Superman

Rating 5/10

A lot is riding on Superman. It marks the inaugural entry in the new DC Universe, overseen by James Gunn, who now leads the franchise with Peter Safran. Gunn made his mark at Marvel with the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy. He’s now focused on DC, where he’s spearheading a complete cinematic reboot.

Gunn isn’t new to DC, though. In 2021, he wrote and directed The Suicide Squad, an R-rated follow-up to the 2016 hit. That movie’s offbeat sensibility is evident here as well. He takes some bold swings in the name of comedy. Some work. Some don’t. And while there’s plenty of action and humor I appreciated, this off-kilter take on the iconic superhero left me cold.

The account wisely dispenses with the origin story of how a Kryptonian came to Earth and became the world’s most powerful hero. The saga begins when Clark Kent (David Corenswet) is already an established adult, living in Metropolis and working as a reporter. He balances his responsibilities as Superman with his work at the Daily Planet alongside fellow reporter Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan). After intervening in a violent conflict between the U.S.-allied nation of Boravia and its neighbor Jarhanpur, Superman draws political controversy for opposing American interests. Public trust in him begins to erode. Tech mogul Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult) seizes the opportunity to paint the caped crusader as a dangerous alien whose true loyalties are in question. As Superman is weakened, captured, and framed for a larger conspiracy, he must rely on a team of metahumans—and the efforts of Lois and Jimmy Olsen (Skyler Gisondo)—to clear his name before Luthor’s destructive scheme tears Metropolis apart.

James Gunn posits this chapter as a course correction to the dark tone of Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel. Where Snyder’s take brooded in shades of gray, Gunn’s version soars in primary colors. From the first frame, it’s clear that this Superman is meant to inspire. He smiles. He listens. He says, “Golly!” He even saves a squirrel. It’s corny, but pointed. This is a man who values every life, no matter how small.

Yet beneath the Technicolor optimism, the atmosphere is darker than it first appears. Superman spends much of the time getting knocked down, both physically and emotionally. He’s bloodied in the opening sequence on a frozen Antarctic outpost, left gasping after an encounter with the Hammer of Boravia. Later, Metamorpho (Anthony Carrigan), one of Lex’s prisoners in a secret prison, is forced to produce Kryptonite to weaken the Man of Steel. When Superman tries to escape, the guards launch a coordinated attack, battering him with knocks and kryptonite blasts.

His weakness isn’t just physical; it’s existential. As the tale progresses, we see an idealist who questions whether his efforts even matter, wearied by the moral ambiguity of a world where “doing the right thing” depends on national interests and cultural perspectives. This is a Superman frustrated, initially with Lois Lane when she interviews him “on the record,” pressing him about the ethics of his interventions around the globe. His patience thins under the weight of his image as a savior versus the reality of navigating a divided planet. Superman still stands for righteousness. He aspires to be perfect, but he’s failing to win the support of the humanity he serves.

This is a dark portrait in other ways. An alien baby is held in a high-tech prison and used as a pawn to ensure Metamorpho’s compliance. A defeated humanoid robot (Alan Tudyk) repeatedly stabs itself in its brain. Krypto the Superdog is subjected to psychological torment, strapped to a treadmill while holographic squirrels tease his eyes.  It’s painful becasue the canine is a heartfelt addition, arguably the MVP of the picture.  Gunn’s aesthetic may be colorful, but it’s not kind. Most shocking of all is a version of Russian roulette in which Lex Luthor casually executes an immigrant food vendor (Dinesh Thyagarajan) with a shot to the head. Why? He helped Superman. It’s a savage moment, more Deer Hunter than comic book fantasy, but it’s presented as a joke. “I thought that’d be longer,” quips Lex Luthor. Yes, it effectively paints Luthor as irredeemably evil. But the cost is tonal whiplash, dragging the movie into real-world horror. The act overwhelms the hope for which Superman stands.

While Lex Luthor is the central villain, the narrative piles on a sprawling roster of additional threats. A political battle between the fictional nations of Boravia and Jarhanpur emerges, along with implications of U.S. involvement in war crimes. Within the U.S. government, General Rick Flag Sr. (Frank Grillo) weighs turning Superman over to Luthor’s custody. Luthor’s chief enforcer is the Engineer (María Gabriela de Faría), a woman whose body has been fused with advanced technology, allowing her to morph her limbs into deadly weapons. As a tactical diversion, Luthor unleashes a massive kaiju-like creature. The chaos distracts the Justice Gang while Luthor secretly invades the Fortress of Solitude. And let’s not forget the Hammer of Boravia, which evolves into another menace. When the reactor in Luthor’s pocket universe malfunctions, it creates a localized black hole over the city. The dangers pile on top of one another and overwhelm.

The Justice Gang is director James Gunn’s way of injecting his signature ensemble-comedy shtick, but it also adds yet another layer of characters to track. This alt-Guardians-style crew includes Guy Gardner as Green Lantern (Nathan Fillion, rocking a bowl cut), the hyper-logical Mister Terrific (Edi Gathegi), whose deadpan delivery earns laughs, and Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced), who mostly occupies space. Later, Superman is imprisoned in a surreal pocket dimension, held captive next to the shapeshifting Metamorpho. Each of these personalities could easily anchor their own picture—and that’s likely the point of their inclusion. I liked them separately, but together, they crowd the premise. The sheer number of colorful distractions clawing for attention is jammed into an already overstuffed story. The structure’s seams split wide open under the pressure.

What holds it all together, at least in part, is actor David Corenswet. He brings a genuine warmth—a sincere, kind-hearted presence that evokes Christopher Reeve without feeling like an imitation. Combined with Rachel Brosnahan’s spirited, sharp Lois Lane (who channels Margot Kidder), he helps ground the production in something sweet. I liked this symbol of hope. I believed in his goodness. But that kindness is subverted by competing impulses. The pendulum swings from dark, disturbing moments to irreverent jokes that undercut the grandeur of what’s happening. Gunn’s Superman is ambitious and often entertaining, but it’s schizophrenic. The disjointed elements don’t allow the central figure to shine as brightly as he could have. It’s a superhero movie that looks radiant, but feels heavy underneath.

07-10-25