Superman

We went to see the new Superman movie yesterday. I should probably be upfront and honest here, I do not think I can be impartial when it comes to Superman movies. I just love the character so much, and it would take a very bad movie for me to dislike it. I am also not going to compare it with the Snyder films. I do not care about that debate, and am sick of hearing about it. 

Okay, to the movie. I will try to limit the spoilers for a bit.

I thought it was very good. I love the way James Gunn makes superhero movies. I love that he enjoys using the 70s Silver Age stuff. He understands Superman. He truly captured that Superman is idealistic, almost to the point of being a bit simple. “I see bad stuff, me stop bad stuff!” If you read those old Superman comics, even into the 90s, Superman would stop a war from happening, and there was never much thought put into the geopolitical ramifications. It was just “yay, Superman stopped a war!” There is a reason characters in DC call Superman a Boyscout. He sees the best in everyone, and just wants to do what is right. He wants to rescue the cat out of a tree, or stop a giant monster from destroying the city. And Gunn played that so well. You can feel that during the interview between Clark and Lois. He is getting frustrated by her questions because they are pushing against his worldview. 

The way Superman talks feels like those old comics. He does not swear (I think he says what the hay at one point), he trusts his fellow superheroes with his secret identity, and he worries about the regular people (or the giant monster destroying the city). 

So why did I say it was very good, and not great…or amazing, or that I LOVED IT. My only complaint is that the movie also felt like a James Gunn movie (I know, weird). By that, I mean, he recycled some stuff from his Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy. There is a scene of Mr. Terrific taking out Luthor’s Raptors, and it is very similar to Yondu taking out the Ravagers with his arrow in GOTGv2. There were a few other moments that felt that way as well. Obviously Gunn will infuse any movie with his love for music, and we get a nice debate between Lois and Clark about punk rock. These are not complaints or digs against the movie, but I was hoping Gunn would try harder to make the movie feels less like his other superhero movies than he did. I do not feel like I am explaining myself very well here, haha. Sorry.

Okay, so now some of my favorite parts, here are spoilers…

-I loved Krypto! I especially loved at the end we learn the dog belongs to Superman’s cousin, Supergirl. It explains why the dog is so misbehaved. My favorite part is when Ultraman is beating the crap out of Supes, and Clark laughs. Lex asks why he is laughing and Clark says “brains over brawn.” And then whistles. Krypto shows up, knocks Ultraman off him, and then Superman says to get the toys. I loved it.

-Also, any scene where they played the original Superman score, while Superman does something heroic gave me chills.

-I thought the Justice Gang was great. Guy Gardner was basically pulled straight from those old comics. I was waiting for Batman to show up and punch him in the face. 

-The message from his parents was interesting. The ending that is recovered by Lex could really be examined in further movies. Does Supergirl have the same kind of directive? Did her parents think the Earth was a good place for her to go and dominate? Side note, in the comics, if I remember correctly, Kara is sent to Earth at the same time as baby Kal, but she is a teenager and given the mission of looking out for her cousin. But she gets stuck somehow and her ship arrives when Superman is an adult, but she is still a teenager. I wonder if Gunn sticks to that idea…

I enjoy the idea that Superman’s parents were not saints, but instead by the end he realizes that he can continue with what he thought their message would say because that is how the Kents raised him. Such an important part of Superman’s identity is that he was raised by this hardworking Midwestern family who instilled values and responsibility in him (I always thought Smallville was at it’s best when focusing on those lessons from Ma and Pa Kent). 

-Nicholas Hoult was fantastic as Lex Luthor. He played him perfectly. Again, one of those things in the comics is that Lex Luthor is driven insane by his jealousy of Superman. Before the Kryptonian arrives in Metropolis, Lex is seen as the hero of the city, one of the most brilliant minds in the world. Everything he does has some kind of positive impact on the planet, but then Superman shows up and all the attention focuses on an alien who saves people from car accidents. Hoult pulls it off so well. We see his brilliance, even if he is a bit of a mad scientist. 

-David Corenswet is a great Superman. He played it differently enough from the others. A little dorky at times. I thought he looked great in the suit. I love when he is sitting Pa Kent while eating cereal. It was just a heartfelt moment.

So what did you think of the movie?