'Crazy sci-fi B-movie': BBC critic's take on new Superman film

Superman isn't just a new film, nor even the first in a potential series. It marks the launch of an entire new cinematic universe.

DC's latest superhero releases met an ignominious end in 2023.

The studio released four films that year: Shazam! Fury of the Gods , The Flash , Blue Beetle , and Aquaman: The Lost Empire . And there was no sequel.

DC's so-called "Extended Universe" has simply been destroyed. In other words, filmmaker Zack Snyder (responsible for many of DC's films) will no longer be able to produce his apocalyptic epics starring Henry Cavill as Superman and Ben Affleck as Batman.

In his place, James Gunn — who directed the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy (2014-2023) for Marvel — was tasked with overseeing DC's superheroes on the big and small screen, as well as writing the script and directing the first film in the rebooted franchise.

You can imagine the amount of pressure Gunn was under. Superman has saved the world countless times over the decades. But now, he has the fate of an entire universe on his shoulders.

Gunn may have felt that pressure, but there's no sign of it in the newly released film.

He didn't lay the foundations of DC's new universe with care and delicacy, nor did he even strive to create a Superman story that would be well-received by the widest possible audience. Quite the opposite, in fact.

Taking on the geek weirdness that defined Gunn's last DC film, The Suicide Squad (2021), not to mention the low-budget horror comedies he made before turning his attention to superheroes, Superman is a curiosity that feels like it was produced by Gunn for his own amusement.

It remains to be seen whether the film will also entertain audiences in theaters.

Gunn's most surprising idea was to start his story not at the beginning, but somewhere in the middle, as if it were the third or fourth film in the series.

When we first see Superman, conveniently played by the handsome and wholesome David Corenswet, he has already been protecting Metropolis from supervillains for three years.

He's already dating his Daily Planet colleague, the determined Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan), and he's already hated by a bald, bigoted billionaire named Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult).

The most unusual thing for an early film in the Superman franchise is that he's not the only superhuman on the planet — or "metahuman," to use the jargon of the current universe.

Other major DC characters—like Wonder Woman, Batman, The Flash, and Aquaman—have seemingly been reserved for their own films. But Superman is simultaneously aided and hindered by the Justice Gang, made up of the arrogant Green Lantern (Nathan Fillion), the cool and unflappable Mister Terrific (Edi Gathegi), and the shadowy Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced).

The approach is fun. Most of us are familiar with the origin story of Superman, who was born on the planet Krypton and raised on a farm in Kansas. So it's refreshing to skip that entire story and get straight to the superheroes.

It's also fun to see Gunn bringing together all of DC Comics' craziest ideas.

Snyder's Superman films were always dark, angst-ridden, and filled with biblical symbolism. But this one features Krypto, the fluffy white Superman, and the hero's coterie of caped-robotic assistants, which he aptly calls "Superman Bots."

But having a director and writer who also co-owns the studio is a risk. Gunn's strange approach to Superman storytelling quickly becomes tiresome and self-indulgent.

By the time we reach the midpoint of the film, we've seen clones and hypnotic goggles, a pocket universe and a fire-breathing Godzilla lookalike, as well as a militia called Planet Watch and a massive floating eyeball called a "dimensional demon."

By now, we've heard comments about misinformation on social media and debates about the geopolitical impact of metahumans. We've smiled at the most comic-book-like content ever included in a Superman film and grimaced at a disturbing cold-blooded murder.

Rather than showcasing Gunn's efforts to launch a long series of superhero films, Superman suggests that the director feared being fired shortly after his first production. So he decided to cram the film with everything he could imagine.

Very fast

His nerdy ambition will make comic book fans laugh. And so will his twisted sense of humor.

It takes audacity to produce a billion-dollar Hollywood blockbuster that looks more like a quirky science fiction B-movie.

But Superman develops his strange plot and outlandish concepts too quickly for them to have any impact.

Skyscrapers collapse, monsters invade Metropolis, and people travel between universes. But Gunn's haste doesn't allow him to instill in these moments any of the charm of Superman: The Movie (1978)—no matter how many times he includes John Williams' classic score.

Therefore, none of these events seem to matter. And their video game-like visual effects heighten the feeling that nothing on screen seems to have any meaning.

The evocative tagline for Superman: The Movie was "You'll believe a man can fly." And, almost 50 years later, the tagline for this simplistic and inconsistent Superman could be "You'll believe nothing."

It's a shame Gunn didn't give his story more breathing room. It's particularly unfortunate that he didn't dedicate more time to showing us that Superman truly is the paradigm his admirers insist he is.

Corenswet was well-cast in the lead role. He has all-American charm, both as Superman and as his peaceful alter ego, Clark Kent.

But the audience is forced to believe without question that he is a selfless gentleman who helps his friends and enjoys the company of Lois Lane, without seeing any of this in the film.

In fact, Corenswet plays the hero as a strangely hot-headed, overgrown boy who can't hold a conversation with his girlfriend without getting angry and yelling at her.

Could it be that Gunn went so far overboard that he forgot to include scenes that showcased Superman's more noble and gentle side?

In a movie that revolves around flying dogs and glowing green demon babies, the most bizarre element is an Iron Man with such emotional out of control.

Technical sheet

Director: James Gunn

Cast: David Corenswet, Rachel Brosnahan, Nicholas Hoult, and Isabela Merced.

Duration: 2h 9min

Superman has been showing in Brazilian cinemas since July 10th.

Read the original version of this report (in English) on the BBC Culture website .