'Superman' movie review: David Corenswet soars as an empathetic Man of Steel
Written and directed by James Gunn ('Guardians of the Galaxy'), 'Superman' not only introduces a new Man of Steel in David Corenswet but also launches a rebooted DC movie universe. The poppy, satisfying adventure (★★★½ out of four; rated PG-13; in theaters July 11) succeeds on both fronts with the best Supes since Christopher Reeve. The movie features pervasive positivity, one really cool canine and a bright comic-book aesthetic. And while this fresh superhero landscape is extremely busy and a little bit familiar, it also feels lived-in and electric.
Gunn has no interest in easing you into this new world with an origin story or exposition dump. Taking a page out of 'Star Wars' and 'Raiders of the Lost Ark,' he drops viewers right into the middle of a story, three minutes after Supes just got his butt handed to him by a baddie. This is a running theme: Our hero gets smacked around a lot in this flick, but always smacks back.
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After being saved by his puckish superdog Krypto, Superman returns to win the battle but faces all sorts of issues. Metropolis' favorite good guy is dealing with a PR backlash after stopping fictional Boravia from invading another country, which angers the U.S. government. He's also ticked off billionaire tech bro Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult), a genius who resents that this alien from Krypton is more popular than he is.
Luthor and his squad – including influencer girlfriend Eve Teschmacher (Sara Sampaio), nanite-fueled henchwoman The Engineer (María Gabriela de Faría) and the mysterious masked Ultraman – raid Supes' Fortress of Solitude. They find and reveal a secret recording that Superman doesn't even know about, turning the public against him and causing our hero to question everything about his past and identity.
Gunn fills his 'Superman' with plenty of action, from the title character's flying jaunts – filmed as searing, windswept experiences – to Superman throwing down with a giant kaiju. But what makes the movie, and Supes himself, endearing is how the dude tackles any and all problems with empathy and sincerity.
He has a bit of a fight with his girlfriend, fellow Daily Planet journalist Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan), over the Boravia incident that demonstrates their strong-willed personalities. And when all heck breaks loose, even interdimensionally, Superman puts all of his existential crises aside at one point to find the missing Krypto.
A jacked Corenswet sells that so well, bringing vulnerability, relatability, humor, some righteous frustration and a welcome lack of cynicism to the ultimate good-guy role. And Brosnahan lends an enjoyable feistiness to Lois, who's very much the second lead of the movie: She gets more action-hero duties than previous versions of the character, and suffers no super-fools like the punchable Guy Gardner (Nathan Fillion). And Hoult is an inspired choice for the nervy and smarmy Lex, a supervillain who might be the most realistic personality in a fantastical world.
One could argue that Gunn tries to do too much in this opening salvo. There are Easter eggs aplenty, some surprise cameos and a large supporting cast, so big you might not keep up with them all. (Make sure to take note of the terrific Edi Gathegi as Mr. Terrific, though.)
That said, there are no false notes or wasted energy in making this revamped DC universe stand out from the previous, overly dour DCU or the quippy, slick Marvel movies. 'Superman' is more conventional than Gunn's 'Guardians' flicks, or even his DC outings "The Suicide Squad" and "Peacemaker," yet he's carried over the unhinged, off-kilter fun of those films. And while Gunn doesn't overdo it with political stakes, themes and personalities, he certainly drives home the point that kindness is the superpower we all should be using on the regular.
What's most important here, however, is that the guy in the tights works. In the past, that 'S' on Superman's chest meant hope, and Corenswet imbues his hero with joy and optimism, from the boots all the way up to his signature spit curl. It's the Man of Steel who's perhaps deemed old-fashioned by some yet seems most vital now.
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