Cinematic Mode – Superman kicks off the new DCU with hope and pawsitivity

I probably don’t need to tell you that there is a lot riding on this Superman movie. Led by James Gunn, CEO of DC Studios, this version of the Man of Steel himself is, all things going well, set to kick off a new generation of DC Universe, with TV shows and films to follow. That’s a heavy load for any feature flick to carry before you’ve even seen it, but I’m stoked to share that this Superman absolutely slaps. Not only is this one of the best DC films ever made, but it’s stronger than pretty much all of the efforts Marvel has put out since Endgame. Despite concerns from trailers and previous modest attempts to bring Clark Kent into the modern age of cinema, this effort shows that there is more than enough heart and soul in Superman to build an entire franchise off of.

To be clear, I’ve always thought of Superman as a boring kind of superhero. He lacks the depth of some more memorable anti-heroes with his golly-gosh presentation, and his invulnerability (Kryptonite not withstanding) has always felt a bit like a cheat code. That’s why mish-mash groups like Guardians of the Galaxy and Suicide Squad feel fresh, by comparison. James Gunn manages to inject that same chaotic energy here, filling Superman with genuine laughs and making him feel more human than ever in the process.

Smartly, Superman expects that you have seen superhero movies before, and doesn’t waste any of its 2 hours and 9 minutes runtime bogging you down with the details. Some quick text on the screen summarises key moments of Superman’s existence, and the film kicks off at the end of a battle, with our hero battered and bruised in the Antarctic. It throws multiple villains and other supporting characters at you and expects you to keep up; after digesting decades of superhero movies from Marvel and DC, I’m glad they didn’t go the full origin route, or even overexplain the why with too much exposition. We’re here for a big, fun action movie, and it delivers, from giant Kaiju battles in the centre of Metropolis to fisticuffs up in the sky and beyond.

It all stems from the incredibly strong and earnest performance from David Corenswet as the man in the red cape. He brings humour, levity and heart to the character, making it his own while also maintaining the plucky enthusiasm and unwavering ‘good person’ ethos that Superman has always maintained. It’s perhaps too early to call, but I left the cinema with a feeling that this might be the best performance of Superman that I’ve ever seen. From his back-and-forth verbal sparring and flirting with Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan) to his endearing frustration with his untrained pooch sidekick Krypto the Superdog, Corenswet is endlessly charming and easy to root for.

While Krypto may be the star of the show, Lex Luthor is at his most unhinged, played masterfully by Nicholas Hoult. Completely obsessed with Superman as his arch-nemesis, he brings a tech-bro smarminess and ‘throwing his toys out of the cot’ energy to every scene he’s in when things don’t entirely go his way. I particularly love how he comically throws stationery to the floor, forcing his minions to hurriedly pick it up. It’s a level of petty I’m here for, and Luthor’s involvement in the overarching narrative shows that he craves power more than ever, consumed by his ‘brains defeats braun’ rhetoric.

Green Lantern Guy Gardner (Nathan Fillion) is another highlight, a massive egotistical jerk who leads the ‘Justice Gang’, including a spirited Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced) and brainiac Mr. Terrific (Edi Gathegi). Fillion has wonderful comic timing, coming off as douchey as you’d expect, and his flashy powers make for a visual showcase. When he’s flipping tanks (by literally flipping them off), it’s hilarious, and his cockiness while working alongside Superman is an entertaining contrast. Mr. Terrific has a wonderfully deadpan delivery with his lines, too. Generic name aside, he brings super-smarts to the team with drones and tech-savvy that adds another neat layer to fight scenes. While it does steer focus away from Superman perhaps a bit too long at times, this fleshing out of the broader DC Universe of characters can only help as building blocks for the future.

Some of the plot points do get a little bit muddled, though. There’s a war between two fictional nations, Boravia and Jarhanpur, which Superman got too involved in while on his mission to save lives everywhere, causing political strain. Lois and her crew of reporters from The Daily Planet make a late play to tell the world what’s really going on, but this feels a little phoned in; we barely get to know most of her colleagues, apart from Jimmy Olsen (Skyler Gisondo), who has a particularly hilarious sub-plot with a sexy source who likes him a little too much. Lex Luthor’s main muscle, the Engineer (María Gabriela de Faría), also comes off a little two-dimensional for my tastes, though she’s a badass and a threat throughout.

Still, the beating heart of Superman is the titular hero himself. Invincible though he may be, an identity crisis has him working to overcome some internal struggles, while looking to prove to the world that he’s just a good person, trying to do the right thing. Whether it’s in a surprisingly emotional interview with Lois, a heartfelt chat with Pa Kent (Pruitt Taylor Vince), taking a breath to calm down a civilian, or even making the effort to rescue a squirrel when the whole of Metropolis is under attack, he’s unmistakably the modern, utterly likeable Superman that we need.

With Corenswet leading the charge and James Gunn deftly proving once again that he knows what makes a great superhero movie tick, DC Studios – and the DC Universe at large – is off to an incredibly strong start.

Superman is in cinemas now.

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Checkpoint Gaming attended a screening of Superman as a guest of Universal Pictures Australia.