Superman Brings a Blast of Color to the Big Screen

            D.C handed over the keys of its cinematic universe to James Gunn, someone who had been adjacently connected to D.C with previous projects, but who had more closely been associated with the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise, but now he has been given control over the whole D.C cinematic universe. He took over the reigns from Zach Snyder, and they have two very distinct styles, but they differ from each other. Where Zach Snyder makes more dark and brooding films, Gunn makes movies that are brighter, and he tries to bring a sense of humor to it all.

            Superman starts in the middle of some action. Superman was getting beaten badly by a helmeted enemy, that was being controlled by Lex Luthor. Even after some healing, Superman was still unable to defeat this foe, and his foe left once Superman had been smashed into the road creating a crater. Lex is also on the offensive in the media front as well. He has been going on shows and creating a discourse about how Superman was an alien, and that he is doing more harm than good. This was mostly due to a recent incident, when Superman stuck his nose in global politics and stopped a war from occurring overseas.

            When Lex breaks into Superman’s secret fortress, he finds a video of Superman’s parents telling him to take control of Earth, and when he broadcasts that, the public turns on Superman, so despite just saving the city, again, he turns himself in to what he thinks is the U.S government, but they sold the contract to Lex, who puts Superman into a pocket universe and traps him in a cell with someone who can turn his hands into kryptonite. So Superman is trapped, and it is up to Lois to gather up some help to find him and free him, and the one hero who is willing to help her is Mr. Terrific. They find a portal entrance, and Superman convinces the man in his cell to turn himself into something that is not kryptonite, and they all work together to get free, and now Superman is tasked with stopping Lex from completing his evil scheme.

             This movie has a large amount of politics going on in it, both localized in America, but also some that involves the larger world. The part that stuck out most to me was the larger geopolitical conflict. In the history of the U.S, there are repeated instances of the U.S sticking their nose into conflicts that do not involve them. There were so many proxy battles during the Cold War, where the U.S ended up in many different countries, and largely they just try to police democracy, although often times the new government structure after the U.S involvement is not that great. So that is all I could think about when they talked about Superman trying to stop a dictator from taking over.

            There is also the whole idea of a media narrative. Lex Luthor made multiple appearances on talk shows and spewed out his propaganda trying to fear monger the masses. He said that he was scared of Superman despite coming face to face with him multiple times and not flinching. Lex also broke into his fortress and stole a video of Superman’s parents, which he used against Superman because his parents said take over the planet, which sounds bad, but there has been plenty of precedence that showed that Superman is constantly trying to help not hurt, but in the age of phones and brain rot, the people turned on Superman, because if you say anything with your chest enough people will apparently believe you no matter what evidence stands to the contrary.

            The movie definitely felt like a James Gunn film. He found ways to even make the darkest of spaces vibrant, like a rainbow river in the pocket dimension. Almost the whole movie takes place during day time, and the colors are always bright. He even made sure to bring in his signature weird monsters into the film, these can also be seen in the Guardians of the Galaxy movies. Also he seems to have an odd fetish with eyes. In Suicide Squad, there was a large starfish like beast that had a giant eye that got popped, and then in this movie, there was a giant reptilian beast that also was attacked and eventually had its eye popped. It is kind of gross, but for some reason he is into it.

            One of my favorite parts of the movie was Krypto. He was one of my favorites growing up, and I was beyond excited when he had his own animated TV show, even though it was short lived. So when I saw Krypto in the trailer, I was in on this movie. Although he is sidelined for most of the movie, he does play a few pivotal roles, and honestly, for being a totally CGIed dog, he does not look terrible, and they even made him comedic and like a super powered dog, he was not personified. He did silly things like break into a pet shop and play with chew toys, he was always chasing balls, and he would bite even when he was not supposed to. Superman had no control over this pup, and it was a fun take on the whole thing, and at the end of the movie, they say that Krypto is Supergirl’s dog, and she is getting her own movie soon, so I can only imagine that he will play a more prominent role.

            Unlike recent Marvel movies, this did get me excited for what is coming for DC. I am a little weary of James Gunn, I feel like all his movies are like 3 or 3.5 stars, which is good, but that is a low ceiling. He also has a propensity to showcase lesser-known heroes, which can be fun in the case of Peacemaker, but in Superman, Mr. Terrific plays an integral role, and when he brought in Hawkgirl and knock off Green Lantern, I could not help but roll my eyes. So we will see how that goes, and he is not directing all the films, so hopefully his wacky tone will not be splashed over everything, because at times Superman felt a little corny, and it was a little off putting.

            Overall, this was a fun time at the movies. At times the plot is a little convoluted, and it feels like he steps back from the chemistry among characters that is working, but there is enough good to outweigh the bad. I am excited to see what is to come, and maybe the unconventional approach by Gunn will work. Superman seemed like a good enough guy that he could get along with anyone, so hopefully next time, he will team up with some more A list heroes. 3.5 Stars and worth a watch.