As a kid and into my teens Spider Man was my favorite superhero, the comic I collected the most of, and the collection I much later made a lot of money on in the early days of Ebay. I was a Marvel kid for sure, but at swap meets and thrift shops I encountered and took possession of a lot of DC. I would not actually collect DC until I was into my 20's, and those were very specific. Suicide Squad and Johan Hex were almost complete sets I had.
But the big three, you know, Superman, Batman, and even Wonder Woman were in my collection. At some point as a young man Superman became my favorite overall hero. Whether a big blue boy scout, or a troubled and alienated being, Supes in any flavor was OK by me.
What we get in James Gunns Superman is a mildly flawed, kind of corny and loveable Man of Steel. He really comes off less like the 70's Reeves Superman, and more like that films goofy Clark Kent. This movies Clark actually seems cooler than his Superman identity.
Superman starts the movie off all beat to shit, and his cousins dog Krypto drags him to the Fortress of Solitude where Supes assistant Robots put him on a gurney and expose him to magnified sunlight to bring him back near peak. Yes, if this all sounds very 50's and 60's Superman then you are on the nose. James Gunn is looking to vintage and kind of cartoony DC for his inspiration. Anyway, Supes is right back in action and back to getting his ass kicked. All up and down Metropolis.
Nick Holt is a great Luthor. Both evilly funny and at times terrifying. Though he seems to be a good boss to his assistants. He doesn't hit anybody like you might expect from this Luthor. He just breaks a glass and tells them to clean it up. They hop right to it so they must be well paid. And the most abuse he heaps on his girlfriend Miss Teshmacher is throwing a pencil at her. But at some point he does jail her in his prison dimension where what appears to be another former gif is already imprisoned. So yeah, that seems kind of dark.
So Luthors scheme is to out Superman as a fraud or something, and when he unscrambles the speech by Supes Krypton parents where it is heavily implied they sent him to rule (Gunn ripping off Invincible it seems) rather than protect. When humanity is supplied the scandalous info (confirmed to be genuine by Mr. Terrific) they turn on Superman. This rewriting of Supes parents is probably the most controversial addition by Gunn. But it sets up an incredible montage of how great Clarks Earth parents were to him growing up, and how they inspired him to be good, not some prince of aliens from an ice planet on the other side of the galaxy. I actually got misty at that point. Gunn got me.
My toxic fandom cronies online are not going to like how much I like the movie. It is not as woke as I feared. Any political stuff is blurred enough that you can add what you like. The foreign war portrayed could be Israel, or it could be Ukraine. So pick your preferred flavor of global injustice.
The back up cast is pretty good. They are all there. Lois, pal Jimmy (who it turns out is a dork who somehow gets unbelievable supermodel sniz on the reg)
Perry White (who nowadays is ironical black), office slut Cat Grant, and others.
Of the other heroes Guy Gardner is good, Hawkgirl may as well not even be there (though she gets her own wicked moments on the battlefield), but Mr. Terrific is, well, Terrific. The most obscure of the bunch, I loved him in the comics. Worlds smartest man as well as super athlete. His abilities, and technology, and attitude are right out of the comics. He might be the most accurate portrayal of a comics hero ever. He needs his own movie.
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Everybody loves a nutty dog, but Krypto gets annoying at times. Cousin Supergirl, played by the chin girl from House of the Dragon, shows up for like a minute at the end to collect her dog, and is clearly drunk. When she leaves she calls Supe a bitch, which I thought was funny. She is a party girl. This is all a reference the Woman of Tomorrow graphic novel where Supergirl likes to go to yellow sun planets so she can actually get drunk, and a story that the upcoming movie will be based on.
Superman starts and ends the movie beat to shit. There is a certain lack of the respect the character gets in other media. Authorities and other heroes treat him more like the popular high school quarterback than a demigod. And it's OK. This is Superman early in his career. There is room to grow.
Oh yeah, some pretty good songs selected like James Gunn do.
So yes, I do recommend it. It's a good time at the movies.
Cheers.
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