Superman: Believing a Man Can Fly and Make a Good Superhero Movie

In this economy?

Ever since superhero films have invaded the film circuit, they have caused a lot of controversy and division with the public. People run out to go see them and then complain about the over saturation of superhero films. I love a good comic book movie, a good comic book movie should be a vibrant and colorful explosion of imagination. Instead, recently we have gotten a lot of superhero and comic book films that have the aesthetic sensibilities of a seven o clock cable network television show. This has led to the question ‘does the general public have superhero fatigue’? I think the bigger question is this, ‘does the general public have franchise fatigue’.

I recently saw the new Jurassic World movie and genuinely loathed it because it felt like such an afterthought of a movie. Let’s put this quota in for the general public to think overall it wasn’t an entire waste of time and they can tell their coworkers “yeah I guess that was pretty good because there’s a few scenes with dinosaurs in it that reminded me of a much better movie I saw thirty years ago.’ I think that’s where the fatigue comes from - people milking the same properties and not doing anything new or interesting with said property, just making a film that will be a product a consumer will pay ten dollars to see due to their attachment to a certain franchise.

James Gunn’s Superman is a film that had to prove itself. This film is the start to a new version of the DC cinematic universe after the first attempt was a colossal failure. However, the supposed ‘Snyderverse’ still have it’s cultist fan base that will hate anything that doesn’t involve Henry Cavil’s Superman from that universe. James Gunn is also facing the biggest elephant in the room - is the comic book film a dying genre? The answer after this movie is an astounding no.

James Gunn breathed new life in the Marvel Universe over ten years ago when he introduced us to the Guardians of the Galaxy on screen- and the man has done it again for their competitors at DC. Superman is a triumph of a movie - I would argue it is one of the best superhero films I have ever seen. I put it right up there with Sam Rami’s opus Spider-Man 2. Why does it work so well? James Gunn has decided to embrace what makes comics so fun to begin with- the goofy campiness of it all.

Superman is a bonkers movie. It has a super powered dog named Krypto, giant kaiju battles, pocket dimensions, space octopuses- it’s unabashedly a Saturday morning cartoon. This is the exact opposite approach that Zack Snyder took with the Superman character with Man of Steel - which was a much darker and more grounded approach. While I don’t hate Man of Steel, this one resonated with my sensibilities a lot more. For two hours, I had a silly grin on my face watching the chaos unfold on screen.

Let me reiterate here, there is chaos in this movie. This movie is juggling so much and has so many characters and plots and Gunn somehow is able to juggle everything in a perfect crescendo. It’s a balancing act and a miracle this movie works as well as it is. It is a very ambitious film and since we have had a string of pretty uninspired comic book films of late, it was nice to see a film swing for the fences like this one and knock it out of the park.

David Corenswet plays Clark Kent, but he’s mostly Superman here and is my favorite iteration of the character I’ve seen on screen- which is saying a lot. I do like Cavil’s portrayal of Superman in the Snyder movies, but he is so God like to the point he is pretty unrelatable. Corenswet feels like a guy who just got off his farm in Smallville and has the joyful optimism of doing the right thing because it’s the right thing to do. Even when his good intentions are reckless, all he sees are the good he’s trying to provide for people. This movie wrestles with the fact that people are cynical to pure optimism and good will because it is a virtue that is becoming rarer and rarer in our society. The idea that even if Superman is here for good, will his presence as a super powered alien be enough of a danger in the public eye where Superman is actually a bad thing for a society? Gunn’s films wrestles with these questions head first and Gunn gives us the answers. Yes, there is good in people and the idea of Superman is a good one- even if the pure presence of a force that powerful is an overwhelming idea in the human consciousness. Corenswet plays this beautifully, wrestling with the pathos of an outsider trying to find his place in the world. While he is Superman, he is reckless and he doesn’t have the answers to every situation he finds himself in (especially the sociopolitical ones) and being super is also figuring out your place and your limitations- and evolving from that.

Lois Lane, his girlfriend played terrifically by Rachel Brosnahan presses Clark about how involved he should be in every situation. Since Clark can be as powerful as a nuclear bomb, maybe dropping that bomb in a place is a dangerous power move, even if it’s meant with well intentions. Early in the film, the two have an interview that turns into an argument that is so acutely written by Gunn. It’s a terrific scene that shows that Superman is going to be wrestling with a lot internally while he’s fighting the external threats that Lex Luther throws at him. Lois questions Clark early on in the film about him interviewing himself as Superman for The Daily Planet- and how that’s compromised journalism. At first, we see Clark be dismissive about that, saying he’s doing the right thing and giving the right answers needed for people to see he’s a hero. We see throughout the rest of the film, rather it be Lex Luther’s plan to make more money and gain more power or a tyrannical war criminals path for power and devastation that framing is everything. You have to give the public all of its information unbiased to get to the truth- even if you believe the bias being presented is in good intentions because most of the villains throughout history believed the roads were paved with good intentions as well.

This film has been controversial from some figures on the right for being ‘too woke’ which is a ridiculous complaint about this movie. Superman is an immigrant, who was sent down to Earth. He decides to save and protect the people of Earth, even if they are afraid of him, because deep down he is a good person at heart. Lex Luther is a bad person, because he’s a rich billionaire oligarch on a path for more power so he can run the city the way he believes would benefit himself the most. This power of good vs evil has been prevalent since the start of storytelling, and if you take issue on the film presenting your side as the antagonist, then that’s projecting you are putting on yourself and maybe it’s time to do some soul searching and figure out maybe you are on the wrong team. This is one of the themes in the film, Superman first wants to change hearts. He doesn’t want to kill anyone or have any retribution- but to change hearts and minds. That’s a true hero. This moral fabric is all weaved by Ma and Pa Kent, his parents who raised him. While they aren’t his blood parents, the two have a hopeful optimistic view of the American Dream and what it can be. Their humble origins help them see the best of people and that gets passed down to their son. If two other more cynical and sleazy people found Clark and raised him, this could have been a much different film. This film understands that our moral fabric isn’t defined by blood- but by our life experiences and the people we associate ourselves with that help shape our values and understand the world around us.

James Gunn makes this a beautiful piece of film making about hope and compassion. Yet, he never misses a beat when it comes to cooking up an entertaining blockbuster. This movie above all else is a great time at the movies. It has incredible action set pieces, a crazy colorful cast of characters, zany and effective humor and a large sense of scale we don’t see much from blockbusters anymore. This film feels larger than life, but at it’s emotional core is a human story about all of us- and how we should strive to be better and see the good in the world despite ourselves. I can safely say that James Gunn has started off the DC Universe strong and I’m incredibly excited to see where this universe goes next and hope the future film installments have the same sense of wonder and imagination this film does.