written and directed by James Gunn
I may be a Marvel guy through and through, but there are a couple of things that had me very eagerly anticipating the new Superman film written and directed by Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn. The first one, quite simply, was that the trailer looked spectacular and promised a very exciting time at the movies. The second was that I had virtually complete trust in Gunn based on his track record of making superhero-related films; the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy was just about the best resume that anyone could have brought along. The third one was that this movie, based on everything I had seen and read about it, seemed very happy to embrace its comic-book roots, and not pretend to be something that the character clearly was not.
The film, breaks away from both the continuity established by the original, 1978 Superman film, which Bryan Singer actually attempted to continue with his disastrous 2006 sequel Superman Returns, and from the DC Extended Universe that was kicked off by Zack Snyder in 2013's Man of Steel.
For this film, Gunn dispenses with telling his own version of Superman's origin story and drops us viewers right into the action. Metahumans have been on this version of earth for over 300 years, and Superman, aka Clark Kent (David Corenswet), from the doomed planet Krypton, is the most powerful of them all. He has sworn to be a force for good, because he believes that this was the reason his parents Jor-El (Bradley Cooper) and Lara Lor-Van (Angela Sarafryan) sent him to Earth, though most of the time he pretends to be a mild-mannered reporter for the Daily Planet alongside his colleagues Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan) and Jimmy Olsen (Skyler Gisondo) among others. Unfortunately, billionaire Lex Luther (Nicholas Hoult does not appreciate Superman's efforts at all and, clouded by hate and envy wants to destroy him once and for all, and when he discovers a startling bit of information about Superman he might be able to do exactly that.
I'll get straight to it: I loved this movie through and through. It was entertaining, moving and wonderfully-paced. The writing was topnotch; whatever the film's flaws may have been, writer-director James Gunn clearly gets what it is about Superman that makes him such an enduring part of our pop culture: his humanity and compassion. Corenswet, was pitch perfect in this role, as were his castmates Brosnahan and Gisondo, as well as his fellow metahumans, the Justice Gang composed of Mr. Terrific (Edi Gathegi), Green Lantern (Nathan Fillion) and Hawkgirl (Isabel Merced). Special mention should also go to Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor who manages to make the guy evil as all heck but crazily charismatic at the same time. It's quite a feat.
Gunn brings out the very best out of not just his actors but his effects crews as the film's visuals are simply stunning, in a way no Marvel movie has been for years. Gunn really is an old-hand at these visual effects-driven extravaganzas, and he turns in some of his absolute best work here.
9/10
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