"Superman sores in my opinion, it is a triumph and kicks off the blossoming DCU well, it is a Comic Book brought to life"

Admittedly I was worried about Superman, what with all of the false starts and mediocre entries in the defunct DCEU, and contrary to what James Gunn says, there is a lot riding on the success of Superman; it has the whole DCU riding on it, and whilst there is some clunky dialogue, a lack of character development, a lot going on and a bloated runtime, on the whole it is a solid film, fun, humorous and vibrant.

So Superman picks up three years into Clark Kent/ Kal-El’s tenure as the Man of Steel, we thankfully don’t see another origin story, in Gunn’s DCU, metahumans are known to the world, and there are some other heroes known as well, however, the nations of the world struggle to understand Superman’s motives when he intervenes during a conflict between the fictional nations of Boravia and Jarhanpur. Boravia being an ally to America, leading many to question where his allegiance is, even though he saves many lives, and doesn’t necessarily represent America in his mind.

Superman has a working relationship with the ‘Justice Gang’ led by Nathan Fillion’s Guy Gardner who is also a member of the Green Lantern Corp, and whilst the addition of these heroes is good, we don’t get a huge amount with them, the one that does stand out is Edi Gathegi’s Mister Terrific, he’s superb, but as a fan of Isabela Merced, I’d liked to have seen more from her Hawkgirl, what we do get is great, but it is a Superman film so he shouldn’t be overshadowed in his own film, and thankfully he’s not.

David Corenswet shines as the Man of Steel, he’s wonderful in the role with more emphasis placed on his Superman persona rather than his Clark Kent persona, this fresh faced actor perfectly embodies both sides of the big blue boy scout, emulating but not copying Christopher Reeve, but he shows he is just as human as anyone, getting frustrated when the situation calls for it.

Similarly Rachel Brosnahan’s Lois Lane is incredible and has a lot to do. In my view, she is a co lead of the film, they are already a couple and so we don’t see the awkward interplay between them when he first starts at the Daily Planet, flashbacks would’ve been good but it would bloat the runtime even more.

Superman further shows James Gunn’s ability to handle ensemble casts with all of the interplay between the Daily Planet staff including Wendell Pierce’s Perry White, Skyler Gisondo’s Jimmy Olsen, Mikaela Hoover’s Cat Grant and Beck Bennett’s Steve Lombard. Pierce doesn’t have a great amount to do but it is good to see him, however the standout at the Daily Planet is Gisondo’s Jimmy Olsen, he has a lot to do and is intergral to the plot.

Nicholas Hoult is menacing and self aware as Lex Luther, clearly channelling Michael Rosenbaum’s Lex from Smallville, it isn’t a spoiler to say he orchestrates all of the events in the film, he has a vendetta against Superman, bordering on personal and the inclusion of Krypto the Superdog is handled brilliantly.

Another stand out to me was the little but powerful and emotional scenes with Pruitt Taylor Vince and Neva Howell as Jonathan and Martha Kent respectively, really enjoyed seeing them. Alan Tudyk is always excellent and provides alot of the comic relief as the voice of Four, later christening himself as Gary.

At 2 hours and 9 minutes, Superman sores in my opinion, it is a triumph and kicks off the blossoming DCU well, it is a Comic Book brought to life. It felt like watching the Superman Animated series with the fun and vibrancy shown on screen.

As with all of Gunn’s films, the music choices carry his trademark signature, right down to the inclusion of the fictional band The Mighty Crabjoys. The score is brilliant also, John Murphy and David Fleming do a masterful job with the new compositions as well as blending in some familiar beats and themes from John Williams.

There are cameos, and I don’t consider it to be a spoiler to acknowledge that Milly Alcock’s Supergirl, makes an appearance because we have known that since shooting started, it is a great scene in my opinion, helping to set up her solo film.

With all the good things going for it, Superman is a worthy start to a new universe, Gunn and team have crafted an excellent film that will undoubtedly have its detractors, the naysayers won’t necessarily overshadow those that enjoyed it, but they will be a voice. However, I do think that those that enjoyed it will be louder.