Superman | The Deight Night Review

Over ten years since Superman's last solo cinematic outing, James Gunn brings audiences a fresh new take on the Man of Steel that also brings along with it the start of a new cinematic universe in the DCU. The story that sets up this new Superman and the world he inhabits jumps straight into the action in the aftermath of Superman's (David Corenswet) intervention in the Bovarian invasion of Jarhanpur where Superman has lost his first ever battle against the Hammer Of Bovaria. The story then follows the political repercussions of this, followed by the team at Metropolis based newspaper, The Daily Planet - namely Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan) and Jimmy Olsen (Skyler Gisondo) - and tech genius and billionaire Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult) who aims to take advantage of the public's perception of the Last Son Of Krypton to his own gain. Along the way, Superman meets new friends, struggles with relationships and learns new secrets of his past - all with the help of his loveable companion, Krypto the Superdog. 

Superman tackles a lot in its relatively short runtime of just over two hours, but one of the main things it feels like it wants to get across is almost an apology for Man Of Steel. The 2013 Zack Snyder helmed Superman outing starring Henry Cavill took the then popular Christopher Nolan approach to tackling superheroes by making the hero grounded, gritty and rather sombre. This was seen by many as a betrayal of the character's true hopeful nature and James Gunn's vision is very much the polar opposite of that. The stark difference between the two - which feels very much intentional - is that in both films, Metropolis receives quite the battering from the films' various villains. However, while Henry Cavill focuses on defeating Zod in his finale, not really fazed by the death and destruction around him, David Corenswet is shown on many an occasion taking time out of his battles to save people around him in danger and making sure everyone is safe before carrying on with the threats at hand. This is not to say that Man Of Steel is in anyway a bad film (it most certainly is not), but by this barometer alone Superman exceeds its 2013 counterpart in its depiction of its main character. In fact, seeing any heroes actually directly saving people had gone out of fashion until this year, when the titular group in Thunderbolts* had a fantastic sequence in their film where they came to the rescue of some New Yorkers in peril. 

With that in mind, it's fair to say now that David Corenswet embodies the Man of Steel wholeheartedly. He graces each frame with his compassionate, school boy charm and makes the film fly by with his seemingly effortless performance that's a pleasure to watch on the big screen. To say he's the best actor to ever play Superman seems like too bold a statement to say at this stage but he's certainly perfect for this version of the character. However, someone who is in fact the best version of their character is Nicholas Hoult. The actor must have been feeling quite downtrodden after getting beaten to play both Batman and Superman in the audition stage, but as always it seems that everything happens for a reason as he is a phenomenal Lex Luthor. For a villain as weighted and iconic as Luthor, an antagonist that's on the same level as the Joker in terms of infamy, it's crazy to think that there's never been a properly worldly accepted best version of the character. It's safe to say that Hoult does for Luthor what Heath Ledger did for the Joker. He's despicable, cunning, selfish and manipulative. You can truly believe that this mere mortal is a match for the indestructible God that is Kal-El. Like Corenswet, Hoult makes it seem easy to play this legendary nefario and is an even greater joy to witness. The British actor has had quite a brilliant few years in his career recently and Superman is very much the icing on his career cake. 

Of course, these actors would be nowhere without a great script and that's indeed provided by the ever popular director James Gunn. After gaining popularity through his Guardians of the Galaxy films at Marvel and his first audition for DC with The Suicide Squad, all hailed for their respect for the comics, fun nature and emotional core, Gunn was appointed head of DC Studios and gave himself the director's chair for the launch of the universe in Superman. If anyone could do it, he could and he most certainly did. While the film should obviously be praised for its dedication to all the characters involved and its emotional depth while also being a very fun watch, that was most likely to be expected with Gunn's resume. Gunn's most impressive feat here is not giving in to some of his usual impulses. The film does still have its fair share of Gunn-isms; characters swear a lot more than you'd expect, there's a lot of silly humour and there is indeed a fight scene scored to a pop song. However, Superman doesn't feel like Gunn's usual ragtag group of misfits affair with a soundtrack of songs he ripped from his iPod and clearly improvised comedy. No, this is very much a Superman film rather than a James Gunn film and as a result it's his best work to date. 

Another mistake of Man Of Steel's (or rather the Snyder-verse's) that DC Studios seeks to fix with its premiere is the rush to become an opponent of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Following on from Man Of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice was released in 2016 which introduced, not only Batman but the rest of the Justice League as well, leaving not much time until the characters were forced to establish their team and relationships in a matter of hours. In Superman, the Justice League has not yet been established but the "Justice Gang" (made up of Nathan Fillion's Green Lantern, Edi Gathegi's Mr. Terrific and Isabela Merced's Hawkgirl) is around and in its infancy. The film establishes at the very beginning that "metahumans" have been around for hundreds of years and that Superman is now the most powerful after revealing himself to the world a few years ago. As a result, the film establishes a world that's well lived in but has the clear space for a lot more growth. There's no egregious setting up of sequels or spin offs and the film is allowed to be its own story but it's clear that there are many other important characters around besides Clark Kent. 

Superman is the perfect kick start to a brave new world and a perfect adaptation of the very first superhero. It's a love letter to comics of all eras and is one of the most fun films to be released this year while still keeping elements of Man Of Steel's darkness and political awareness. James Gunn produces his best work with biblically accurate versions of all the legendary characters within the film and proves he can be trusted with all forms of super-powered material. It's a cinematic odyssey that demands to be seen on the big screen and is destined to be the biggest film of 2025. 

★★★★1/2

  

Superman releases in UK cinemas on July 11