Superman - A Movie Review

It's been awhile since the last Bean's Blog Movie Review -- the most recent was Sinners and Warfare at the end of April. But this was my first time back at the theaters since Friendship (Tim Robinson movie with Paul Rudd that is hysterical, btw) -- and seems like many others are too, with the movie bringing in $235 million in North America (over $400 mil worldwide).

Today, I'll give you my thoughts on the first entry to the DCU -- Superman. Under James Gunn -- director of the Guardians of the Galaxy films for Marvel -- DC has kicked off a new universe following mixed results in the DCEU. His Superman is a departure from the Henry Cavill/Man of Steel version of the character. The movie features David Corenswet as the titular character, Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, and Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor.

Non-spoiler section will be first, then I'll do specific/spoiler thoughts after the Description and Cast:

Overview

Movie description from Google/Gunn

When Superman gets drawn into conflicts at home and abroad, his actions are questioned, giving tech billionaire Lex Luthor the opportunity to get the Man of Steel out of the way for good. Will intrepid reporter Lois Lane and Superman's four-legged companion, Krypto, be able to help him before it's too late?

The Cast

• David Corenswet -- Superman / Clark Kent

• Rachel Brosnahan -- Lois Lane

• Nicholas Hoult -- Lex Luthor

• Kypto -- Bark Ruffalo

• Nathan Fillion -- Guy Gardner (Green Lantern)

• Isabela Merced -- Hawkgirl

• Edi Gathegi -- Mister Terrific

• Anthony Carrigan -- Metamorpho

• Skyler Gisondo -- Jimmy Olsen

If you're unfamiliar with David Corenswet coming into this, you're not alone. And frankly -- while you can see him in Twisters, Pearl, and We Own This City like I had coming in -- you don't need to. He's playing Superman. The less you see of his past characters, the more you can lock in. And I think he does a great job -- good comedic timing, genuine and heartfelt, built like a statue. He will do very well in this role for years to come (so long as James Gunn is writing the character).

I feel pretty confident that Brosnahan is probably already a better Lois Lane than we've seen in any Superman movie. She embodies the character the best and feels like a totally unique one from what we've seen before.

Hoult as Luthor is terrific. It's a hard villain to get right because he's a human fighting against the strongest hero on the planet. But the way he uses his combination of vast knowledge and resources to find chinks in the Man of Steel's armor is great. These 3 were far and away my favorite characters to watch throughout the movie.

In the supporting cast -- Fillion was funny as a Green Lantern, and I liked Mr. Terrific a ton. Anthony Carrigan (Noho Hank from Barry) I like a ton, but his character was pretty minor. Didn't love Hawkgirl, didn't love anyone at the Daily Planet aside from Jimmy Olsen. And the movie is at it's best when the Big 3 are on the screen -- not focused on any of these side characters.

Non-Spoiler Review

Without going into specifics, what I can say about Superman is that it's a very fun, nostalgic, entertaining ride of a movie. It has a similar vibe to the Guardians of the Galaxy films Gunn made, but is a wholly unique experience. And when thinking to the previous iteration of Superman from Zac Snyder/Henry Cavill -- this is a much (MUCH) lighter, cartoony version of the character -- and I mean that as a huge compliment.

I really like the starting point they used in this movie -- meaning where they drop the viewers into this film on the Superman timeline, rather than doing the full origin story we've seen a million times. I think it created a unique perspective as a viewer, but that doesn't mean I enjoyed the first 20-30 minutes of the film, because I wasn't a fan until one particular scene early on occurred and I started getting into the story.

Lastly on the positives, I also think that the movie has quite a bit to say about the world today -- which may not be most people's cup of tea in a Superhero movie -- but I think works. There are obvious parallels to the real world throughout, and it has lots to say about the meaning of "Found Family," which if you've seen the Guardians movies or Peacemaker from James Gunn, you know is a theme he excels with.

On the negative side -- while I think the city of Metropolis in this movie looks incredible and is filmed so well -- the CGI flat out sucks balls at times. I also think that there are certain times throughout where the cheesiness goes off the rails -- I'm all for cheesy, but never in excess. And, as sort of mentioned earlier, I think the movie kind of comes to a halt whenever anyone but Supes, Lois, or Lex are on screen.

OVERALL -- I would recommend this to any one that asked -- especially if they're a comic book movie/cartoon fan. I think there's a lot of meaning about family, fitting in, accepting others, and other positive themes throughout. I liked the lead performances and was pleasantly surprised by Corenswet's/Gunn's take on Superman -- but this movie does have some visual, tonal, and focus issues throughout. Far from perfect, but plenty of fun.

Score:

78/100

Previous Bean's Blog Movie Review Scores:

Hit Man: 90/100

Sinners: 89/100

Warfare: 85/100

Twisters: 81/100

Superman: 78/100

Snack Shack: 74/100

Carry-On: 72/100

Wicked: 70/100

Spoiler-Review Thoughts

IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN SUPERMAN YET AND DON'T WANT SPOILERS, NOW IS YOUR WARNING

Going to do this a little different than above, more spit-balling thoughts from the movie. Gonna try to do a Pros and Cons style here.

My #1 negative thought leaving the movie was -- Krypto the dog played way too much of a role in this movie. It's a dog. This isn't Rocket Raccoon, James, it's a non-talking dog. PLUS a dog that doesn't even belong to Superman -- it's Supergirl's (Milly Alcock, sup?). One or two big moments + comedy relief would be great. The non-talking dog shouldn't be saving Superman's ass and beating every villain the entire fucking movie. Let Krypto do this shit in Supergirl next summer, not here.

Positive thought: I think the way they set-up Luthor with incredible tech, a literal pocket dimension (the part of the movie that looked like ass from earlier) at his disposal, and a seemingly endless knowledge of Superman and his moves. Hoult does a great job acting the part (his monologues were great I thought), but the character is well-written and set-up for success.

The Peacemaker cameo on the news show made me laugh out loud.

The scene that helped me settle into the movie was Lois interviewing Clark as Superman in the apartment. I enjoyed their back-and-forth and seeing how different their perspectives are on things -- but what I loved is that Lois and Clark already started dating. I didn't want to watch all the set-up, I'm happy we jumped in with them dating and Lois knowing he's Superman.

Speaking of timing, when I said earlier I liked the starting point -- dropping us in to a world where Superman's existed/been relevant for 3 years in public is what I liked. It felt like hopping into a Star Wars movie a little bit (which Sean Fennessy said first on The Big Picture Podcast), because there's already things happening in the world and we just get a little bit of context.

I did not super enjoy the first 20 or so minutes of Superman groaning, healing, hiding, then going back to the fight and getting his fucking ass beat up-and-down the city. I do like the idea of Gunn making James Gunn less powerful overall so fights/battles are more interesting, but watching him not land a single shot against Luthor's Ultra Man is not fun to watch to me.

Ultra Man being a partial clone of Superman in that reveal toward the end -- meh. I kind of assumed it was a water-down version of him, when the guy literally never takes his helmet off it's a pretty decent bet.

Skyler Gisondo -- aka Jimmy Olsen in this movie -- that guy swims in pussy. Unreal aura.

Mr. Terrific was a dog, the actor gave me Wesley Snipes vibes. Nathan Fillion had tons of good one liners, and his Green Lantern powers were used for funny jokes. Hawkgirl didn't do it for me -- the whole screeching + having zero personality is a losing combo for me. But as a unit, I was less interested in seeing these guys than Superman/Lois/Lex.

I loved the scene of Metamorpho finally deciding to help Superman, putting away the Kryptonite, and creating a mini-sun basically to power him back up..... After that, the scene went to fucking hell. Disgustingly bad CGI, looked like shit, the river of protons or whatever the fuck it was. BOO all of it.

Bradley Cooper as Kal-El's Dad? Not too fucking shabby. Made me laugh.

Bigger fan of his adopted parents in Kansas. Ma and Pa were cute and perfect for the tone.

I do think the ending of this movie was pretty good all-around, and I wish it fully ended on the scene of him and Lois fly-making-out and not the cheesy new videos of his parents in the ice chamber. Nitpick maybe, but didn't like ending on that to be honest.

That's all I've got for now -- it was a very solid kick-off to the new DCU and I'm excited to see what else they have in store. Comment your score below!