5 min to read
Superman
How is the new Superman movie?

Review: This movie is so mixed for me. There is so much that the movie does right and that I love, but there is also so much that it does that takes away from what was done correctly.
Just for starters, one of the movie’s greatest strengths is its casting. Everyone is playing their roles perfectly. David Corenswet plays such a powerful yet kind Superman. Rachel Brosmahan plays such a curious, intense, and honest Lois that perfectly complements David Corenswets acting. Edi Gathegi and Nathan Fillion also play a perfect rendition of Mr. Terrific and Guy Gardner Green lantern. I could keep going, but I was just so surprised how well the casting worked out I was blown away.
Additionally, what makes the casting feel so good is that you are dropped into the world of Superman without any sort of explanation, backstory, or anything. There’s no need to have to sit through an origin story to then get to the interesting part of the movie. You start in the heat of battle, where characters already have existing and complicated relationships, whether this be with other superheroes (like Green Lantern, Hawk Girl, and Mr. Terrific) or with others (like Lois Lane), and it is on the audience to pick up on the complexities and the nuance of these relationships. I think it’s very bold to do this, especially in a new beginning for DC, but I think it really helps the story (more like stories) being told throughout the film to have a headstart.
Another part of the movie that was fantastic was the appearance and visuals of the film. If you’ve seen any film by James Gunn, especially the Guardians of the Galaxy movies, you know he has a distinct visual style. He has such a way to make everything feel vibrant and visually stunning. He is able to pull off a very similar visual style in a way that is able to bring the comic pages of Superman to life.
Where the movie really struggles is the film’s overall story. It’s all over the place. There is a main story, but it is completely overwhelmed by so many various small plots that completely overwhelm the movie. Not only do you have no idea what’s going to happen next, but the little plots that take over aren’t interesting at all and some of them are just weird. They should have been taken out and had the main plot take focus, allowing for everything to be fully developed, earned, and well rounded.
Additionally, there is so little Clark Kent in the movie. The duality between Clark and Superman is key to me for an incredible Superman story. While not trying to make this movie all comparisons to former Superman movies, this movie does a poor job at trying to show Clark, who he is, and how he interacts with people on a general level. . You really only see Clark walking to work, at work, and then right before an interview with Lois as Superman, and all of this took place in the span of 5 or so minutes. I needed more time with him as Clark to appreciate more of him as Superman.
What I was also hoping for the movie to do was to subvert some of my expectations regarding the action sequences. Being in the theater a lot, I tend to see a significant amount of trailers, and I thought the trailers for this movie were great. It showed me exactly what was in the movie, but that was it. There was nothing hidden in the movie that wasn’t being shown in the trailers. Usually there is something that happens throughout the course of the film that really changes the direction and the energy of the movie.This movie didn’t have that at all for me. Everything in the movie was nearly shown in clips or trailers, so by the end of the film I just thought ‘that was it?”
Another letdown for me was the score. When I think of Superman music, I initially think of the John WIlliams fanfare along with the bombastic Hans Zimmer score with the pounding drums and the blaring French Horns. The score of this movie was entirely based on the original John Williams fanfare. I’m completely fine with the score trying to envelop the love and the feeling of Christoper Reeve’s Superman, but besides that the score didn’t move me at all and it didn’t wow me. I thought it was extremely simple and lacked any sort of ‘wow’ factor. What makes this frustrating to me is how Man of Steel may have significantly worse writing at times, but the score in the movie is just so good and so moving I forget entirely what was said or what was done, just feeling the message of the film. I was truly hoping for this kind of score, but I was extremely disappointed.
Overall, the flaws in the movie really took away from what I thought was great in the movie, which really frustrated me. After already seeing the extremely positive reactions online and the very high rotten tomatoes score (both for critics and audience), I think most people will definitely enjoy this significantly more than I did, but I’m not alone in my frustrations, as my wife and friend also had very similar issues with the movie too. We really wanted to enjoy it more, but it just ended up being ‘Okay’ in the end and being James Gunn’s worst DC or Marvel super hero movie to date.
Rating: 3/5
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