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Time Out
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Time Out
Superman
Even those cinemagoers who have grumbled about the preponderance of superhero origin stories – and I'm guilty there – might feel a touch of remorse watching writer-director James Gunn's puckish and political (but wildly overstuffed) blockbuster skip merrily past all the basics of DC's most righteous figure. The Guardians of the Galaxy man, probably mindful of the many Super-movies that have come before his, races through Kal-El's origins in a handful of captions over the opening frames: an Antarctic vista into which a battered and vulnerable Superman (David Corenswet) is hurled after his first defeat in battle over the skies of Metropolis. In those few sentences, establishing the existence of metahumans on Earth and the arrival of Superman from the planet Krypton 30 years prior, this DC reboot skips jauntily past the entire plot of Richard Donner's 1978 classic. So, there's no orientation, none of the scene-setting Smallville stuff with Jonathan and Martha Kent (though they do get a touching later scene). We're not getting those early flirtations with girlfriend Lois Lane (the impressive Rachel Brosnahan) either, or even Clark Kent learning how to use The Daily Planet 's nifty-looking CMS. In fact, we're not getting much of Clark Kent at the most in medias res -iest bit of storytelling imaginable, a gambit that feels more and more misguided as the movie slips deeper into generic superhero terrain in a packed but muddled second half. A giant chasm is carving its way towards Metropolis? Superman is being washed towards a black hole on some kind of quantum waterway? After a while you genuinely start craving a scene where it's just Clark and Lois enjoying a quiet date night. That's surely closer to the heart of this franchise than this torrent of identikit dust-ups. Sparky superdog Krypto will not be for everyone Instead, his umpteenth attempt to get DC's superhero universe airborne throws in team-ups with Green Lantern (Nathan Fillion), Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced), and someone called Mister Terrific (House 's Edi Gathegi, getting the coolest stuff to do here), plus a pair of superbads with shades of Zod's sidekicks, and a bunch of super robots, not to mention the odd giant monster and more than a few falling skyscrapers. The story cedes the floor to the villain: Lex Luthor, played by Nicholas Hoult as an alpha tech man-baby with a pathological need to do away with his Kryptonite foe. He has Supes dancing to his tune throughout, turning the US government and the public against him, and using portals to ship his adversaries to his own interdimensional prison. Ya- awn. On the upside, there's Superman himself. David Corenswet, talented-spotted by Gunn playing Pearl 's creepy projectionist, makes the best Man of Steel since Christopher Reeve, a lovely balance of sweetness, strength and self-doubt bubbling beneath the surface. Like a walking Athena poster, he's born to cradle a baby in his bulging arms. This being a James Gunn movie, he gets a green alien one with a funny face. Its fate makes a cute interlude in one of the (very) many VFX-drenched action sequences. And I enjoyed sparky superdog Krypto! A mundane-looking white pooch, he's a sidekick whose lack of proper training and licky nature makes him a menace to foes and friends alike. Admittedly, he won't be for everyone. Best of all, Gunn never shies away from the political optics of this immigrant hero and his zeitgeisty nemesis, a billionaire megalomaniac adept at manipulating talk shows and social media discourse alike. Luthor even gets his own troll farm staffed by rabid typing monkeys trying to make the hashtag 'Supershit' stick online. (Fox News went with 'Superwoke' instead.) A Superman movie that starts with this immigrant saving an unarmed, possibly Palestinian-coded populace from a neighbouring despot is more than honouring the spirit of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster's creation. For Gunn, who has injected superhero movies with a winningly irreverence since his R-rated indie Super, ridding the DCEU of its bombast and self-seriousness is a step in right direction. Whether, like his alien hero, he can arrest the march of time and reinvigorate this tired genre is another matter. In cinemas worldwide Fri Jul 11.
Indian Express
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
With Superman, James Gunn projects America's favourite superhero as an outcast, but that's not his sharpest comment on the country's politics
James Gunn has made a career out of telling the outcast's story. From his early films that went under the radar — the 2006 sci-fi horror comedy Slither and his 2010 maiden superhero movie Super — to his much-celebrated Marvel franchise Guardians of the Galaxy and DC debut The Suicide Squad, Gunn has even infiltrated the saturated superhero universes with oddball energy and subversive quirks. Who else could take America's favourite superhero and turn him into an outcast, an outsider, an 'immigrant,' as he put it. In fact, the first time Superman is addressed in Gunn's iteration, he's referred to as an 'alien.' Identity crisis is not new to Superman's conflicts. Even in Zack Snyder's Man of Steel (2013), Superman grappled with the idea of being an outsider, but that jostling is more internalized than external. In fact, it gets to the external in Snyder's Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), when even the Caped Crusader turns on his future Justice League teammate and levels allegations of conspiracy against America on him. During the interval block, when Superman is on trial, and a suicide bomber destroys the court building in order to frame him, the lone survivor in him knows he'll be blamed for the explosion. But unlike Snyder, Gunn enjoys the unique position of straddling both DCEU and MCU. He took his signature lightness of touch, that made Guardians of the Galaxy so watchable, and showered it all over The Suicide Squad, making it stand out as a far cry from David Ayer's gruesome 2016 version. Sure, Snyder's gritty treatment made the internet demand his cut of Justice League (2021), but one shouldn't forget that the Guardians of the Galaxy cast also lobbied for Gunn to be reinstated as the threequel director even after he'd joined the rival gang in DC. Also, unlike Snyder, Gunn is able to focus more on the external than the internal because he's able to make his characters self-aware, unassuming, and not as holier than thou that they're often perceived to be. What jarred so much in a Snyder film — that Martha twist in Batman v Superman — could very well land in a Gunn world, with two more punches rolled in along with it for good effect. Gunn stamps his trademark creative motifs all over Superman — an exaggerated villain in Nicholas Hoult's Lex Luthor, a furry companion to the protagonist in Krypto, and allegiance with fellow anomalous superheroes in Justice Gang. Hawkeye, Green Lantern, and Metamorpho's warring of words with Superman make them a team trying to reconcile their eccentricities in order to meet the higher purpose of saving the day. It's no Guardians of the Galaxy, but the departure from a cohesive unit like Avengers or Justice League underlines the theme Gunn is trying to spotlight through his iteration. Gunn reflects an America where the big tech chief shapes and controls the narrative because he owns everything from the mainstream media, social media to search engine algorithms. Gunn's Elon Musk-like Luthor is dating a dumb-as-a-doorbell Instagram influencer. But again, in a James Gunn world, no outcast is disregarded as a tokenistic presence. The very influencer, who's considered merely a flowerpot in a room full of technologically proficient, advanced individuals, in fact turns out to be their Kryptonite. Even the one she's in cahoots with — a reporter who often goes unnoticed in the newsroom thanks to his everyman-ness — ends up using that very anonymity to gain an edge over America's gravest internal threat. Every life — a woman in a car, a girl crossing the road, and a dog barking at a life-sized monster — is accounted for. Superman spends most of his time and energy saving each and every one of them, instead of flagging the American stripes at the cost of civilian or individual casualties. That's why when Superman's past and origin are used as tools for his character assassination, his adoptive parents remind him of his strongest superpower — his choices. Even if his biological parents from Krypton sent him off to Earth to lord over the gullible and the less mighty, he chooses otherwise. It's only when he comes to terms with the fact that he's as human as the Earthlings — because he wrestles with self-doubt like the rest of them — that he makes Luthor confess to his real motive. Luthor wants to eliminate Superman because as a proud innovator, he wants to prove brain's supremacy over brawn. But what good is a brain if it wants to dumb the other brains down? What good is an insider if he betrays his nation for power? Similarly, what good is a peace-keeping nation if it engages in war to chase that idea of peace? Gunn invokes America's political irony in Superman, but he reserved his sharpest commentary for another character — Peacemaker. John Cena's anti-superhero was introduced in The Suicide Squad as a part of the squad who turns on his teammates on the order of US government stooge Viola Davis' orders. He claims his goal is to achieve peace at any cost, which involves even murdering people left, right, and centre. Like Superman, an outsider who makes America his own, Peacemaker is an insider who infests on his own country, both wearing irony as a cape. Peacemaker grabbed eyeballs for his evil turn in The Suicide Squad, but Gunn, having felt he gave the character a short strife, revives him in a spin-off show on HBO. The length of the format allowed Peacemaker to be presented as a full-blown, well-rounded character. Luthor, or even Superman, couldn't enjoy that because of Gunn's attempt to pack a host of themes and characters into two hours. In Peacemaker, Cena's character has a dad who looks and behaves like Uncle Sam and a bestie in Eagly, a bald eagle who's seen resting on Uncle Sam's arm in pop culture. His central conflict is to not get bogged down by Uncle Sam's pointy finger, but let the eagle guide his allegiance to a nation. An eagle preys, sure, but it also flies. It doesn't let its vision be confined to a country. Christopher Smith aka Peacemaker is the son of a white supremacist who injects his son's blood with racial lordship. Right from childhood, he's shamed for crying like a girl and banished for even harbouring an interest in rap and rock & roll, gifts of the Blacks to the land of America. Smith is hardened to an extent that he doesn't even realize when he accidentally punches his brother to death in a casual, childhood brawl. But because his father blames him for his brother's death, Smith's gnawing guilt sabotages his latent will to do better. He doesn't want to follow in his father's footsteps and engage in war in the name of his nation. All he wants is peace — but the years of conditioning compels him to resort to violence as the path to peace. He becomes a vulture circling his past, even when he wants to chase the dove of peace. While internally, he needs to save America from ingrained white supremacy, externally also, he has to save the world from a rather absurd threat — butterflies taking over human bodies and serving as the hosts in order to bring a new world order. Transformation is in the DNA of a butterfly, so when one of them convinces Peacemaker to join forces because he also desires a better planet, he shakes off the toxic temptation to control and thwarts the threat. His internal journey meets his external — Chris Smith becomes one with Peacemaker, one who wants peace for all, and not peace for the immediate at the cost of war for the other. Also Read — Superman: James Gunn's idea of an India-coded country is regressive and riddled with stereotypes; the Man of Steel wouldn't stand for it This journey felt far too rushed in Superman. The external also weighed heavy on the internal, as is the case with many of these superhero tentpoles. Gunn managed to paint Superman as the ultimate outsider, but his protagonist was too busy saving the world to go on through that internal metamorphosis without spelling it out in dialogues like he does in his final battle scene against Luthor. He announces himself as a human, but the fact is no human proclaims he's one. He just makes peace with the fact that he's no peacemaker; he's just a man battling demons within to choose peace, every day.
International Business Times
3 days ago
- Business
- International Business Times
What is Baby Grok? Elon Musk Announces AI App for Kid-Safe Content Under xAI
July 21, 2025 21:56 +08 Tech entrepreneur Elon Musk has unveiled plans for a new AI-powered application designed specifically for children. The upcoming app, named Baby Grok , is being developed by Musk's artificial intelligence company xAI. He announced the project in a brief post on X (formerly Twitter), stating: "We're going to make Baby Grok @xAI, an app dedicated to kid-friendly content." X The announcement follows Musk's ongoing criticism of mainstream social media platforms and their effects on young users. In a post last year, Musk warned that "a lot of social media is bad for kids" due to how algorithms compete to stimulate dopamine-driven engagement. He urged parents to monitor and limit children's screen time. Though few details about Baby Grok have been made public, Musk said the app draws its name and creative inspiration from Baby Groot, a beloved character from Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy franchise. He did not disclose any launch date or feature set but emphasized the goal of promoting safe and positive content experiences for children in a digital world dominated by adult-oriented AI tools. The announcement comes on the heels of xAI's recent release of Grok-4, its most advanced AI chatbot to date. Musk claims Grok-4 can tackle highly complex tasks—ranging from PhD-level academic problems to real-world engineering challenges—with no reliance on existing online data. The model has reportedly outperformed competitors like Google's Gemini 2.5 Pro and OpenAI's GPT-4 in benchmark tests, including the rigorous "Humanity's Last Exam," where Grok-4 achieved a score of 26.9%. A key innovation in Grok-4 is its use of a multi-agent architecture. Instead of relying on a single AI engine, it distributes tasks across several intelligent agents that work together to solve problems. This approach increases accuracy and adaptability, making it more effective in dynamic or high-stakes environments. Whether Baby Grok will inherit any of Grok-4's architecture remains unknown. However, Musk's initiative signals a growing interest in child-safe AI amid rising concerns over online content safety and digital overexposure. As AI continues to evolve, Musk appears keen to position xAI not just as a powerhouse of intelligence but also as a protector of younger audiences in the digital era.
Daily Record
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Record
MOVIE REVIEW: We see if 'Superman' is a soaring start to the new 'DCU'
Vulnerable and battle-hardened 'Man of Steel' rocks in emotional thrill ride. James Gunn, co-creator of the new DC Universe ( DCU) 'media franchise', has taken it upon himself to helm its first big screen outing. David Corenswet stars as the Man of Steel and, thankfully, we dive straight into the action as there was no need for another take on Superman's origin story. Truthfully, despite really enjoying Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy and Suicide Squad, I was nervous for this as the trailers hinted at a humour-heavy tone. There is some of that here but it doesn't overwhelm the story Gunn, also on writing duties, is trying to tell and with the odd exception - turning Skyler Gisondo's Jimmy Olsen into a ladies' magnet - laughs are earned. Raw emotion is often delivered - pretty much any scene involving Corenswet and Pruitt Taylor Vince's Pa Kent - and although we see very little of Corenswet's Clark, this is the most vulnerable cinematic Superman yet. Corenswet excels, whether his Man of Steel is physically and mentally beaten, wrestling with his adopted humanity, sharing tender moments with Rachel Brosnahan's Lois Lane or soaring through the skies into battle. There are a lot of characters but most get time to shine and Gunn doesn't burden his film with too many teases of what is to come in the DCU. Brosnahan is a steadfast, initiative-taking Lois, Nicholas Hoult's hot-headed, manipulative Lex Luthor is a nice throwback to the hyper-intelligent inventor often seen in animated form, Edi Gathegi's deadpan Mr Terrific is a surprise scene-stealer and, as made obvious in the trailers, Krypto makes for a wonderful canine companion. A late villain reveal is extremely obvious and, at times, there's an overload of CGI amid punch-heavy combat. And Gunn makes a brave change to Superman's origin that may annoy some devotees - but I was on board with it. Superman as a whole soars high on the comic-book movie scale as well as setting the stage for an exciting future for DC fans young and old. ● Are you excited for the new DCU? What characters are you looking forward to seeing on screen? ● Superman is showing in cinemas now. And did you know Lanarkshire Live had its own app? Download yours for free here.
Time of India
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Time of India
'He was an absolute gentleman', James Gunn recalls telling Henry Cavill about the ‘Superman' recast, his reaction and more
James Gunn , the man responsible for bringing Superman's character to life, recently revealed how everything went down when the casting for the latest film was being discussed. He revealed how he had to tell Henry Cavill , who had taken on the role before David Corenswet , that it was being recast. James Gunn recalls how he had to tell Henry about the recast Gunn recently got candid about what all went down while casting for the new 'Superman' film, which has been well-received by the public ever since its release. During a new episode of the podcast 'Happy Sad Confused', Josh Horowitz recalled how the news of Henry being back for the role came on the very day that they closed the deal in his studios. At the time, there had been a lot of confusion amongst fans of the film, as after his cameo in 'Black Adam', the actor had released an official video saying, 'I wanted to make it official — I am back as Superman'. The blunder happened then, two months later, Cavill shared that he would no longer be taking on the role of the beloved superhero. James talks about Henry's reaction to the news The 'Guardians of the Galaxy' writer shared during the podcast that after finding out about Henry's return, they were shocked. He delved into how they thought it was fair to inform the actor about the news face-to-face as well. 'That was really unfortunate, I'm like, this poor guy. And so Peter [Safran] and I knew the right thing to do was to sit down with [Cavill] and talk to him. And we sat down, we talked to him, he was an absolute gentleman, a great guy about it. He said, 'The only thing I ask is that I'm able to reveal it myself as opposed to it coming from you guys'', Gunn shared. He even called the whole ordeal unfair to Cavill, and stated 'wanted to take on what they wanted to do at DC and were trying to force their way, and it just was never a part of the equation'. Will Henry Cavill return to the world of superheroes? While fans of Cavill were disappointed to see him no longer be the beloved 'Superman', there is still a possibility that the actor might make his return to the multiverse! During the podcast, the host asked about how everything would be if Henry were cast in another role. Gunn replied with enthusiasm, saying, 'No, as another character? Absolutely not. I talked to him about it on that day. I would love to put Henry in something'.
