When it comes to the character of Superman, I have never been particularly enamoured by him. I have only ever really seen bits of the Christopher Reeve films, never seen the Bryan Singer’s Superman Returns and the Zack Snyder films that I grew up with are utter crap. I do not know anything too in depth, but I do know the key tenets of a good Superman; it comes with being a geek. He has a respect for life, he is not human, but has humanity and above all, he is a shining beacon of hope, not just saving people around him, but making them actually feel safe. It always wound me up that Synder tossed this rulebook out and tried to make Superman this Christ-like figure that just acts like an alien to everyone around him. He smashed through buildings, with no care for collateral damage and its no wonder Batman wanted to kill him in their grudge match film. The films brought that dark energy from the Batman films and tainted Superman with it, completely diminishing that idea of a beacon of light and hope. Now with a new beginning, and not tied down by previous films, we have James Gunn’s Superman. Even if some other things keep it from getting anywhere near perfection, this is a film that understands Superman and you’d have to be pretty miserable to not get any joy out of this.

Superman is the first film in the new DCU (DC Universe), started by new creative lead James Gunn. David Corenswet dons the cape this time around and in this universe, Clark Kent has already been Superman for 3 years. Metahumans are a norm in this world and so is all the typical comic-book chaos you may expect. Giant monsters, leagues of superheroes and supervillains, pocket dimensions, it is all here and it is very wacky. This story surrounds Clark in a bit of a sticky spot with the government after intervening in a foreign conflict between the nations of Boravia and Jarhanpur. The ‘Hammer of Boravia’ has just defeated him in a fight and with the help of Krypto, Clark’s loveable Super-dog, he goes back to his Fortress of Solitude to heal and regenerate. There, he is soothed by the light from The Sun channeled into him, as well as a message from his parents that he takes comfort in. Cheering on the Hammer, as well as anybody who stands against Superman, is Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult). He hates him and fundamentally believes that he is better than him, jealous of the limelight he stands in and, as you will see, he will do anything to tear him down. Backed by Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan) and the ‘Justice Gang’ led by the Green Lantern, Guy Gardner (Nathan Fillion), Clark will try to stop Lex’s plans to desecrate his image and save everybody around him at all costs.

So the main question before anything else is how is David Corenswet as Superman? Well the answer is incredibly simple: he is just brilliant. Full of charisma, and yet also the token dorky stoicness that the character is known for, when you think of Superman, this man is exactly what he should look like. The same goes for pretty much every single character and performance in the film and they all really sell the kooky comic-booky world that they live in. Nicholas Hoult is a great example, selling his over the top evil scheming and scenery-chewing rage to just the right level. Rachel Brosnahan is also the perfect Lois Lane, having that commandeering journalist presence but also lowering herself appropriately when it comes to the quieter scenes with Corenswet. Their chemistry together is also flawless and even with their relationship in the film being in essentially a situationship, they are infectious enough together on screen that you know they are meant to be. The ensemble’s oozing confidence definitely contributes to the establishment of the world and universe. Fillion’s Green Lantern, Isabella Merced’s Hawkgirl and Edi Gathegi’s Mr. Terrific are great fouding members of the Justice League (or Gang as it is called in this) and are just the right amount of weird for what we have seen so far. It all just feels right and if this is only the first introduction of characters to this universe, it will be very interesting to see what is in store for the future.

Where the characters and performances are great, the narrative writing is less stellar overall. This is mostly just down to how much the film tries to pack into its relatively modest 130 minute runttime. They could have easily made this longer to give more time for certain scenes, as the pace is pretty consistently break-neck speed. It all flies by and it leaves you wanting more, from both an entertainment perspective and that of just needing more explaining done. To make things even more disjointed, in this sense, there are some lines that really over-explain their immediate circumstances, which is even more grossly off-putting when you realise that was put there in place of developing elsewhere. There is a distinct lack of ‘show, not tell’, particularly in scenes surrounding the villains of the film, making their conflicts and motivations lack a bit of nuance. Though certainly not the case for all, it can be noticeable and annoying as a result. Making the film longer would help a great deal with the script’s contained overload. Character details could have more breadth and depth and instead of being told about conflicts like in the opening crawl, we could actually see it and give less to explain in such a short space of time. Alleviating the constant need to move on with scenes would fix a lot of the films’ messiness. By no means is this issue big enough to be a dealbreaker in the way of loving this film, but it is the thing that keeps it from being spectacular as a whole package.

Outside the writing department, there is pure, unbridled joy to be had with the films set pieces and visuals. The action is shot with such finesse and style that makes it feel less like bog-standard superhero action. It is truly amazing what actually moving the camera does for making action scenes look cool, but also giving it lots of personality. Holding the camera in close to Superman as he punches a giant monster in the face feels exhilirating purely because of the cinematography and how it places us in the fray. That sort of care towards presenting the action should be the standard for comic-book films going forward because it’s just so fun to watch. Whilst the camera is great all the time, the effects can sometimes not quite look convincing enough. It certainly is not all the time but some scenes just looked a bit shaky. One action scene in the pocket dimension was full of visual noise and it was hard to even tell what was happening. Still, this did not affect my enjoyment too much, especially considering how good some of the visuals can be. Watching Superman smash someone’s teeth out into the camera, in a close-up slo-mo shot, is one of many examples where it really hits the mark, combining top tier visual flair with comic-booky wackiness.

Superman is a fantastic start to the DCU and is full of all the comic-book joy that you could ask for from a Superman film. Corenswet is the beacon of hope for the DCU going forward and he has set the standard for how spot on the casting can be. This is a bold film in many ways, both in its approach as a film, but also within its contexts and allusions. Not only is it deviating from the darker state of DC that we have come to know, it shines a bright light on current topics and this film is inherently political. That might be a bit much for some but I have to commend a blockbuster like this for not being afraid to allude to its stance on current affairs, especially when it is not done clumsily. It certainly helps that overall, this film has its heart in the right place and even its shortcomings are overidden by joy in spades.