Up, up and … eh? A rebooted ‘Superman' gives the Man of Steel a mind of marshmallow
Director James Gunn's antsy reboot skips past the origin story of infant Kal-El slamming into Kansas in an escape pod from Krypton. Instead, this 'Superman' opens with Corenswet's savior slamming into Earth again, this time after losing his first fight. Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult) and his bionic minions have batted Superman around Metropolis like a toy, forcing him to flee to his Fortress of Solitude in Antarctica with 14 broken bones and a busted bladder. The starkness of the white snow against his bright costume looks like a blank page asking: Who should Superman be today?
The Superman myth has always been a fable of collision: a near-perfect alien challenged to protect fragile, scared humans who struggle to accept that we're not the bestest beings in the universe. Here, Kal-El's parents (Bradley Cooper and Angela Sarafyan) are heard insulting Earthlings outright — 'The people there are simple and profoundly confused' — which, for the franchise, is actually going a little easy on humankind. Historically, we tend to let him down, going back to his surprisingly spiky movie debut in 1951's 'Superman and the Mole Men' (note the lack of a 'versus'), in which George Reeves protected the outsiders of the title from a rural American mob. 'Obviously, none of you can be trusted with guns, so I'm going to take them away from you,' he lectures the townsfolk, pretzeling their shotguns. 'Stop acting like Nazi storm troopers!'
Gunn isn't that punk rock. He's pop punk; he wants to be liked by a mass audience. Having taken control of the DC Universe, he's pivoted away from gloom to concoct a Superman who isn't too sweet or too serious — frankly, he's a little stupid. After a hasty resuscitation from his adorable dog Krypton and his robot butlers (voiced by Alan Tudyk, Pom Klementieff and Michael Rooker, among others), Superman races back into battle before he's healed. He gets beaten senseless again.
Stupid is a smart idea for a 21st century reboot. Superman's stymied do-gooder impulse feels right for an era where you can't say 'Save the whales' without some genius asking why you don't care about plankton. The goal might have been to make him super naive. But Gunn doesn't do sincerity, so this Superman comes off as obtuse and overwhelmed — which, even for a Julliard-trained actor like Corenswet, is pretty impossible to pull off with any personality. His dimples and blue eyes are empathetic. But he mostly just looks dazed.
This Superman is all impulsive energy, much like his unhousebroken puppy, who also wears a cape and tramples on things when he tries to help. They're essentially the same species. Superman gets distracted midfight by his urgent need to protect a squirrel; Krypto spends one brouhaha looting a pet store. Superman's reporter girlfriend of three months, Lois (a savvy and sensible Brosnahan, kitted in fabulous '70s-style threads), is well-aware of his dual identity and the flaws in his hasty reactions to injustice. She points out that physically threatening the thuggish president of fictional Boravia (Zlatko Buric) to stop invading weaker countries is technically torture. 'People were going to die!' Superman sputters. Lois' reticence about him mirrors our own vacillation with the DC Universe's new direction: We need to see something more from this guy before we commit.
In this script, the lines of good and evil aren't drawn in black and white or even gray — they're a tangle of squiggles. There are no neat solutions, no shortcuts and there's no way for Superman to defend himself when Hoult's Luthor drums up a dubious sex scandal to accuse the Kryptonian of 'grooming' humanity and hires an actual room of typing monkeys to ruin his online reputation. (You may remember that before Gunn was hired to oversee DC Studios, Walt Disney fired him from Marvel when a blogger behind Pizzagate unearthed the director's old shock-jock jokes about pedophilia and 9/11. Clearly, that grievance is still on his mind.)
The plot is impatient but entertaining enough. The villainous billionaire Luthor, who Hoult plays like a beady techno-zealot, has several schemes up his fancy sleeve. One involves a tent city in the desert that hides a portal to an extrajudicial jail for his enemies, both interstellar and domestic. (He's got green-skinned babies and a sobbing ex-girlfriend in there.) Gunn has sarcastically tried to make the place look cheery — Luthor's henchmen are dressed in mismatched Hawaiian shirts — but the sequence might give you the shivers.
Gunn is known for wrangling groups of weirdos ('Guardians of the Galaxy,' 'The Suicide Squad') into blockbuster action-comedies. His instincts are to spray everything with silly string and slap on a wacky soundtrack. Here, there's actually a very good doom metal electronic score by John Murphy and David Fleming, but the movie stiffens up whenever it needs to get real. When we visit Clark Kent's family farm, it's touching to see his childhood bedroom. But his plainspoken Ma and Pa (Neva Howell and Pruitt Taylor Vince) have been made to talk so slowly they sound like they have brain injuries. It's as though 'Superman' isn't sure how to be earnest without whacking us over the head with it.
The script is way more confident when Gunn gets to scribble in the margins, whisking in Milly Alcock's party-hardy Supergirl for a fast and fun cameo. (She'll have her own movie next summer.) Luthor's main henchwoman, known only as the Engineer (María Gabriela de Faría), is constructed from skittering robotic cells that let her change form like a Swiss Army Knife, while his latest ditzy blonde girlfriend, Eve (a very funny Sara Sampaio), wriggles her way into becoming a memorable highlight. One of the film's umpteenth kaiju fights introduces the corporate-sponsored Justice Gang, a trio of apathetic superheroes spearheaded by Green Lantern (Nathan Fillion) with Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced) and Mr. Terrific (Edi Gathegi). They dispatch a monster so gracelessly that Superman finally gets some sense knocked into him. 'There's got to be a better way to do this,' he groans.
The movie's tone shape-shifts just as recklessly as an outer space inmate named Metamorpho (Anthony Carrigan) who can transform into explosive acid. Gunn is compelled to show us his entire vision for the DC Universe. But as he cuts from a slow-burning gag about a garage door opener to a legitimately brutal execution to a whizbang combat scene set to a song that whoops, 'Fun fun fun!,' I just wished I was having more of it.
This isn't quite the heart-soaring 'Superman' I wanted. But these adventures wise him up enough that I'm curious to explore where the saga takes him next. Still, I left chewing over how comic book movies can be so popular and prescient, and yet people who've grown up rooting against characters like Lex Luthor cheer them on in the real world. Maybe Gunn can answer that in a sequel. Or maybe our stubborn myopia is what this Superman means when he says, 'I screw up all the time but that is being human.'
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Los Angeles Times
an hour ago
- Los Angeles Times
‘Superman' isn't superwoke. Why the backlash is overblown
This story contains some spoilers for 'Superman.' In James Gunn's 'Superman,' the titular superhero is devastated when he learns that his birth parents sent him to Earth to subjugate humanity. In theaters now, the film is set a few years into Superman's caped career. The Kryptonian — who grew up as Clark Kent on a farm in Smallville, Kan. — always believed a message left to him by these birth parents was an encouragement to use his powers to be a protector and hero. He is more than shaken to learn that was never the case. It's Clark's human father, Jonathan, who points out that the message's intent doesn't really matter. 'Your choices [and] your actions, that's what makes you who you are,' he says to his son. Being an alien refugee might be why Superman has his superpowers, but it's who he is as a person that makes him a superhero. And although it is mostly left unsaid, Clark's kindness and values come from how he was raised — by loving parents in America's heartland. Despite 'Superman' being as all-American as ever, the movie has become the most recent front in America's never-ending culture war because of comments made by Gunn acknowledging the character is an immigrant. But Superman is more a story about the triumph of assimilation and opportunity. As the new movie also shows, Superman would not be Superman if he was not raised by Martha and Jonathan Kent on a farm in Kansas. And as much as Superman is undeniably an immigrant, it's hard to deny in the current political climate that he also resembles the type of immigrants who have traditionally been more embraced in this country. Since early last month, the Trump administration has aggressively targeted Latino communities across California. Immigration raids have seemingly indiscriminately taken people from their workplace, on their way to court and even in parking lots. Federal officials have pushed back on claims that these operations have targeted people 'because of their skin color.' According to federal authorities, more than 2,700 undocumented immigrants have been arrested in L.A. since early June. This is not the first time the U.S. government has targeted specific communities of color because of their ancestry. During World War II, 120,000 people of Japanese descent were incarcerated in wartime camps regardless of their citizenship. Gunn, however, has long maintained that his 'Superman' is 'a movie about kindness [and] being good.' The filmmaker, who has been outspoken in his criticism of President Trump, told the London Times that 'Superman is the story of America. … An immigrant that came from other places and populated the country.' He reiterated that the movie is about 'human kindness.' The backlash was swift, with familiar right-wing commentators and personalities criticizing the film for allegedly being 'superwoke' before it was released. Even former Superman actor Dean Cain has spoken out against Gunn's comments and the perceived politicization of the character's story. In response, comic book fans, including Democratic politicians, have pointed out that Superman — an alien born on the planet Krypton, sent to Earth to escape his planet's destruction — has always been an immigrant. 'The Superman story is an immigration story of an outsider who tries to always do the most good,' Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Long Beach) posted Wednesday on X. 'His arch nemesis is a billionaire. You don't get to change who he is because you don't like his story. Comics are political.' 'Superman was an undocumented immigrant,' Gov. Gavin Newsom's press office wrote Thursday on X in response to an image of Trump as Superman posted by the White House. Others on social media have circulated clips from past Superman media, including from Cain's show 'Lois & Clark,' where the character's immigration status is addressed. Despite the accusation and backlash, Superman has never been as 'woke' as the current debate makes him seem. Created by Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel, both children of Jewish immigrants, Superman's first official appearance was in the first issue of 'Action Comics' in the 1930s. With his iconic red and blue caped costume, the character is known as much for his godlike superpowers as he is for being the ultimate good guy with all-American looks and charm. His adventures have spanned comics, radio, television and film. Besides evil billionaires, Superman has taken on superpowered supervillains, alien invaders and even his clones, as well as human threats like Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan. Yes, some Superman stories are more political than others. But Superman has never been radical in his politics. As a Kryptonian raised on Earth by human parents, the character has been shown in stories where he struggles with his own sense of otherness and belonging because he straddles two worlds. But other than rare outliers, his story has never delved deeply into how immigrants or those perceived as other are treated in the U.S. (For that, consider checking out some 'X-Men.') That's because Clark Kent's immigration status or Americanness will never be questioned because of his appearance. That itself could be subversive, but that's a debate for a different 'Superman' movie.
New York Times
2 hours ago
- New York Times
David Corenswet Wants to Be a Superman You Can Count On
Even before he became the linchpin of a new superhero universe, David Corenswet took great pride in being reliable. 'I don't know whether I'm a good actor in the sense that I see people onscreen and think, that's a good actor,' he said. But what he does know, and what he aspires to, is that people can count on him. It's a reputation Corenswet has cultivated since he was a child actor, when he once delivered his lines so efficiently during a commercial shoot that the crew got to go home early. 'I want people to feel that every day that my name is on the call sheet is going to be a better day — a little bit of an easier day, and maybe a more fulfilling day,' he said. Now, Corenswet's reliability will be put to its ultimate test. The 32-year-old is playing the iconic title character in James Gunn's 'Superman' reboot, which arrives in theaters this weekend burdened by big expectations. It's the first feature from the newly rebranded DC Studios, which previously managed some successes ('Wonder Woman,' 'Man of Steel') and a passel of bruising bombs ('Justice League,' 'The Flash,' 'Shazam: Fury of the Gods') in its efforts to keep pace with Marvel's highly lucrative cinematic universe. These days, though, even Marvel is facing headwinds: In a market saturated with comic-book content, audiences don't always show up for cape-and-tights spectaculars the way they used to. Warner Bros. is betting that Gunn, who was hired to co-lead DC Studios after directing Marvel's 'Guardians of the Galaxy' trilogy, can restore the luster to its superhero shingle. But the future of the DC slate, including next year's 'Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow,' hinges largely on just how high 'Superman' can soar. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
'Superman, 'Jaws @ 50' and beyond: Your guide to this weekend's top movies to watch in theaters and at home
Hello, Yahoo readers! My name is Brett Arnold, film critic and longtime Yahoo editor, and I'm back with another edition of Trust Me, I Watch Everything. This week, James Gunn's Superman is flying into theaters. I found the alleged franchise starter to be disappointing, though comic book fans may find things to love. Luckily, there are some great flicks freshly available to rent in Sovereign and The Unholy Trinity. Plus, there are even more that are brand new to streaming, like a documentary celebrating the 50th anniversary of Jaws on Disney+ and Hulu, the Hitchock-esque thriller Drop on Peacock and plenty more, including The Bear star Ayo Edebiri in Opus, which is now on HBO Max. Read on because there's something here for everyone, including 5 key highlights and several other options for each of the below categories. What to watch in theaters Movies newly available to rent or buy Movies newly available on streaming services you may already have Why it doesn't really work: James Gunn's Superman, which damn near singlehandedly carries the weight of the future of DC movies on its broad shoulders, has to be the most disappointing movie of the year so far. It falls almost entirely flat, relying on the audience's pre-existing relationship with the characters rather than using any of the film's runtime to set up this world or build any sort of emotional connection to these people. Gunn certainly has a take on the character, but he never came up with a hook. By the time we meet our hero, played here by relative newcomer David Corenswet in an underwhelming attempt at a star-making turn, he and Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan) are already a couple, and we're supposed to buy their relationship simply because it's there on-screen. You don't feel the romance; they are simply already dating! Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult) already hates Superman and is secretly controlling the enemies that Kal-El faces throughout, with no real pathos added. We are introduced to Superman himself as he loses his first-ever fight, with text very briefly informing viewers of the history of meta-humans and Superman's place in our world. The movie wastes zero time getting political, setting up a conflict in which Superman unilaterally steps in to prevent a war between two fictional countries. It all amounts to an unsubtle critique (that ultimately winds up as an endorsement) of United States interventionism abroad, and Gunn wades even further into politics by leaning into the "Superman is an alien immigrant" metaphor, botching the specifics regarding his parentage, no matter how well-intentioned. It's actually wildly offensive! Superman is also overstuffed, full of side characters, a problem that countless superhero movies as of late have fallen victim to, making tentpole movies feel like a small part of something larger rather than a singular satisfying product. It plays as if you flipped to a TV show on a random episode in its sixth season, having seen none of it before. It shoots for Saturday morning cartoon and "comic book come to life" energy and instead lands at "chintzy streaming-era TV feel." All of this would be easy to forgive if it delivered action worthy of a summer blockbuster superhero movie spectacle, but that is arguably its worst asset, as the overlit look and its complete and total reliance on rubbery CGI renders all that action cartoonish, boring, and repetitive. It just has no weight to it. The repeated use of Superman's (entirely CGI) dog Krypto for comic relief gets old, too. Hardcore fans of comic books and/or Superman may find things to praise here, but casual audiences are likely to be underwhelmed by it as it really lacks the sort of rousing crowd-pleasing energy and charm that made Gunn's Guardians trilogy and his Suicide Squad entry a lot of fun. It's a flat nothing of a movie, a fact made starkly clear any time there's supposed to be a moment of genuine emotion. It's ultimately just another superhero movie, even if it looks more like a CW show. 🍿 What critics are saying: My negative opinion is actually in the minority, so don't be dissuaded just yet! The Telegraph's Robbie Collin wrote that "Gunn's kitchen-sink approach feels refreshingly generous, and his excitement for the character shines through." Jake Coyle at the AP noted that "a weird Superman is better than a boring one." 👀 How to watch: Superman will be in theaters nationwide Friday Get tickets Why you should watch it: Nick Offerman is absolutely terrific and perfectly cast in Sovereign, a movie based on the true story of Jerry and Joe Kane, a father and son were self-proclaimed sovereign citizens involved in a deadly confrontation with police in West Memphis, Ark., in 2010. It's a fictionalized take on the incident and not a direct retelling. It amounts to a dual character study that tragically builds toward the aforementioned incident; a thriller of sorts, but with real emotional weight behind it. It's a specific parenting story that speaks to the inherent dynamic of the father-son relationship: the father trying to mold the son to their worldview, and the son resisting, or embracing, that. Offerman is sublime in the role, making you almost pity the man who is so staunch in his convictions as those convictions are revealed to be watery and not based in reality. The filmmakers are essentially weaponizing his well-known "Ron Swanson" persona from Parks and Recreation to great dramatic effect. Jacob Tremblay, child actor of Room and Wonder fame, now almost 20 years old, plays the son. It's also a strong turn from him even if Offerman steals the show. 🍿 What critics are saying: Everyone agrees that Offerman is the highlight; Frank Scheck at The Hollywood Reporter specifically praised the performance as "terrific" (jinx!) and says it's "uncomfortable but necessary viewing." Indiewire's David Ehrlich, too, praised Offerman but was less sold on the movie overall, writing that it's "too vague and scattered to chart a legible path toward his breaking point." 👀 How to watch: Sovereignis in limited release theatrically and is also now available to rent or buy. Rent or buy 'Sovereign' Why you should watch it: The Unholy Trinity is a good old-fashioned revisionist western that transcends how barebones and cheap it is because the filmmakers were smart enough to cast Pierce Brosnan and Samuel L. Jackson in lead roles. The A-listers really elevate the material, which is a blessing, as the true lead character played by Brandon Lessard is a total zero of a presence that makes you wonder how he landed the role. In the film, a young man returns to an old Montana town to reclaim his legacy. He's caught between a law-abiding sheriff and a destructive stranger as old secrets lead to violence. The dialogue is sharper than you'd expect from this kind of production, and the gunfights are well-staged and exciting in a way that they often aren't here. 🍿 What critics are saying: It's a mixed bag, with more negative reviews than positive ones. Variety's Joe Leydon dug it, agreeing that it "provides more than enough rapid-fire shootouts, impressive stunt choreography, shifting allegiances and moderately clever plot twists to keep things interesting." William Bibbiani at the Wrap, however, did not, writing that members of the cast are "all trying to make a meal out of starvation rations. The cast's efforts aren't in vain, and the film is better for having them, but a thing can get a whole lot of 'better' before it gets 'good.'" Oof. 👀 How to watch: The Unholy Trinity is now available to rent or buy Rent or buy 'The Unholy Trinity' 🤔 But that's not all! : Wes Anderson's latest is a decidedly sillier follow-up to his extremely personal Asteroid City, but it's a laugh riot that still manages to be emotionally affecting all the same despite being as cartoonish as anything Anderson has ever made, including his actual animated films like The Fantastic Mr. Fox and Isle of Dogs. Benicio del Toro is sublime in the lead, and newcomer Mia Threapleton, daughter of Kate Winslet, steals scenes with her deadpan delivery. Tom Hanks, Bryan Cranston, and other familiar faces appear throughout. — Rent or buy. :This unwieldy legacy sequel tries to connect all the disparate eras of the franchise, to mixed results. If the movie had any room to breathe, it might've been more compelling; in its current form, it feels truncated and like entire character arcs are missing. It plays more like several separate movies smushed together than a coherent whole. Despite being extremely messy, the lead karate kid himself, Ben Wang, is very good, and it's fun to see Jackie Chan and Ralph Macchio share the screen. — Rent or buy. Why you should watch it: To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Jaws, arguably the most popular movie ever made, a new documentary from a storied behind-the-scenes documentary filmmaker sets out to tell the story of the movie, its influence and maestro Steven Spielberg's relationship to the film. There's new talking head-style interview footage with Spielberg, which includes a few bits of insight from him that feel personal and newly shared, like how he suffered from PTSD and intense nightmares after the tumultuous production was finally finished. Spielberg's musings are interspersed alongside chats with dozens of others, from collaborators like the local islanders who ended up in the movie to other famous filmmakers like Steven Soderbergh and Jordan Peele, whose careers were influenced by the movie. There's a sequence in here that breaks down the iconic Alexander "Alex" Maxwell Kintner scene that is an excellent analysis of what makes Spielberg a great director, showing how effortlessly he moves his camera, quite literally directing the audience where to look. It's a masterclass in filmmaking and a great showcase of how the best directing is invisible and intuitive. Nobody needs a documentary to tell you how great Jaws is — though this is far from the first one — but this is a fun watch that does a great job of telling the nuts and bolts of the making of the movie itself as well as its legacy half a century later. 🍿 What critics are saying: Jump right in, the water's fine! Shawn Van Horn at Collider agreed that it's worth a watch, calling it "joyful and inspiring." Movieweb's Julian Roman noted that it "serves as a victory lap of sorts for Spielberg." 👀 How to watch: Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story is now streaming on Disney+ and Hulu. Stream 'Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story' Why you should watch it: The specifics are best left unspoiled, but if you're into Alfred Hitchcock-inspired thrillers, and don't mind if they get a little silly, Drop is a lot of fun and perfect streaming fodder now that it's available on Peacock. The movie centers around Violet, played by Meghann Fahy, who you may recognize from The White Lotus or The Bold Type, who, while on a first date, begins receiving threatening messages via "air drops" to her phone, demanding she carry out increasingly dangerous acts. It recalls similar films like Cellular,When a Stranger Calls and Phone Booth, and it feels particularly indebted to Wes Craven's Red Eye, but it's entertaining enough to stand on its own, even if it does admittedly fall apart in the third act. It's a rollercoaster ride more than a coherent film, and sometimes that's OK! 🍿 What critics are saying: Most agreed that this movie is a blast, including Ty Burr at the Washington Post, and it sports an 82% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Amy Nicholson, however, at the Los Angeles Times, found certain elements 'aggravating.' 👀 How to watch: Drop is now streaming on Peacock. Stream 'Drop' 🤔 But that's not all! Dave Bautista and Milla Jovovich star in this bats*** crazy post-apocalyptic western based on a short story by George R.R. Martin of Game of Thrones fame. Jovovich plays an omniscient witch, and Dave Bautista is the bounty hunter she teams up with to journey into dangerous territories on a job hunting down a shape-shifting werewolf for a power-hungry queen. If that sounds like the right kind of wacky to you, you will enjoy it. Otherwise, steer clear!— Now streaming on Hulu. This meta-documentary-biopic hybrid is intentionally difficult to pin down, but fans of the '90s indie band Pavement will get a kick out of this movie that's equally earnest as it is making fun of itself. It's often hard to tell when it's doing which! As I wrote when I recommended it for rental, "even those unfamiliar [with the band] may get something out of it." — Now streaming on Mubi. In this A24 film that bombed at the box office earlier this year, Ayo Edebiri plays a young writer invited to the remote compound of a legendary pop star (John Malkovich) who mysteriously disappeared thirty years ago. The pop music concocted for Malkovich is actually not bad, but that's about the only nice thing to say about it. Besides that Edebiri is also good, as it falls apart in a way typical of this kind of barely-a-horror movie with vague cult-y vibes. — Now streaming on HBO Max. The latest film from director David Cronenberg sees the legendary Canadian filmmaker getting more personal than ever before with this movie about death and dying, made not long after Cronenberg lost his wife of nearly 40 years. All the usual themes of his work, like the destruction of the human body, are on display but distilled through a distinctly modern lens, and dealing with new concerns from beyond the grave. The conspiracy here is reminiscent of the Coens' Burn After Reading, which is a delightful meshing of my specific interests. — Now streaming on Criterion Channel.
