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'Superman' review: James Gunn gets DCU off to rocky, overstuffed start

Mark Meszoros, The News-Herald (Willoughby, Ohio) on

Published in Entertainment News

In a certain acclaimed musical, characters wonder why Founding Father Alexander Hamilton writes like he’s running out of time.

We might ask the same thing of James Gunn.

In 2022, Warner Bros. Discovery hired the filmmaker behind the largely fantastic “Guardians of the Galaxy” movies for Disney-owned Marvel Studios as co-chairman and -CEO of DC Studios. WBD tasked him with overseeing the construction of the DC Universe — the successor to the DC Extended Universe, home to the polarizing so-called “Snyderverse” movies — and creating a more pleasing and profitable future for characters such as Batman, Wonder Woman and, of course, Superman.

Gunn wrote and directed the first big-screen DCU endeavor, “Superman,” which flies into theaters this week.

It does so breathlessly, packing in too many characters and too many plot threads, resulting in a cinematic affair that is more dizzying than delightful.

Unquestionably, the film has its superior aspects, starting with hints of John Williams’ iconic score from 1978’s “Superman” peppered throughout and the choice of the relatively little-known David Corenswet to portray the Man of Steel, a superpowered, all-but-invincible being sent to Earth from the since-destroyed Krypton. The “Twisters” actor radiates the sincere and optimistic vibe Gunn is going for with his version of the character.

Gunn has a tremendous gift for blending action, comedy and adventure, which he has done here, albeit far less successfully than in the “Guardians” flicks, which exist within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and his R-rated DCEU film, 2021’s “The Suicide Squad.” Whatever "Superman" is, it isn't boring.

And we understand why he eschewed the notion of making yet another superhero origin story — the world has plenty of those. That said, despite the on-screen text that greets us in the movie’s opening moments — informing us that, among other facts, metahumans (super types) have been on the planet for three centuries and that Superman introduced himself to humanity three years ago — it always feels like we’re playing catch-up.

Metropolis — where it seems so commonplace for superpowered beings to be clashing above the skyscrapers that some folks barely notice — is also home to a small band of heroes led by Guy Gardner’s Green Lantern (Nathan Fillion, “Firefly”), who wields a powerful ring and insists upon using the name Justice Gang, which ally Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced, “The Last of Us”) insists is very much a working title. Regardless, the group also includes Mr. Terrific (Edi Gathegi, “For All Mankind”), who’s brilliant but easily irritated.

On the other side is Superman’s arch-nemesis, Lex Luthor (an appropriately bald Nicholas Hoult, “The Great”), a tech visionary and ever-scheming businessman, and the metahumans he commands, including the shapeshifting Engineer (María Gabriela de Faría, “Animal Control”) and versatile Metamorpho (Anthony Carrigan, “Barry”).

With all these moving pieces, there’s barely time for the obligatory romance between Lois and her reporter colleague Clark Kent, Superman’s alter ego. They’ve been dating for three months, and cracks are starting to show in their relationship. Until now, Clark has been getting exclusive interviews with Superman, which, as Lois points out, is ethically questionable, to say the least. He grants her one there and then, as Superman, and he is more than taken aback by her tough questions regarding the role he has assumed in world diplomacy, more or less on behalf of the United States but without governmental approval.

“PEOPLE WERE GOING TO DIE!” he exclaims.

(She also calls him out for being pouty after he reads negative social media posts about himself, which also doesn’t go well.)

Thanks to Luthor — who tends to refer to him, with disgust, as “the Kryptonian” — Supes soon has much bigger problems.

As if all of that weren’t enough, the mix also includes, as you probably know, a super dog, the mostly adorable but also unruly and downright violent Krypto.

 

As “Superman” burns and barks through its slightly more-than-two-hour runtime, we get geopolitics, the swift swaying of public sentiment, a prison within a “pocket universe” and an interdimensional rift that threatens to destroy more than Metropolis.

Exhale.

Some are sure to enjoy this wild ride, while others almost certainly will want off pretty early.

Even though this wasn’t our cup of superhero tea, we still largely believe in the creative Gunn and hope that he has the opportunity to flesh out the DCU. He recently has pushed back on the notion that “Superman” needs to generate a supersized return at the box office on its reported $225 million budget to be deemed a success, but maybe he literally already is running out of time.

Gunn has made a Superman movie that celebrates and accentuates what he loves about the character, first and foremost his admiration for what it means to be human. Hey, it’s hard to knock that.

However, if Gunn gets to make another, we hope he finds a way to slow things down a bit.

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'SUPERMAN'

2 stars (out of 4)

MPA rating: PG-13 (for violence, action and language)

Running time: 2:09

How to watch: In theaters July 11

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©2025 The News-Herald (Willoughby, Ohio). Visit The News-Herald (Willoughby, Ohio) at www.news-herald.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

 

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