You go in expecting to enjoy a handsome man wearing his undies over his tights, flying around and doing saving-the-world stuff. You get an Interstellar-level show-and-tell universe.
Director and co-writer Gunn, he of Guardians of the Galaxy fame, brought in as CEO to revive the DC Universe, is not kidding around – even when he is. The Lex Luthor (Hoult) of this Superman story is a mad billionaire genius, who is as invested in conquering space as in other countries, and has the ear of a bombastic, self-obsessed president (remind you of someone?).
So Luthor builds a “pocket universe”, which exists in a zone between universes, and has “anti-proton” rivers, flowing into rampant black holes. Luthor also likes introducing “nanonites” into blood streams of his enemies, usually with the help of his malleable (literally) foot-soldier he just calls Engineer (Faria). Further down in the film, a rift in space-time threatens to engulf entire cities.
If all that sounds a bit much, it is. The plotting, beating, hurting, fighting, falling, etc never take a minute’s break in Superman – though it is nice to see that superheroes also get bruised, even if they bounce back at superheroic speed.
The all-Gunn-blazing treatment is surprising given the short and sweet introduction the writer-director gives to his Superman a.k.a Clark (Corenswet). Realising that there are few in the movie-going dimension who do not know the backstory of the infant from Kryptonite who came to Earth, Gunn streaks through it and does not even waste time on Lois’s “Ah, Clark Kent is actually Superman in glasses!” moment.
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As Lois, Brosnahan is clunky and un-charismatic, though the tough interview she subjects Superman to would make any journalist proud. Here again, Gunn taps into something real as Lois grills him over his authority to decide right from wrong, and to act unilaterally on it. That does unsettle Clark – more than what the film hangs its plot on, which is a taped message for him by his biological parents (let’s not tell you who the father is) which, it turns out, is not what he always thought it was.
However, having raised these pertinent questions about the need for great powers to exercise great responsibilities, Superman spends its energy on pitting two fictional countries against each other, with America a busybody bystander. If one of these countries is ‘Bovaria’, the one which it is trying to occupy – and which prays for Superman to save it – is called, wait for it, ‘Jahranpur’.
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Jahranpur is a desert country, of people with skin tones going from White to Brown to Black, with long beards, covered heads and tattered clothes, who wield spears against Bovaria’s tanks.
Corenswet is cute as Supermen go, with a curled lock of hair on the forehead, the dimpled cheeks, the broad shoulders and the rippled forearms. Added charm is the superdog who is his constant companion, named Krypto. The Justice Gang gets introduced (including the Green Lantern, Metamorpho, Mr Terrific and Hawkgirl), and you can see the easy chemistry Gunn engineered in Guardians of the Galaxy at play between them. The speeds which Superman can reach are breathtaking, and the 3D top-notch.
Yes, you can see this team of Superman-plus plus saving many worlds as this reboot of the franchise kicks off. But, let them stick to pocket universes please; leave the ‘Jahranpurs’ alone.
Superman movie cast: David Corenswet, Rachel Brosnahan, Nicholas Hoult, María Gabriela de Faría, Skyler Gisondo, Wendell Pierce
Superman movie director: James Gunn
Superman movie rating: 2.5 stars
