Better Than Average Man

This weekend, people flocked to movie theaters to see writer-director James Gunn's newest superhero film, Superman. I'm people! I have thoughts! Since you know exactly who Superman is and what he's about (an approach the movie itself also takes), there's really nothing I can say about the story that won't get spoilery. So in lieu of a synopsis, let's jump right in.

There are a lot of successful ideas in this movie. It makes pointed commentary on weaponized social media and the systemic smearing of well-intentioned public figures by self-interested bad actors. It has an incredibly smart and topical take on the character of Lex Luthor -- painting him as a raging tech bro surrounded with young sycophants. It carves out its own niche for Superman himself, giving him more youthful dialogue that humanizes him and makes him less self-serious than other incarnations.

And the casting of it all is really great. Rachel Brosnahan should instantly be in the conversation for best Lois Lane ever; she commands each scene with her knowing delivery, never getting lost amid the comic book antics and generating sparkling chemistry with her lead. And while it feels like a far less crowded competition, Skyler Gisondo may also be the best Jimmy Olsen ever; it certainly helps that he's given one of the film's meatier subplots, but he really does give a pitch-perfect comedic performance that gets laughs without feeling like it's just clowning for the camera.

When it comes to the superpowered characters, Edi Gathegi makes a welcome splash as Mr. Terrific, Anthony Carrigan brings unexpected pathos to Metamorpho, and Nathan Fillion channels Captain Hammer in all the right ways as Green Lantern. At the top of the cast, David Corenswet and Nicholas Hoult feel like the perfect performers to capture Superman and Lex Luthor as this movie has written them.

But I think part of the reason this movie has so many successful elements is that it has so many elements. To say this movie is overstuffed with ideas doesn't begin to do it justice, gang. There are so many characters, so many narrative threads, that it was easy to forget about them entirely until they magically reappeared at some later point. This is supposed to be the beginning of DC's new movie universe, but to me it felt more like James Gunn feared that he might never get to make another movie again after this one -- so he stuffed every last idea he had into it. Consequently, there are a lot of misfires in the movie too: plot threads that don't feel fully developed, characters that are woefully underused (sometimes despite excellent casting).

While I'd give marks to a lot of these weaker elements for at least being fun, I have to take a moment to call out the musical score as being a real disappointment. Sure, when you're using John Williams' iconic Superman theme, it's going to be a tremendous challenge to create other themes remotely as memorable to live alongside it. Still, the score always just gives up when it matters and trades on Williams' work to generate the feelings it can't make for itself. And it doesn't even deign to use ALL of the John Williams march, instead just regurgitating the same couple of phrases over and over again in the least inspired ways possible.

But despite its many flaws, I do feel like this Superman movie at least has its heart in the right place. And rising above the less successful elements is the overall feeling that the movie is fun -- exactly what it should be, and what a lot of superhero movies of recent years have forgotten to be (famously DC, but some Marvel efforts too). I give it a B-.