James Gunn Goes Back to First Principles – and It Works, thankfully!
This is not the best Superman movie. I just wanted to get that out of the way. Superman the Movie (1978) and Superman II (1980) still place first and second on the podium pedestals. However, could the latest James Gunn Superman movie actually take that third position – an unthinkable proposition surely?
Well, before we get into any comparisons with Christopher Reeve’s iconic portrayal of the world’s first and mightiest superhero, let’s put the new movie up against the most recent big-screen stand-alone Big Blue movie, Man of Steel.
No discredit to Henry Cavil, he had the look, the presence, the jawline, but under the curation of director Zack Snyder – who clearly never understood the character – what we ended up with was a brooding, bitter, and borderline sociopathic version of Superman. Snyder’s take was dark, grim, and utterly disconnected from what Superman was all about in my mind.
Frankly, I left the cinema depressed. Mourning the death of a character I grew up reading and watching. This was simply not the hero that brought hope and inspiration to his fans.
James Gunn Understands Superman
However, everything has been given a reboot under new helmsman James Gunn (the man behind the successful Guardians of the Galaxy series). And the latest take feels like a crisp and fresh new breeze beneath a fluttering cape. Finally, at long last, movie makers appear to have grasped not only what the character is about, but what he represents.
Thankfully, this new film – while not perfect – finally dares to “look, look, up in the sky… is it a bird, is it a plane? No, it’s hope!”
From the first frame, you can feel the tonal shift. Gone is the tormented, reluctant demi-god. In his place stands the last son of Krypton who appears grateful – yes, grateful – to be alive and settled here on Earth.
A self-proclaimed illegal alien who sees Earth not as a battleground in which to flex his considerable might (though slightly less invulnerable in this case). Instead, he sees this planet as a home to save and defend. Superman is once again a hero driven not by angst, lost identity, revenge or self-righteousness, but by a sincere, incorruptible sense of duty and goodness.
And that, for me, is the real triumph of this movie. It’s not about Superman’s powers. It’s about his inherent goodness. A being so powerful that he transcends corruption, greed, ego and thirst for power.
Idealistic, optimistic – naïve?
Make no mistake, Christopher Reeve still owns the definitive live-action portrayal. He didn’t play Superman – he was Superman.
From that dazzling smile he flashed at the camera as he flew through space, to that glint of deliberately clumsy mischief behind the glasses, he embodied the character so wholly, so effortlessly, that every actor since has stood in his cape-shaped shadow. But while David Corenswet’s portrayal cannot dethrone Reeve, he certainly earns a place in the Fortress of Proper Interpretations.
The superhero you meet in this movie is more optimistic, idealistic – even charmingly naïve. Not only is that exactly what Superman should be, but it’s also precisely what we need right now. In a world ravaged by cynicism and clickbait morality, a character who simply wants to do good, without ego or agenda, is practically radical.
Is he Woke? Sign me up!
Of course, not everyone is pleased. “He’s gone woke,” they cry. As if that’s somehow a bad thing. Let’s remind ourselves that the word “woke” was first used in the 1930s in African American communities to mean being alert to racism and social injustice. And by the way, Superman (also created in 1938) has always been ‘woke’!
He was created by Jewish Lithuanian immigrants, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. These were two nerdy, small, poor kids who wore spectacles and were mercilessly bullied. That’s a story that many of us (myself, for example, also a much-bullied son of an immigrant) could relate to.
But I did not know of them at the time – I knew them only as names on the cover of my favourite DC comic – Superman. And yet, somehow, the essence of their misery, resilience and success filtered through this amazing character.
Superman is an illegal immigrant
Superman is, after all, canonically, an undocumented extraterrestrial refugee. He doesn’t fight for America alone – he fights for truth, justice, and a better world. Siegel and Shuster inspired us to think beyond silent suffering and to dream of being better and doing good for one and all. If that’s “woke”, then sign me up.
Would Superman Intervene in World Conflicts?
There’s been noise about the two fictional warring nations in the film resembling Israel and Palestine. Is that deliberate? Maybe. Maybe not. The filmmakers certainly haven’t said, and probably never will. But art reflects life, whether it means to or not. What matters is what you take from it.
Admittedly, the similarity to world events is strong, and if this Superman makes you reflect, empathise, or rethink your stance on real-world suffering, then the film has already done something heroic.
Plus, as a fan, you know, you just know, that if Superman existed in real life – the persona we fans all believe we know and love – then he would not be sitting in denial and frustration shackled to any national flag in subservience to small-minded politics. He would do whatever he could (and he could) to stop wars and save innocents, particularly children. Which is what Corenswet’s Superman defiantly determines to do.
Krypto the Superdog!
Speaking of heroes for kids though, there is one other in this film that is a stealer of hearts and scenes.
I’m not talking Lois Lane, although at times Rachel Brosnahan’s version is uncannily like Margot Kidder’s Lois (also definitive). Not Jimmy Olsen, or Perry White – both perfectly cast. Not even the subservient robots that run the Fortress of Solitude – in particular Number 4, who is the epitome of the “Tin Man”, claiming he has no emotion but demonstrating more heart than Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel in its entirety! Nor is it the intellectually arrogant Mr Terrific who was a surprisingly great.
No, the unexpected star of the show, doesn’t even exist, it was entirely CGI. I’m talking about Krypto the Superdog – although he was based on the director’s own trouble-making dog, Ozu! Scene after scene, he melts hearts, tickles funny bones, and single-pawedly ensures that every child watching now wants a dog that can fetch drones out of the sky. Honestly, introducing Krypto was a genius move – equal parts comic relief, emotional anchor, and audience magnet.
Lex Luthor Driven by Envy
Lex Luthor also returns, driven less by megalomania and more by that most toxic of human traits: envy. Not greed. Not lust for power. Just pure, festering resentment at being ordinary in a world where someone like Superman exists – and not just because Supes is powerful, but because he is loved. It’s a disturbingly human trait. And all the more compelling for it.
Taking Superheroes back to basics
Just as superhero fatigue was starting to set in, this movie didn’t revitalise the genre. It did something even rarer – it took it back to basics. It reminded us what superhero films can and should be. Stories not about outlandish punch-ups between invincible aliens, but about kindness, compassion, and the aching desire to help – even when the world doesn’t always want to be saved.
This is the best Superman movie since Reeve’s first two – or two and half, because we have to recognise the powerful symbolism of the legendary fight between Clark and Evil Supes in Superman III. (But let’s not speak of IV. Ever.)
“Hope” for the future
If James Gunn’s new movie is the foundation for a new era of Superman films, then I’m hopeful again. Hopeful that they’ll stick to what makes him special. Hopeful that they’ll resist the urge to “darken things up” for the sake of faux realism.
Hopeful that one day, children watching this Superman will be inspired to goodness as they strive to emulate a true hero – not just someone who can benchpress buildings, but someone who chooses to carry the weight of the world, and strives to save everyone, from entire countries to a frightened little squirrel, because it’s the right thing to do.
And in today’s world, that kind of example might be the most superpowerful thing of all.
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