Finally, hope for Superman

Spoilers ahead…

Superman is one of comic books’ greatest squares, just a big ol’ dork, a good guy who does good. But in an attempt to make Superman—a flying alien with laser eyes and ice breath—more realistic, he was turned into a brooding grouch for a decade. Everyone hated it, except weirdos who need their heroes to be violent assholes, so now here we are, 12 years after Man of Steel failed to capture the popular imagination, with a new iteration of Superman. Written and directed by James Gunn, the simply titled Superman attempts to return the Man of Steel to his Richard Donner/Christopher Reeve cinematic roots, and you know what? 

IT WORKS. Superman is great.

David Corenswet stars as Clark Kent/Superman, and rather than rehash an origin we know so well, Gunn drops us into the middle of fight that Superman is losing. Three years into his heroing career, Superman is beloved around the world, but he’s recently come under scrutiny for intervening in an international conflict between two countries, one of which is poor and brown, the other of which is a US ally, and the US government isn’t sure what to do about it. On the one hand, he prevented a war, on the other hand, he acted unilaterally without discussing it with anyone. 

This leads to Superman losing his first fight, and this is where we find Clark Kent, reeling from defeat, besieged by the media and the government, and even fighting with his situationship, Lois Lane. Rachel Brosnahan provides plenty of spunk and a certain real-world grittiness that immediately grounds Superman. Clark is so optimistic you wonder which turnip truck he fell off of, but Lois seems like she lives in the real world where people suck. 

Sadly, though, Brosnahan isn’t given much to work with, and Lois and Clark’s relationship is the weakest point in the film. They spend most of the movie apart, and when they are together, they’re usually fighting. It is interesting to introduce Clark when he is at his lowest, doubting himself as a hero and a man, watching the woman he loves slip through his fingers because he can’t quite breach her protective walls. If only Lois and Clark had more screentime together to take that somewhere interesting!

But Superman never slows down. It plows relentlessly from plot point to plot point, not even bothering to hide Lex Luthor’s involvement in the political plot. Nicholas Hoult is terrific as Lex, as good a villain as Corenswet is a hero. Where the Clark/Lois relationship falls a little flat, Superman and Lex are a perfectly matched nemesis set. Superman’s presence on Earth has rendered Lex completely unhinged, leading him to set up elaborate circumstances to make Superman persona non grata so that Lex can kill him. I wish Superman was a little more circumspect with the villain plot simply because it is an interesting question—what if Superman DID make a mistake? But Superman isn’t interested in pushing Clark’s moral boundaries, in this first installment of a new era, Superman is always right.

But honestly, it’s the right call for the moment. Corenswet is thrilling as Superman, squarely handsome and convincing as goofy Clark and determined Superman. He says “golly” and “what the hey”, he’s corny in the best way. Little kids glom onto Superman, and you believe it from moment one. Little kids WOULD love that huge dork. With his dimpled smile and stupid forehead curl, Corenswet is exactly the right Superman for the moment, just as Christopher Reeve was in the 1970s. He practically vibrates with truth and goodness, and when he delivers his big hero speech, he literally had people on their feet applauding in my theatre. Corenswet’s Superman is genuinely inspiring. Yes, he’s a super-powered alien, but he’s also just a guy trying his best, and David Corenswet gets both of those aspects right, embodying the kind of uplifting, hopeful hero we need right now.

Superman is full of hope, that one person taking a stand is enough to inspire others to follow. The “Justice Gang” is hanging around Metropolis, too, a group of corporate-sponsored superheroes who roll their eyes at Superman…until they see the impact he has on others and are inspired to join his fight. Edi Gathegi is appropriately cold and calculating as the super-smart Mister Terrific—he gets a top-notch power showcase in what is easily the best action sequence in the film; Nathan Fillion is at his dickhead best as the obnoxious Green Lantern, Guy Gardner; Anthony Carrigan manages to infuse a huge amount of empathy and humanity into Metamorpho, a character buried under mounds of makeup and CGI; and Isabela Merced is grumpy and weirdly upsetting as Hawkgirl. She goes into every fight with a distinctive scream that just gets more disturbing every time we hear it. 

The casting is great all the way around. The Daily Planet crew is terrific, including Skyler Gisondo as apparent chick magnet Jimmy Olsen—feels like a meta riff on Gisondo’s real world popularity among Gen Z; Wendell Pierce as gruff editor Perry White; Mikaela Hoover as catty columnist Cat Grant; and Beck Bennett as comic relief guy Steve. It would actually be nice to see more of this group, the Daily Planet stuff is strong but there just isn’t enough of it. Superman is overstuffed, and the Daily Planet cast suffers as a result. Pruitt Taylor Vince and Neva Howell also pop up as Clark’s parents, who are so folksy as to be comical, but at least no one ever suggests he let a bus full of children die. 

And then there is Krypto, the superpowered dog with his own backstory (iykyk). Krypto is the worst best boy, an absolute delight and a total chaos demon every minute he is on screen. (There are no dog crimes!) A huge part of selling Superman’s goodness is the way he deals with and worries over Krypto. Krypto provides a lot of fun in the film, but also comes through in critical moments, underscoring that Superman is never really alone. As hard as Lex Luthor tries to other him, Superman has built a life on Earth, he has friends and colleagues and a dog, and it is not a coincidence that the people who embrace Superman the most earnestly are immigrants and children—the people who most relate to his outsider status and pure goodness. 

Superman is cheesy and goofy and painfully sincere, but it is just the right tone for a superhero movie of now. It goes down easy, a refreshing antidote to all the anger in the world. Will a movie solve real world problems? No, but it is nice to go see a movie where the hero is genuinely inspiring, and the message is one of hope and togetherness. 

Superman won’t just make you believe a man can fly, it will make you believe that a hero can soar with hope in his heart, maybe enough to give us a little hope, too. 

Superman is now playing exclusively in theaters. The dog is fine.