At one point during James Gunn's Superman, our titular hero is trying to prevent casualties during a kaiju attack and among those he saves is a squirrel. Test audiences hated it, but as James Gunn himself put it: "I really miss the squirrel. He's gotta save the squirrel." And nothing better proves how perfect he was to direct this movie than his insistence on keeping that in.
See, I've never really connected with Superman as far as superheroes go. I never held anything against him, he just always seemed a little too cheesy, a little too corny, a little too earnest for my tastes. Granted, I grew up in the cynical 90s and as a gay teen in Texas, I was dripping with said cynicism, so it was going to be an uphill battle for me given that I only casually read comics even at that point.
Despite that fact, I knew enough about him to know that the movies that came out in my later years were either misreadings (Superman Returns, 2006) or outright insults (Man of Steel, 2013) to the character. Even worse, many of the movies themselves were mediocre or bad, so it seemed like he was doomed to forever be sidelined as Marvel became a juggernaut while the DC movies were only occasionally good.
Then along came this movie. I won't say it completely changed my opinion of the hero - I'll always be a bit too jaded to fully embrace him - but at last it appears we have a director who not only understands but leans into the corniness that is a cornerstone of the character.
And this Superman, as played by David Corenswet, is a cornball. Trying to avoid killing at all costs - even against enemies - and working to save anything and anyone while saving the day. He hardly swears - the one notable one is darkly funny when it occurs - and the incident that sets off the main plot of the film isn't because of an attack or because his fortress was broken into, but because someone took his dog.
Speaking of that main plot, the trailers (thankfully) don't reveal much of it. The basic elements are there - Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult) wants to get Superman out of the way, people mistrust Superman after Lex's shenanigans, and ultimately Superman has to save the day - but so much of the meat and potatoes is left out of the trailers that I hope the film's success convinces other studios to stop showing so much. It also takes the bold step of beginning at a point where Superman is already established and known - saving us from rehashing his well-tread origin story yet another time.
I also have to hand it to Gunn for his casting choices - not a single actor feels out of place and in many cases it feels like the perfect person was chosen for the role. Hoult absolutely nails Lex Luthor and I only hesitate in giving him best-in-show because Edi Gathegi (as Mister Terrific) comes close to stealing the movie out-from-under the rest of the cast. Rachel Brosnahan, as Lois Lane, also nails the character in a way we haven't seen since Margot Kidder and even the smaller roles of Green Lantern (Nathan Fillion), Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced), and Eve Teschmacher (Sara Sampaio) all add flavor that feels just right for what the film is going for.
Gunn has proven with his previous superhero films that he knows how to stage an action scene, and that continues here. None of the fights feels derivative of his other films however, and it weirdly feels like he matches the action to the 'vibe' of the character (for lack of a better word) in inspired ways. It's an underrated aspect of his direction.
All this to say: This is a damn good movie. It might not ever be among my favorites, in general or even within this genre, but this is damn good filmmaking.
8.5 out of 10. And thank God he saved that squirrel.
