FILM REVIEW: James Gunn's "Superman" soars to great heights
I came away from ‘Superman’ thinking, well, they did it.
Writer/director James Gunn has lifted Superman out of the cynical muck which has kept him down on the silver screen for the past twenty years. If it wasn’t corporate cynical muck (ala Justice League) or making him a deadbeat dad (the interminable Superman Returns), then it was Zack Snyder’s bleak vision that was, though not without some merit and influence, anathema to the ethos which has defined the Big Blue Boy Scout.
What he is, when it comes down to it, is a friend. It’s nice to imagine a powerful person looking out for everyone, and actually caring about them. A fantasy, maybe, but one that a large number of people cling to for good reason.
With Superman, the creators have taken a bit of influence from everything – the comics, animated series, and even the Christopher Reeve films – to synthesise the platonic ideal of a Superman movie, as a big-hearted adventure that is not ‘cool’ but is indeed awesome, as in, inspiring awe. It isn’t hard to capture his appeal, but it’s hard to do it earnestly and with this much feeling.
Certainly, the movie itself is not perfect; I think it turns the volume up on the zaniness a little much sometimes, while keeping some of the more interesting aspects of the mythos a little muted. A lot of comic booky concepts are introduced. And though none are out of place, they can bang and crash into each other with a jarring tone as the movie flies by at a fast pace.
But the actors give it their all and embody their characters flawlessly.
And at the centre of it is a marvellous performance by David Corenswet, who infuses this Man of Steel with a beguiling softness and an emotional intelligence. But he’s no pushover either. The performance is a breathtaking special effect that a million computer whizzes couldn’t conjure.
