James Gunn has made a name for himself with making superhero films and TV shows that center anti-heroes or people who one would never assume to be a hero, namely because they're criminals or suffering from some mental illness or delusion. They're often vigilantes who cross moral and ethical lines in order to enact whatever justice that they see fit. Gunn achieved mainstream success with Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), which was about a rag tag group of thieves and assassins teaming up to be so-called heroes. Ironically, a few years after that, Gunn created Brightburn (2019), which could be described as the anti-Superman or what if Superman was evil as a child or a total psychopath with a depressing and tragic ending. As such, one would think that he would be the last person you would pick to do a film about the actual character of Superman, but, in 2022, when Gunn and his producing partner, Peter Safran were made the head of DC Studios and they announced that Superman would be their premiere feature, it was quite a shock. It's no surprise that Gunn infuses that anti-hero energy or anti-hero vibe that were evident in his previous work into his titular character here.
Gunn also doesn't shy away from infusing politics into this narrative. It's not just domestic issues. It's international ones. The backstory consists of a country called Boravia invading its neighboring country of Jarhanpur. At the time that Gunn was writing this film, Russia had invaded Ukraine. While Gunn was producing and directing it, Israel had invaded Gaza. The backstory also consists of the titular character who represents the United States interfering with the invasion. It also involves another representative of the United States supplying weapons to one of the two sides. It also weaves in a lot of misinformation, propaganda and corruption. There's enough similarities and parallels that people could draw comparisons to the Russian invasion of Ukraine or the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip. Boravia could be seen as the equivalent to either Russia or Israel.
David Corenswet (We Own This City and The Politician) stars as Superman, a meta-human from another planet who is reportedly the most powerful being on the planet. He wears a suit and cape. He arrived as a baby on a spaceship and was raised by a middle-aged couple in the country. He has super-strength. He can bench press a skyscraper. He has laser vision. He has strong breath. He's extremely fast. He's practically invincible and he can fly, among other things. Based on a message that his biological parents recorded, he believes that he needs to be a savior or a helper of people on Earth. However, when he's not wearing his suit and cape, he lives a regular life as Clark Kent, a reporter for a newspaper called the Daily Planet, which is headquartered in a large city, known as Metropolis.
Superman responds to emergencies and helps people all over the world, but he lives in the United States and considers himself American, given that Clark Kent was raised by Americans. When he does things in other countries, he could be deemed as a representative of the USA. Such is the case when he intervenes in Boravia's invasion of Jarhanpur. Superman basically stops Boravia from invading the country because he deems it wrong, much in the way that people think Russia's invasion of Ukraine was wrong. However, in the real world, if the United States had done something to interfere with Russia doing what it's now doing, including threatening the Russian president, which is what Superman does to the president of Boravia, then that would be an international scandal and could really damage the diplomatic relationship between the two countries. This makes Superman a hero to the people of Jarhanpur, but an enemy to the Boravian president.
Nicholas Hoult (Mad Max: Fury Road and X-Men: First Class) co-stars as Lex Luthor, a very wealthy businessman, possibly a billionaire. He is the head of LexCorp, which is a company that deals in weapons and other advanced technology. He considers himself a genius or as someone who should be revered for his brilliance and innovation. Yet, he's jealous that Superman gets so much hero-worship and acclaim. In fact, Lex openly states that his envy of Superman is what's driving him. He hates Superman and wants to find a way to eliminate him, mainly kill him. He wants to start by ruining Superman's reputation in the press and the media. He finds a clever way by using his parent's recorded message against him, pushing the argument of nature-versus-nurture and is someone simply the product of their parents or are they something more?
There's also a strong current of xenophobia to Lex's behavior. Superman isn't the only meta-human on Earth. There are others, and Lex also doesn't hide his bigotry toward all of them. Arguably, he does have to use meta-humans in his fight with Superman. He could never physically defeat Superman without using other meta-humans. The irony is that it's not that Lex hates meta-humans. He simply hates those he can't control, and there are literally meta-humans, which he controls like puppets or like the robots that assist Superman in his Antarctica home.
Rachel Brosnahan (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and House of Cards) also co-stars as Lois Lane, a fellow reporter at the Daily Planet. She knows that Clark Kent is Superman and helps to keep his secret because she's in love with him. However, she knows that they are two very different people. She's more punk rock and he's more pop music. She's also really dedicated to her work and considers herself a serious journalist that will ask tough questions. Clark is more into writing puff pieces. He sees things as more black and white, whereas Lois sees the shades of grey.
Speaking of colors, the last Superman story to be told on the big screen is Zach Snyder's Man of Steel (2013) and the tone of the colors in that film signaled a more serious Superman. Gunn's colors are more candy-like and pop music-like, brighter and funner, signaling a sillier Superman. Corenswet's performance matches a lighter interpretation of the character, a more comedic one. Gunn doesn't even give Corenswet a beefcake shot because he hopes to focus not on Superman's physicality but rather his personality. We're not meant to ogle at his muscles but to say, "Ahhh!" at his morality. Gunn's instincts are to having fun first. Based on his earlier work, Gunn would likely mock Superman and the opening scene does take Superman down a peg. It does help that Gunn makes Superman, not so "super," so that we feel like there are some stakes.
Otherwise, Gunn throws in a lot of wacky, comic book stuff that at times we're meant to mock or laugh at because it's all in good fun. There's a dog named Crypto that's running around with a red cape. Without much of an introduction, he throws in a bunch of other meta-humans like the Green Lantern, aka Guy Gardner, played by Nathan Fillion (Peacemaker) who is flipping the bird with his green energy beams, or Metamorpho, aka Rex Mason, played by Anthony Carrigan (Barry) who at one point becomes a floating head atop octopus-like tentacles. Yes, there's a ton of wacky, comic book stuff here. The one that impressed the most was Mister Terrific, aka Michael Holt, played by Edi Gathegi (X-Men: First Class and Twilight). His abilities turned out to be the most interesting of everyone. His ability to control his emotions and particularly his temper was amazing as well and resulted in some great line deliveries.
Gunn makes the action here somewhat spectacular and worthy of the big screen. However, in terms of Lex Luthor's schemes, the one here doesn't best the one recently rendered in the fourth season of the CW series Superman & Lois (2021). The problem that Superman faced wasn't one that he could punch or physically fight. It was ultimately a battle of ethics and ideology, particularly when it comes to journalism. I understand though that when it comes to a blockbuster film that needs to make a ton of money, the ending has to be Superman punching something and trying to save the world from splitting in half, literally. Other than that, I don't get much depth to the plot.
Rated PG-13 for violence, action and language.
Running Time: 2 hrs. and 9 mins.
In theaters.