Reviews

Move over, Henry Cavill, there’s a new Superman in town! David Corenswet makes his debut in the iconic red and blue suit in James Gunn’s Superman.

The latest superhero movie, which launches Gunn’s new DC Universe, smartly avoids rehashing Clark Kent/Superman’s origins and instead drops us in the middle of a new story.

The film is set three years after Superman (David Corenswet) announces himself to the public, and he’s already working at the Daily Planet and dating Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan), who already knows his true alien identity.

After Superman stops a conflict between the fictional nations of Boravia and Jahranpur, his nemesis, tech billionaire Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult), seeks to destroy his popularity by releasing some damaging information – before trying to wipe him out for good.

While writer-director Gunn made the right decision by skipping the origin tale, it’s quite disorientating being dropped bang in the middle of a story. Films typically have a beginning, middle and an end, but Superman starts in the middle, and you feel like you’re playing catch-up.

Gunn tries to pack in so many ideas and characters that his film feels overstuffed and rushed, and the momentum is all over the place.

The director is known for his sense of humour and quirky characters thanks to the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise and The Suicide Squad, so it’s no surprise that he brings those qualities to Superman.

However, this isn’t his strongest script; the comedy is rather patchy, and the characters still feel rather bland and one-dimensional, no matter how much personality the actors try to inject into them.

Gunn also struggles to make his fight scenes exciting and engaging, and one particular sequence set to Noah and the Whale’s 5 Years Time doesn’t land as it should.

Plus, he falls into the classic superhero movie trap of making the climactic act a big CGI mess.

The film’s saving grace is the cast, who are spot-on as their respective characters. Corenswet really looks the part and brings a much-needed lightheartedness, while Brosnahan is smart and radiant (although underused) and Hoult elevates his stereotypical villain role.

There are some worthy additions on the supporting cast, too, from Edi Gathegi as the no-nonsense Mister Terrific and Nathan Fillion as the silly and amusing Green Lantern. But none of these people can match the scene-stealing dog, Krypto!

After Zack Snyder’s dark and super serious Superman films, this outing feels like a step in the right direction with its light tone and bright visuals. Despite this, and its terrific cast, the story still feels too familiar to really beat the superhero fatigue.

In cinemas from Friday 11th July.

By Hannah Wales.

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