I finally saw James Gunn’s Superman over the weekend. If you are looking for a light popcorn movie, then you’re gonna like this one. If you’re looking for a film that is not only entertaining but also stays faithful to the best parts of the Superman myth, this one is probably going to disappoint.
What does this film have going for it? If you like over-the-top, immersive CGI, this is your movie. It was a really good cartoon—along the lines of the second Dr. Strange movie. I personally appreciated the throwback to the old Super Friends Hall of Justice. I didn’t see that coming, but there it was in all its almost-life-like, CGI glory. Lots of campy humor and snappy one-liners. Lois is spot-on when she tells Green Lantern, “That haircut should be against your vows.” So there is a fun-factor in this one that is very similar to Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy.
But for me in the end, I didn’t really like it. Unlike Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel (2013) or Richard Donner’s Superman (1978), this is not a movie I’m interested in seeing again. Here’s why. [Spoiler Alert!]
I don’t like it when the CGI makes me feel like I’m watching a really good cartoon. I guess that’s some people’s cup of tea, but it’s not mine. That’s especially the case when the story and characters are just “meh.” When I’m not invested in the story and the characters, I lose my willingness to suspend disbelief. That’s when the obvious animation loses me. And that’s what happened when I saw Superman being washed away into a black hole by a rainbow-colored proton river. I felt like I was watching the Lego movie at that point. That’s not what I want out of a Superman movie.
I also think it’s a shame what they did to Superman’s parents. His Kryptonian parents are evil, and his Earth parents are silly. Jor-El and Lara turn out to have sent their son Kal-El to earth as a rapacious colonizer to exploit the Earth and its people for his own selfish ends. Jonathan and Martha Kent are the only people in Kansas with Larry-the-cable-guy southern accents and corresponding levels of intelligence. In Gunn’s version of Superman, both sets of parents have been completely stripped of their original nobility and goodness. So much so that the viewer is left wondering how Superman sprang from this stock. Let’s just say it’s a big drop-off in quality from the characters played by Marlon Brando and Kevin Costner. They aren’t even in the same universe.
And this plays into one of the most disappointing aspects of the film—Superman’s moral core. After Clark learns that his Kryptonian parents were evil monsters, he is distraught and doesn’t know who he is anymore. His earth-father Jonathan Kent consoles Clark that goodness comes from within and that his identity is forged by the choices he makes. So the Larry-the-cable-guy earth-dad is basically straight-lining existentialism to his son. There is no objective truth. All there is is what we make of ourselves. Really? That’s who Superman is? No thanks.
Also, a movie score makes or breaks a film. Hans Zimmer’s work in the 2013 Man of Steel was brilliant, and John Williams’ score in the 1978 Superman was a work of genius. We still listen to those scores today after all these years because they are incredible. The score for Gunn’s Superman comes no where close to those two previous masterpieces. Again, another massive drop-off from previous versions of Superman.
Before the movie’s release, Gunn gave an interview indicating that the movie would be making a political statement. I was relieved when initial reviews reported that there was nothing to this. Well actually, there was something to this. It turns out that there is in fact a preachy political statement near the end which sort of connects Superman’s status as an alien to current controversies about illegal immigration. It was heavy-handed and out of place. I was left thinking, “Really? We’re doing this now? We’re gonna act like it’s a denial of someone’s humanity to enforce sovereign borders? Or that you’re an evil villain like Lex Luthor if you want to see borders enforced?” C’mon.
So yeah. James Gunn’s Superman was a big disappointment to me, although I did kind of like the dog.
______________________
My new ranking of Superman films:
1. Man of Steel (2013)
2. Superman (1978)
3. Super Friends (1973-)
4. Superman (2025)
5. Superman Returns (2006)
