Superman info:
Director: James Gunn
Writer: James Gunn, Jerry Siegel, and Joe Shuster
Starring: David Corenswet, Rachel Brosnahan, and Nicholas Hoult
Hello and welcome to another week here at 1guysmindlessmoviereviews.com. If I had a fantastic review last week, I hope this week’s review is super. With “Jurassic World: Rebirth”, then “The Fantastic Four: First Steps”, and now “Superman”, this has been the trifecta of big blockbuster movies all coming out one right after another. But I guess this is what the summer movie season is all about, right? Grab those families and bring them to the movies while school is out. Much like last week, I have lots to get to, so let’s get the spoiler warning out of the way. If you don’t want to know what happens in “Superman”, then head back over to my website to check out some other reviews, then come back here later.
For everyone else, let’s get this started. For years, I was a Marvel-only kind of guy. Not that you can’t love both DC and Marvel, but DC just wasn’t putting out content that I loved. So, there are quite a few of the DCEU films that I still haven’t watched. Then somehow James Gunn happened. The guy who turned the Guardians of the Galaxy into a household name and did it with style and flair somehow got turned to the dark side. Ok, maybe not dark side, but you know what I mean.
“Superman” is a very well-made movie, and I love how it starts. Much like the discussion I had last week about the origin story of the Fantastic Four, this is done in a very similar manner. After countless adaptations of Superman, we know the backstory, so we don’t need another one. Instead, it begins with Superman (Corenswet) literally crashing to the ground after losing a battle. This, mixed with a news report of what happened, we are brought up to speed rather quickly.
There also isn’t much setup for the “Justice Gang”, which was a clever way to introduce what I assume will later become the Justice League or Lex Luthor (Hoult) as he is already powerful and is trying to take down Superman. Hoult makes a great Luthor, Brosnahan makes a good Lois, and kudos on the great casting of the Justice Gang as well. Nathan Fillion was hilarious as the Green Lantern and so over the top like that character deserves. Isabela Merced as Hawkgirl was underused, but I enjoyed Edi Gathegi’s Mr. Terrific, even if his superhero name isn’t.
This progresses in the same way you would think any Superman movie would go. Luthor keeps trying to find ways to take down Superman. Superman fights back, but takes a couple of shots in the process. Eventually, Luthor turns the world against him, and he becomes disliked (exactly according to plan). The one part I didn’t see coming was when he turned himself in and was put in prison in an alternate universe. This is where he meets Metamorpho (Anthony Carrigan), who helps him escape.
All of this leads to a final showdown between Superman and a clone of Superman whom Luthor had created. As far as final battles go, it was fun, but it’s nowhere a great fight scene. As the clone is dispatched, the final test is to close the rift in the universe that Luthor created, trying to pull off his plan to stop Superman. At the end, Krypto flies in and gets a hold of Luthor.
If you’re not a fan of Superman or don’t know who any of these characters are, then you may struggle to follow what is going on for a large portion of the movie. But for everyone else, it was nice to jump straight into some action and big story moments. Gunn did a really wonderful job with the pacing, the dialogue, and the big epic shots. Clark’s relationship with Lois is entertaining to watch as it happens on screen, so is his internal struggle to keep his beliefs in line.
Overall, this was better than I expected, and it even makes me interested in any of the upcoming DC films. I’m excited to see what else Gunn brings to the table. However, I still think parts of it were too easy to figure out. Maybe this is my Marvel blood seeping out a little bit, but I definitely feel like it could have been an even bigger movie than what it was. I will give them a pass since they are rebooting an entire universe, but for now, I give this a 7 out of 10.
My time here is nearly complete, so I will leave it up to you now. Have you had the chance to check out “Superman” yet? If so, what are your thoughts, and do you have a preference between Marvel and DC? Thanks for reading, and I will be back next week with a happy movie review.
Well, here we are with the new DC movieverse. Gotta say, I’m still disappointed they didn’t try harder to salvage the previous series, but then I disagreed with a lot of the negative reviews of most of the previous movies. Then we get this. Some of it worked for me, a lot of it didn’t. Let’s start with the good.
Okay, nice to see Mr. Terrific, Metamorpho and Hawkgirl on the big screen. Mr. Terrific was pretty well done. Metamorpho and Hawkgirl were both good, but could’ve used more story time.
And, then, of course, the star of the movie, Krypto. Let’s face it, he saves the day. He made a valiant effort at saving the movie…but even he couldn’t get that one done. Come on, dog lovers, we’ve all adopted that pup that leaves us wondering what in the world we were thinking, and then ends up growing on us after a while. This is that dog, with superpowers. Whosa good boy?
And then there’s what didn’t work…basically everything else. Superman and Lois…no chemistry, stiff acting, and generally left me wondering why they were together whenever they were on screen. Henry Caville and Amy Adams and then Tyler Hoechlin and Elizabeth Tulloch both did the couple so well.
I will give Nicholas Hoult credit, he did Luthor so much better than Jesse Eisenberg, but he was a far cry (yeah, I said it, and I ain’t apologizing) from John Cryer in the Arrowverse. Never mind Clancy Brown’s brilliant job in Superman TAS.
Wonderful, Nathan Fillion finally gets to be Green Lantern…but why Guy Gardner? All the Green Lanterns they could have done, and they pick the biggest jerk of them all? Nathan Fillion would have made a great Hal Jordan, or bring back Ryan Reynolds (okay, I admit it, I enjoyed the Green Lantern movie, even if the CGI suits were weird). Maybe John Boyega as John Stewart, but, please, anyone but Guy Gardner!
Justice Gang? Not wild about the name, or the matching uniforms. Mr. Terrific was the only design they got right here, though Hawkgirl’s helmet and mace were right on.
Ultraman…this character is not a dime-store knockoff of Bizarro. He’s an alternate reality mafia variant of Superman. Yeah, that whole bit just fell flat.
Overall, after this and the atrocious mess that was The Suicide Squad, I gotta say, James Gunn, please go back to Guardians of the Galaxy. Leave DC alone.
Yeah, I think people are either going to enjoy James Gunn’s DC or not. I think you’re in the latter. Personally, I haven’t been a big fan of Superman over the years, but I enjoyed this one.