Let’s cut across the chase, and get to the point. This Superman is a load of fun, with its dramatic content supported by special effects that assail your senses without blocking the emotional view. I am sure buildings falling , as Superman negotiates through the massive rubble would look even more impressive in 3D.
Me, I prefer 2D. It gives us a more restive and thoughtful opportunity to evaluate the scale and volume of the spectacle without having to be battered down by gimmicks.Superman as directed by James Gunn, who had done the Guardians Of The Galaxy , is fully in control of the visual effects. They seldom overpower the plot which adheres to the tradition Clark Kent/Superman formula without leaning slavishly into the remnants of the past blast.
As for the new Superman, David Corenswet is the most vulnerable of the actors who played the man with the golden mission before. Corenswet makes the character seem vulnerable and easily conned by the anti-superman brigade led by Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult ) who wants everything that Superman has except Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan) whose relationship with Superman is, thankfully, not open to triangular tribulations.
Another refreshing departure from the super-hero guidelines: Super has a pet dog Crypto who willnilly, steals the show from the entire cast including Superman. Crypto who has serious behavioural issues, but is single-mindedly devoted to getting Superman out of sticky situations, some of them quite literal.
The hot sizzling plot has plenty of opportunities for VFX driven hijinks and the director doesn’t let go of even one. There is an atmosphere of infinite possibilities in the telling of Superman’s fall from grace and then his quick pickup resurrection, with some help from Crypto, of course.
There is a relentless restlessness in Superman’s inflammatory run-ins with the Super-villain’s ruinous games. Corenswet and Hoult carry the film’s double-sided moral outpouring into the gambit of a board game that never gets boring.
The pace slackens only when Clark Kent gets down to talking shop with Lois Lane. There is a lengthy clumsily edited sequence where Kent/Superman is interviewed with Lois at her home. Not needed! Move on.
This edition of Superman is a unconditional bonanza with memorable characters popping in to further boost the action. The narrative percolates with activity, framing every action piece with grit and immediacy.
Superman is more fun than its earlier instalments. David Corenswet reminded me of Christopher Reeve. The same bashful determination to save the world even when it doesn’t need saving .
There is a wicked subplot about a reporter Jimmy (Skyler Gisondo) who gets information out of super-villain Luthor’s ditzy girlfriend (played by Sara Sampaio) by pretending to like her romantically. This character, more than any, tells us why the world needs to be saved.
