Superman

Director: James Gunn
Starring: David Corenswet, Rachel Brosnahan, Nicholas Hoult, Ed Gathegi, Anthony Carrigan, Nathan Fillion, Isabela Merced, Skyler Gisondo, Wendell Pierce, Sara Sampaio, María Gabriela de Faría, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Nina Howell, Mikaela Hoover, Beck Bennett, Christopher McDonald, Bradley Cooper, Angela Sarafyan, Alan Tudyk, Michael Rooker, Pom Klementieff
Running Time: 129 min.
Rating: PG-13

★★★ ½ (out of ★★★★)  

In the decades following Richard Donner's Superman and its 1980 sequel, there's been this massive struggle over how to best present a new film that would again do justice to an iconic character. But from the slavish homage that was 2006's Superman Returns to Zack Snyder's broodier take on the material with his divisive Man of Steel in 2013, no one's really been able to crack the code since. 

Part of the problem stems from just how familiar we are with the origin story, putting the franchise in a precarious spot where DC's entire future hinges on studio chief and writer/director James Gunn's ability to somehow work around it. But within the first few minutes of 2025's Superman, he does just that, as a few sentences of text appear across the screen to concisely bring us up to speed. 

We're immediately off to the races with composer John Murphy's spine tingling new version of John Williams' iconic score as backdrop, giving us our most promising sign in years that someone may finally get this right. And with our hero's beaten and bloodied body prone on the ground, Gunn already sheds much of the baggage that's held this property down by simply getting right down to business. From then on, there's no looking back, which isn't to say the movie's flawless, just that it seems to grasp Superman's essence in a way other attempts haven't. 

After stopping the nation of Boravia from invading the neighboring country of Jarhanpur, Superman (David Corenswet) is left battered by an armored metahuman assassin known as the "Hammer of Boravia" before rambunctious super dog Krypto drags him back to his Fortress of Solitude to heal. But upon returning to Metropolis, Superman discovers billionaire Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult) has unleashed a monster kaiju on the city, getting help to fight it from"Justice Gang" heroes Green Lantern (Nathan Fillion), Mr. Terrific (Ed Gathegi) and Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced).  

As Superman's interview with Daily Planet colleague and girlfriend Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan) puts a temporary strain on their relationship, Luthor and his mercenaries Ultraman and The Engineer (María Gabriela de Faría) have infiltrated Superman's fortress, restoring a controversial message from his birth parents, Jor-El and Lara Lor-Van (Bradley Cooper and Angela Sarafyan) that turns the public and government against him. Demoralized and full of self-doubt, Superman will now need to rediscover his true purpose in order to thwart Luthor's master plan. 

Gunn doesn't shy away from Superman's inherent goodness, reflected in the character's ability to see the world for how it should be rather than what it is. Christopher Reeve played this trait sincerely, which is what made him the measuring stick for all who followed, including Corenswet, who possesses that similar quality when wearing the cape or bumbling around the Daily Planet offices as Clark Kent. And like Reeve, there's no adjustment period needed for us to wrap our heads around the fact he's Superman. From the first moment we see him, he just is.

With Superman still beloved by the citizens of Metropolis at the film's start, alter ego Clark Kent is in the awkward early goings of a secret relationship with Lois, who's already well aware of his true identity. While none of their Daily Planet co-workers even know they're dating or have an inkling who Clark really is, the fun facade they put on at work is enough to wish the film spent even more time there. 

You could actually quibble we don't get quite enough of Corenswet as Clark, if only because he plays the role so effectively. With his trademark glasses and  moptop of unkempt curly hair, his physical transformation is topped only by an underconfident demeanor and body language that has you believing photographer Jimmy Olsen (Skylar Gisondo) and editor-in-chief Perry White (an underutilized Wendell Pierce) wouldn't suspect a thing. 

If it's easy to immediately accept Corenswet, this applies equally to Brosnahan as the spunky, determined reporter with whom he shares a palpable chemistry that serves the film well, even when they're apart. Their flirty but occasionally contentious back-and-forth during her interview sets the stage for what follows, including the crisis of confidence Superman experiences when his biological parents' unsettling goal for him is revealed. So rattled by this, he'll eventually seek solace and answers back home in Smallville, where adoptive parents Jonathan and Martha Kent (Pruitt Taylor Vince and Neva Howell) help him rediscover his true purpose.

Once Superman surrenders and is held in Luthor's pocket universe prison, Gunn's script hits its stride at a midway point where most superhero entries drag or lose steam. Helping is Hoult's coldly consistent portrayal of Luthor as an Elon Musk-inspired meglomaniac who not only comes across as a credibly dangerous geopolitical threat, but a petty, jealous control freak whose ego can't handle the mere existence of a Superman. And those  worried the ancillary heroes would overwhelm the story or merely serve as a DCEU spin-off teaser will be pleased to know the Justice Gang's introduction couldn't go smoother. The only complaint is that Merced's Hawkgirl should have more to do, but Fillion's cocky, bowl haired Guy Gardner and Gathegi's stoic but hilarious Mr. Terrific make up for it, each leaving huge impressions.  

Gathegi's Terrific nearly steals the movie in his teaming with Lois, particularly during a brilliant fight sequence set to Noah and the Whale's "Five Years Time." But the most important supporting character is Krypto, the loyal caped canine with a knack for misbehaving at the right moments, like during Superman's fight against a formidable and strangely familiar looking Ultraman. Gisondo's Jimmy Olsen's involvement plays better than expected while Anthony Carrigan impresses as Metamorpho, a cell mate whose unusual abilities could either destroy or save Superman. 

It may be the worst kept best secret but Milly Alcock's cameo as Superman's cousin, Kara Zor-El/Supergirl is noteworthy, less for her showing up than the edgier context and presentation of this character. Think Will Smith in Hancock, or maybe more accurately the beloved comic book on which her upcoming film is based. True to form, Gunn also delivers a highly anticipated Superman/Luthor showdown that'll be remembered more for philosophy than fists. The speech and ensuing reaction is surprisingly emotional, resulting in a different kind of closure. At least until we get the inevitable rematch. 

With a plot both timely and direct, this incarnation of Superman doesn't lose sight of the idea that heroes are nothing without formidable villains and action spectacles mean more when you care about those involved. Briskly paced and judiciously edited, it's a good sign when any blockbuster comes to a close and you find yourself wanting more. By giving us what many complain superhero movies lately lack, Gunn avoids the pitfalls plaguing an iconic character and hampering a desperately needed rebirth. Now that he's gotten one, the rest of the pieces just might fall into place.                                               

Man of Steel

Director: Zack Snyder
Starring: Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Michael Shannon, Diane Lane, Kevin Costner, Laurence Fishburne, Antje Traue, Ayelet Zurer, Christopher Meloni, Russell Crowe
Running Time: 143 min.
Rating: PG-13

★★ (out of ★★★★)

Well, better late than never. The fact that I waited nearly a year before finally seeing Zack Snyder's Man of Steel should give you a pretty good idea how high on my priority list it was. Not because I dreaded it in the slightest or was at all protective of the character, which is easily the most challenging of all superheroes to adapt to the screen. But because I'm just so burnt out from superhero movies and franchises to the point that it's almost impossible to distinguish them from each other. You can blame Marvel for that.  So now it's good to know every day I avoided seeing this wasn't time spent in vain because in attempting to "reimagine" Superman and make him relevant to contemporary audiences, Snyder's stripped away the character's essence, succeeding only in making an overblown Marvel movie out of a DC property.

About 10 minutes into the film I completely checked out, realizing we've seen this all before when it was titled Thor, Captain America, Iron Man and The Avengers. But this is actually much worse than all those, and perhaps even worse (or at least barely even with) Bryan Singer's much-maligned Superman Returns, which made the supposedly crucial error of being too slavishly devoted to Richard Donner's original vision. Snyder is slavishly devoted to blowing things up, as his vision features some of the most mind-numbing, soul-crushing CGI I've ever seen in a film and a third act that literally had me tapping out and reaching for the Advil.

Remember when the teaser trailer came out and everyone actually compared it to The Tree of Life, thinking we'd be in for a deeper, more contemplative treatment? With few exceptions, this project is actually more of a disaster than it's been credited for, with the only hope being that this darker, more other worldly incarnation of the character is eventually seen for the embarassing misstep it is. But now that Snyder has temporarily been entrusted with Batman as well, that seems unlikely. If this Superman really is a reflection of our times, that's not a compliment.

This almost two and a half hour movie can essentially be broken down into four sections:

1. Thor Redux
2. "The Deadliest Catch"
3. "Field of Dreams"
4. Avengers Redux

Of these, the first section is by far the weakest and most pointless, not to mention the most troublesome aspect of the mythology to depict on screen. We spend nearly 30 minutes on the depleting Krypton learning how scientist Jor-El (Russell Crowe) and his wife Lara (Ayelet Zurer) come under attack from evil commander General Zod (Michael Shannon) and are forced to launch their newborn son Kal-El to Earth, his cells infused with the genetic code of the Kryptonian race. It's a sequence that could have easily been depicted in two minutes, but Snyder drags it out, calling attention to some spectacularly bad visual effects in the process. The opening resembles Thor's in terms of how much boring mythology is unloaded as a mere excuse to pummel our senses. That said, when Kal and the movie land on Earth, I really appreciated what it was trying to do and for a while it  actually looked like Snyder could pull this off.

Our first glimpses of an adult Superman (Henry Cavill) are interspersed with flashbacks to his childhood in Smallville, Kansas, where he's raised as Clark, the adopted son of Jonathan (Kevin Costner) and Martha (Diane Lane) Kent. These scenes of the young Clark being picked on at school and the advice he receives from his father about the importance of accepting, yet also concealing his identity, comprise the strongest moments in the film. By far. Why everything didn't just begin here is a mystery, but perhaps the filmmakers worried this ground was already covered in the Smallville TV series and fanboys would throw a hissy fit if the god awful Krypton scenes weren't included.

The idea of an adult Clark Kent as a bearded, brooding fisherman is a novel one that earns points for originality. Snyder is nothing if not a visualist and it clearly comes across in these scenes and especially the ones in Smallville, which are beautifully filmed. It's his commitment to actual storytelling that's a weak spot. Hans Zimmer's elegiac score is a plus, making it unlikely anyone will miss John Williams, whose incredible orchestrations just wouldn't fit here.  I refer to the Kansas section as "Field of Dreams" not out of sarcasm, but as a compliment to Costner, who delivers the film's finest performance with limited screen time. It's also perfect casting, not only playing up the actor's famously down home persona, but giving us a fresh but comfortable entry point into what could have been tired territory. Instead, watching this father trying to protect his unusually gifted son provides the only humanity in the story, as it all flies off the rails from there.

As Superman, Cavill is okay. With all the speculation about who would play the "Man of Steel," who would have thought that the choice ultimately wouldn't matter? Most of the time he takes a back seat to the distractingly bad effects and confusing set pieces. The British actor definitely offers a more brooding take on Clark Kent that won't soon be confused with anything done by Christopher Reeve or Brandon Routh. In fact, it's so far removed it won't be confused with anything related to Superman or Clark Kent at all, as even David Goyer's script goes out of its way to avoid mentioning him by name (see title). Some may appreciate these attempts to supposedly go "darker" or more "realistic" with the character but it's hard to even apply those adjectives when so many of the action sequences undermine it. But at least this is the best the costume they've had and if Cavill really was hired because he didn't look ridiculous in it, that's as good a reason as any to pick him for what's always been an impossibly thankless role.

The Lois Lane situation is bizarre in the sense that she's almost TOO involved, as if the filmmakers felt a need to justify the big name (and admittedly lazy) casting of Amy Adams by having the character wear as many hats in the story as possible. She's still the Daily Planet reporter. but there are almost as many points where you'd confuse her for a geologist, a military commander or maybe even a superhero herself in the last act. While Adams going out there and simply delivering lines still surpasses the miscast Kate Bosworth in Returns, it's worth noting that's all she does. Giving Lois a more prominent role and having her played by an older, more experienced actress than the male lead was an excellent idea on paper, but Adams seems completely bored with it, as if she can't get to the bank soon enough to cash her royalty check. And forget about any chemistry between the two. There's none.

Poor Russell Crowe is given what's easily the silliest expository dialogue of the entire cast as Jor-El. That he can deliver it with a straight face even long after his character's initial demise is more deserving of an honorary medal for screen survival than an acting award. He does great under terrible circumstances, working with material that's the polar opposite of Costner's. As Zod, Michael Shannon didn't need to be Terrence Stamp. He just needed to be Michael Shannon. But what's strange is how this movie doesn't even allow him to do that. Ironically, when playing a superhero villain, our creepiest, scariest actor is somehow not very creepy at all. Snyder just has him yell and and yell some more in a terrible CGI suit.

German actress Anteje Traue as his Krytonian sidekick Faora is a different story, as she basically steals every scene she's in, giving a seductively badass performance that recalls the best of Sarah Douglas as Ursa in Superman II. In his few scenes, I liked what Laurence Fishburne did with Daily Planet editor Perry White, but the part is so miniscule it barely warrants a mention. Metropolis itself is similarly shafted as a setting, functioning only as a CGI battleground for the tortuously long final act during which it's often difficult to make out what's happening. Those crying heresy at Superman (SPOILER AHEAD) killing Zod should probably consider the context in which it happened, not to mention the fact that this movie would still be continuing right now if he didn't. So for that, I'm eternally grateful.

Superman just isn't the type of superhero that lends itself to various interpretations or reimaginings. It can't be a campy 60's TV series or an 80's Gothic styled blockbuster or the first part of a dark, reality grounded Christopher Nolan trilogy. The character just doesn't have that flexibility, and despite the marketing trying to convince us we were getting the latter, they were really just trying to deliver a Marvel entry. Nolan may have a producing and story credit, but does anyone believes his involvement extended beyond giving a couple of notes and getting his name on the picture as a show of goodwill to him and a sign of reassurance to audiences? You can tell this was made by a committee looking to cash in on the Marvel craze, while poorly sprinkling traces of Nolan's tone to silence doubters.

That the writer is Batman trilogy scribe David Goyer is a surprise, but most of the problems lay in the execution more than the conception. It's obvious all the big creative decisions resulted from Warner Bros. guiding Snyder to create a DC "universe" or franchise for future tie-in installments. He did exactly as asked, with the irony being that Man of Steel ends at the exact point it really should have started, negating this film, yet putting them in a decent position for the follow-up. Unfortunately, all that was originally special about the Superman character was sacrificed in the process, resurrected in a way we never thought possible: As just another superhero.             
                 

Hollywoodland

Director: Allen Coulter
Starring: Adrien Brody, Diane Lane, Ben Affleck, Bob Hoskins, Lois Smith, Robin Tunney
Running Time: 126 min.
Rating: R

*** (out of ****)

Sometimes a subject is so interesting it can carry an entire film, even if said film doesn't necessarily live up to expectations. George Reeves, star of the 1950's television series, The Adventures of Superman, is such a subject. You get the impression a dozen diferent kind of movies could have been made about him, but what we get here is a murder mystery whodunnit without a resolution. Of course, it can't have a resolution since they never really found out whether Reeves shot himself or was murdered.

Hollywoodland makes a good case for the latter and hopefully puts to bed once and for all that stupid urban legend that Reeves jumped out of his window thinking he could fly like Superman. Ultimately though, his death was ruled a suicide and the case was closed. This material screams for a biopic not a murder mystery, but I'm recommending it anyway and that's in no small part due to the performance of Ben Affleck, who delivers some of the most nuanced work of his career as Reeves. It's easy to argue he was robbed of a best supporting actor Oscar nomination.

When actor George Reeves (Affleck) is found dead from a bullet wound to the head in his Hollywood Hills home, the Los Angeles police department rule it a suicide and close the case. However, his mother (Lois Smith) knows something's very wrong and hires private detective Louis Simo (Oscar winner Adrien Brody) to investigate the mysterious circumstances sorrounding his death and delve into his sordid personal life, which included an affair with Toni Mannix (Oscar nominee Diane Lane)) wife of famed MGM studio boss Eddie Mannix (Bob Hoskins). Through flashbacks we see how that relationship began and eventually crumbled, leaving Toni angry and bitter. What's interesting about his affair with Toni is that her husband knows everything, but has absolutely no problem with it unless he hurts her. Eventually he does. Toni is older and that age difference ultimately causes the relationship's undoing as Reeves begins to tire of her matronly demeanor and crave someone younger and more exciting.

Enter aspiring New York actress Leonore Lemmon (Robin Tunney) who eventually becomes his fiancee and second potential suspect in his death. When Reeves abandons Toni an infuriated Eddie Mannix, who's a big name with big connections, is the third suspect in what could potentially be a homocide. As Louis edges closer to the truth he uncovers more about Reeves, and himself, than he ever thought possible, personally affecting him on levels he didn't expect. The movie tries to relate those personal struggles with his separated wife and son to Reeves' problems, but it comes off forced, not quite connecting like it should. As a murder mystery the film doesn't quite hit the mark either because we can't have any kind of closure on Reeves' death since no one ever found out what happened. Instead the movie is held together by the examination of him as a person and how his own celebrity caused him to self destruct. All of this is brilliantly brought to life by Affleck's surprisingly complex performance.

Reeves is depicted as a really good guy who's only wish was to be taken seriously as an actor. Unfortunately his big break came as Superman, which made him a laughing stock to his peers and prevented him from being hired for anything else, causing his personal and professional life to unravel. There's a wonderful scene in the film at the premiere of From Here To Eternity when Reeves shows up onscreen in a small role opposite Burt Lancaster. The entire theater bursts in laughter and erupts with Superman cat calls. Humiliated, all Reeves can do is cower in his seat. Affleck plays the entire scene just right. He doesn't say anything, but we can tell from the look on his face that Reeves' entire world just came crashing down and he's forever burdened by the role that made him a star.

What's interesting is that when we see scenes of the filming of the show and Affleck in the costume, we can see the humiliation on his face and also understand why he'd be ridiculed. Let's face it: The Superman character is kind of a joke since it's always been exploited by Hollywood just to make a quick buck no matter how talented (Christopher Reeve) or untalented (Brandon Routh) the actor playing him was. It's virtually impossible for any actor to ever be taken seriously again after playing the part. However, as much as this burned Reeves up inside, he took his responsibility as a role model to children seriously. In the movie's best scene, he has to talk down a small boy with a loaded gun pointed right at him. How he does this without hinting in any way to him that he really isn't Superman is amazing. Had the film explored these themes further instead of emulating an E! True Hollywood Story, the film would have been unforgettable.

After years of starring in junk (and just now recently admitting to it), Affleck finally finds in George Reeves the role that brings out his strengths as an actor. There's no doubt he saw similarities between himself and Reeves as both men desperately wanted to overcome their image to be taken seriously as an actor, battling both personal demons and having tabloid romances. But for the first time in years he looks relaxed in a role that he completely owns, which should hopefully lead him to make more interesting choices moving forward.

While the film doesn't completely succeed drawing parallels between the life of Reeves and the man investigating his death, Brody's performance as the embattled Louis isn't to blame. He does good work here, as toward the end it becomes clear he's ironically the only person who actually cares for Reeves as a person, not as a celebrity. Brody will never look like your typical leading man, but every time out he gives it everything he has and often gives great performances in films unworthy of it. Lane, Hopkins and Tunney all give solid supporting turns.

This is the directorial debut of Allen Coulter, who's best known for his work on televison's The Sopranos and Sex and the City and he does an admirable job capturing the look and feel of 1950's Hollywood in all it's glamour. Hollywoodland is a good movie that could have been great if it spent more time examining George Reeves the man rather than trying to pointlessly unravel the mysterious circumstances surrounding his death.