Overview
Superman, a journalist in Metropolis, embarks on a journey to reconcile his Kryptonian heritage with his human upbringing as Clark Kent.
(This isn’t a full review, just some notes that I used for our discussion on the podcast Episode 266 – to hear our complete thoughts, head over to your favourite podcast service and have a listen)
Core story sees Superman, three years into his life as a hero, finally be defeated for the first time. At the same time his recent actions for peace have caused an international incident. He begins to question his position in the world – a world that Lex is manipulating to turn against him. All the while he is met with one situation after another, alongside a trio of heroes from the Justice Gang.
It’s pure comic book, and apologetically so. Jumping right into a world with meta-humans already in place, it doesn’t go into detail on everything and just expects you to accept this world as it is…. which I loved! It meant it didn’t waste time on origin tales, or info-dump exposition, and just got on with the core action and personal story beats of Superman.
Cast are all really strong, with a special shout to Hoult as the best realized version of Lex on the big screen to date. Corenswet inhabits the dual roles of Clark and Superman perfectly, and Brosnahan channels Kidder and builds on that to deliver the best Lois Lane alongside him.
The action is fun and visually marvelous. The lighter moments are never intrusive to the main story. This simply reminded me of why I have loved reading the adventures of Superman over the decades, and starts off this new DCU with a bang.
However….
…I’m a big fan of the comics, and this represented everything I love about them, but I do wonder how a general audience will take to being thrown right in at the deep end. Will they embrace the fun chaos on offer, or will the film leave them a tad befuddled? I guess time will tell, but in the meantime, I’m simply glad we got a silver age styled version of a character that should be about love, hope, honour, and joy.
Superman soars for me!
Spoilers: The message from his parents – this has been done in Byrne’s Man of Steel back in the 80s, Waid’s Birthright, Smallville, New Adventures of Superman, etc. It’s nature vs nurture, and presents Superman with the direct question of who he actually is, only to realise that what matters is who he was raised to be. Heck, even 1978 film had a play on this with Jor-El’s message telling him not to interfere with human affairs and just live a normal life, only for him to take the teachings of the Kents to do good with his powers. This is nothing new. Some speculate that they might have been forced to record that message by Zod – I don’t think that’s necessary. The message is Superman does good because he knows inside that is what he should do. Our ancestors may not have been good people, but that doesn’t mean we have to follow in their footsteps – we become the person we believe we should be!
