Man of Steel, heart of gold

It’s a bird. It’s a plane. It’s… a really sweet guy.

Forget Zack Snyder’s grim, dark, depressive Man of Steel from 2013. With this peppy course-correction, writer-director James Gunn (the man behind the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy) gets back to Big Blue basics by remembering Superman is kind of a square.

He’s optimistic and earnest and maybe a bit naive. He says things like, “No can do,” and “What the hey, dude?” He’s unironic.

Gunn’s new version is bit retro, nodding to its hero’s old-timey comic-book roots and the 1978 Richard Donner-directed film with Christopher Reeve.

It also feels of-the-moment, particularly in its emphasis on the Superman story as an archetypal immigrant experience.

And while Gunn is seeding in some serious messages about power and responsibility, the delivery system is defiantly goofy. As a superhero movie, Superman is a bit scattershot, a bit crowded, a bit rushed, but it’s always fun.

Gunn forgoes an elaborate origin story — don’t we all know it? — and instead hurtles right into the action. We first meet Superman (Twisters’ David Corenswet) mid-fight, as he crashes to the ground, wheezing and spitting blood. He may be super, but he can be hurt.

After getting support from Krypto, his adorably idiotic foster dog, and some fussy robots, Superman gets into more city-saving heroics in Metropolis. Then he’s off to the newsroom of The Daily Planet, where his buttoned-up alter-ego, Clark Kent, banters with Lois Lane (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’s Rachel Brosnahan).

There are plot sidelines involving American politics, global conflicts and social media disinformation, but the story’s basic showdown is between Superman and villainous tech-bro Lex Luthor (played by Nosferatu’s Nicholas Hoult, who’s clearly working with an Elon Musk kind of vibe).

Considering Gunn’s propensity for wacky shenanigans — yes, we’re thinking of the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special — the action sequences sometimes feel a little generic. There’s a comic emphasis on Superman’s particular skill at making sure big things don’t fall on small things — at one point he saves a squirrel, carefully flying it to safety. But overall, the battle scenes are hampered by predictable beats and indifferent CGI, for allies and enemies alike.

The exception is the crowd-pleasing Krypto. Like so many good dogs, he’s enthusiastic but not particularly competent, and this canine personality manages to shine through even though he’s completely computer-generated.

Gunn also does well with the human stuff, and that, of course, includes Superman. While his detractors label him “the alien” (he is a refugee from another planet), Superman ends up being more human than a lot of humans. He’s certainly more human than that sociopath Lex Luthor.

The casting is crucial. Corenswet mixes his character’s superpowers with relatable vulnerability and leavens his moral uprightness with wry self-deprecation. He’s matched by Brosnahan.

Lois and Superman have a lot in common, and not just that blue-black hair so often seen in comic book characters. Their scenes crackle with back-and-forth screwball energy, and the two leads manage to convey a credibly grown-up romantic relationship, something of a rarity in superhero movies.

Gunn also cuts the potential for corniness with a fair amount of cynical wisecracking from the supporting cast. Jimmie Olsen (Skyler Gisondo), of all people, is a bit smarmy, and Superman’s superhero colleagues seem at first like a bunch of slacker screw-ups. Green Lantern (Nathan Fillion with an epically bad hairdo), for instance, is mostly preoccupied with making the name “Justice Gang” happen.

Thankfully, the movie works as a standalone story, but its corners are packed with minor characters, including Isabela Merced as Hawkgirl, Edi Gathegi as Mr. Terrific and a brief cameo by John Cena as Peacemaker.

For years, the DC franchise has been straining to keep up with the ever-expanding MCU. Gunn seems to be setting up possibilities for future instalments, and with Superman’s combo of sincerity and silliness, heart and humour, this might just be a way forward.

alison.gillmor@freepress.mb.ca