, yes, that's what Luthor seeks to do).
After the last failed attempt to launch a shared universe, in which Zack Snyder focused more on Superman (and other heroes) as a god, Gunn goes the opposite route. Yes, Superman is a powerful being but what makes Superman work is that he wants to do the right thing, even if he may struggle with what that is. And while Gunn makes Superman flawed, he does it in a way that doesn't detract from the character at all — he makes Superman human.