By Jamie Miller
There are iconic superheroes and then there’s Superman. Every kid knows his symbol, and every comic fan and even just people in general know his origin like the back of their hand. He’s not just a superhero, he’s THE superhero. When you hear the word comic book, there is a good chance you picture Superman flying across the panel to save the day from all manner of threat. So it only makes sense he would have multiple movies about him, with the first being released back in 1948! Now we have a new entry into the legend of Superman.
“Superman” which saw wide release on July 11, tells the tale of Clark Kent, aka Superman, born on the planet Krypton under the name Kal-El, he would be sent to Earth to escape the destruction of Krypton as a baby with his escape craft being found by Jonathan and Martha Kent who raised him as their own son. Kent, discovering that he possesses great powers on Earth due to our yellow sun, dubs himself Superman, early into his career as Earth’s greatest champion while he’s still learning how best to help the world and doing his best to maintain life and making governments namely the United States government, very uncomfortable along the way. And unbeknownst to him, he’s making a powerful enemy in the form of billionaire Lex Luthor, Luthor who hates Superman due to the power he possesses and the fact he is an alien. For this reason, Luthor dedicated to destroying him by any means necessary. In order to defeat this looming threat Superman’s own power won’t be enough, he will have to rely on allies both old and new to save not just his city of Metropolis but the world as a whole from the machinations of Luthor.
The film stars David Corenswet known for roles in the likes of “Pearl” and “Twisters” as Kent/Superman. Rachel Brosnahan known for playing Midge Maisel in “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” as Lois Lane, Kent’s co-worker at the Daily Planet newspaper and girlfriend. Nicholas Hoult known for roles in the likes of “X-Men: First Class” and “Mad Max: Fury Road” Taking a rare villainous turn in the role of Luthor. Anthony Carrigan known for roles in shows such as “Gotham” and “Barry” as Rex Mason aka Metamorpho, a so-called metahuman with the ability to transmute elements in his body into various forms. Nathan Fillion known for roles in the likes of “Firefly” and “Slither” as Guy Gardner aka Green Lantern an arrogant blowhard who possesses a power ring that allows him to create green energy constructs only limited by his imagination and who insists on calling his group of heroes the Justice Gang to the chagrin of the others. Edi Gathegi known for appearances in works such as “House” and “X-Men: First Class” as Michael Holt aka Mr Terrific a genius inventor who utilizes his own inventions in fighting crime. Isabela Merced of “The Last of Us” and “Alien Romulus” fame as Kendra Saunders aka Hawkgirl, a superheroine possessing bird-like wings and skills with melee weapons. And Skyler Gisondo known for roles in the likes of “Licorice Pizza” and “The Righteous Gemstones” as Jimmy Olsen, a young photographer and close colleague of both Kent and Lane.
What to say about this movie? Well, I loved it! It’s great on pretty much every single level. For starters, Corenswet is the most comic-accurate Superman I’ve seen, save for perhaps Christopher Reeves. You see him being careful during his fights, making sure he doesn’t injure civilians and even takes the time to save a dog. That’s something comic Superman would do. And something that I feel is lost on a lot of modern superheroes, the hero part, so many comics and movies now focus on brutal anti-heroes seeking revenge and not enough focus on actual heroes trying to do the right thing and help people. But that’s not the only thing this movie has going for it, as Hoult has to be the single most comic-accurate Luthor I have ever seen. His all-consuming obsession with Superman and need to prove himself superior to him regardless of who gets hurt along the way even if it means potentially dooming Metropolis or even the world is exactly what his comic book counterpart would do. Somehow, the movie manages to even put its spin on him, while at the same time having clear parallels with Elon Musk and other rich and powerful figures such as that. Speaking of modern parallels, the movie manages to have a lot to say about modern events using the invasion of the fictional nations of Jarhanpur by the nation of Boravia as an allegory for the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine and using the fear and backlash Superman receives as an alien as an allegory for the treatment that immigrants have been receiving. And also we got to see Krypto Superman’s dog in live action for the first time, the most powerful of all good boys. The film even uses a remixed version of the classic John Williams Superman theme from the 1978 film, one of the most iconic tunes of all time, and I mean what more could you want out of a movie? For these reasons, I give this film the incredibly rare score of 10 torches out of 10. The highest rank I can give it, and I like to think the highest honor given in Collegiate reviews. If you want my advice, go see this movie!
