“That is where you’ve always been wrong about me, Lex. I am as human as anyone. I love, I get scared. I wake up every morning, and despite not knowing what to do, I put one foot in front of the other, and I try to make the best choices that I can. I screw up all the time, but that is being human, and that’s my greatest strength. And someday, I hope, for the sake of the world, you understand that it’s yours too.”
I’m much more of a Marvel guy than a DC guy, but there are great characters and stories in both cinematic universes. DC pretty much invented the entire idea of a superhero when two young guys in New York came up with a new idea back in the 1930’s. When Superman was first introduced to us, it was in Action Comics #1 back in 1938 from the writer Jerry Siegel and the artist Joe Shuster. Since then the character has become a cultural phenomenon that’s been featured in just about every form of media from radio shows, TV shows, cartoons, movies and everything else in between. The character has evolved quite a bit since those early comic book days, and one of the character’s biggest evolutions came with the Max Fleischer cartoon series. But it wasn’t until Richard Donner and Christopher Reeve convinced us that a man can fly in 1978 that Superman truly conquered the world of cinema. Since then DC had another huge win with the Tim Burton and Michael Keaton Batman films about 10 years later. With that kind of a head start, you would think that the DCU (DC Universe) would have left Marvel in the dust. I mean, for decades Marvel couldn’t even make the stuff themselves, because they didn’t have the studio connection like DC has had with Warner Bros. for decades. Yet the Marvel films have progressed through six phases of films and have dominated the film superhero world.
It didn’t help that when Zack Snyder took over, he created this dark place where Superman was a brooding character. Superman was never that in the comics. He was the eternal optimist with a “golly gee” manner that made this almost-invulnerable super-being relatable to the little guys like us. DC has decided to erase the franchise and start over with James Gunn and Peter Chiappetta. Gunn is really the man in charge, and their brand new DCU starts with the 2025 film Superman. He has certainly changed directions, but the question for me remains: did you go too far? Judging by the box office take, I’d say he might have won the fans over. Now that Superman is out from Warner Bros., with this UHD Blu-ray 4K release you can decide that for yourself. Let me be your guide.
James Gunn absolutely got the first part right. Thankfully, a new universe and Superman franchise doesn’t start with an origin story. We all know that Krypton blew up and the planet’s leading scientist sent his infant son to Earth in hopes of his and the Krypton race’s survival. We don’t need to see it again. With the likes of Marlon Brando and Michael Shannon putting their imprints on Jor-El (Supe’s Pops), no one is going to do it better. I don’t need to see Bruce Wayne’s parents killed over and over again. I’m tired of watching Peter Parker get bitten by some messed-up spider, and James Gunn correctly assumes that we don’t need to see that story yet again. That’s a win in the Gunn column.
The film begins about three years since Superman/Clark Kent (Corenswet) has made himself known in Metropolis. He’s already dating Lois Lane (Brosnahan), who already knows who he is. So Gunn saves us from another tired Superman film trope of him just barely staying one step ahead of his Pulitzer prize-winning partner. That’s two for Gunn. In fact, after we see Superman after he got his behind kicked and saved by Krypto and his squad of robots, one of the best scenes in the film is this honest and candid exchange between Clark and Lois at her apartment. I’m not into the whole romantic screen stuff, but there is absolutely a dynamic here that sets the playing field and establishes the kind of chemistry these two characters just have to have. As much as I love Chris Reeve’s version, I did not feel the chemistry between him and Margot Kidder That could be because the actress turned out to be bat-crap crazy. I’m not sure about that one. But here Gunn made good choices in his cast. I’ll give him a half point here and explain later.
What is a superhero without a supervillain? Gunn did go for the obvious path here and, once again the bad guy is Lex Luthor (Hoult). They already hate each other, and Lex, again of course, has been plotting to defeat the Man of Steel. This time he intends to ruin his reputation. Luthor manipulates Superman into “invading” another country and using it as an excuse to unleash his havoc on Metropolis. There are stories of pocket universes and a series of henchmen characters, and we know Superman will win the day. The story is fine, if not a bit overcomplicated by the inclusion of too many central characters. Some of these, however, are quite good.
Great Caesar’s ghost. If you’re a fan of The Wire you know who Wendell Pierce is. Gunn cast Bunk as the Daily Planet’s editor-in-chief (but don’t call him chief). He’s terribly underused here, but that’s the problem when you have so many characters that you are trying to be faithful to. Gunn uses them all. Only the comic fans know who Steve Lombard (Bennett) is. He brought over Otis (Rosemore) and Miss Teschmacher (Sampaio) from the Donner films, and you have to have Superman’s pal, Jimmy (Gisando). He also uses the film to introduce sometimes-bad-guy, sometimes-good-guy Metamorpho (Carrigan). He also plants the seeds of the eventual Justice League who go by the Justice Gang right now by giving us the first feature film versions of Green Lantern and all-around pain in the butt Guy Gardner (Fillion). He imagines himself the “guy” in charge, and Fillion is the perfect choice to play him, and I liked him even with the classic comics bowl haircut look. Maybe this is another half point, OK? We get Hawkgirl (Merced) and a really dynamic version of Mr. Terrific (Gathegi), but the problem is none of these characters have more than a few minutes to shine. There are a ton of other “Easter egg” characters and elements, but the film’s own kryptonite is that it’s too much all at once. There’s even Krypto, and I’m taking away a point here, because Gunn decided to use the design of his own dog instead of his classic white shepherd look from the comics. I mean, come on, James. You pay attention to the details of Guy Gardner’s haircut, but you turn Krypto into a yip-yip dog? Yeah. OK. A yip-yip dog with superpowers.
In tone the film reaches for camp more than dark and serious, which is fine with me. The Donner films were loaded with camp. I will admit it’s a promising beginning, but if I could say one thing to the new DC boss: slow down your roll. You can’t catch up to Marvel in a single movie. Give it time to evolve. If you load so many elements into each movie, it won’t matter how well-cast they are, and these really are. The pace is almost manic because it has to be, and I suspect there’s a 4-hour version of it out there somewhere. Cue The Gunn Cut.
Video
Superman is presented in its original but odd aspect ratio of 1.90:1. The ultra-high-definition 2160p image is arrived at by an HEVC codec with an average bitrate of 75 mbps. This is a very colorful film, and that’s quite appropriate for a comic book movie. The HDR/Dolby Vision allows for wonderfully vivid and bright reds and blues, which are crucial to the character. I’m particularly impressed by the white levels here, as much of the film takes place in the Arctic, although filmed all the way south in the Antarctic. It was a really good idea, because the snow and ice textures are pretty good here. That also means it’s a little too easy to spot the moments where the environment is not at least completely real. Still the f/x blend quite nicely an issue Marvel has been fighting in recent releases. Contrast wins the day with solid delineation between bright and inky black elements. Sometimes the film is a little too glossy. I also loved the contrast of the warm colors of Lois’s apartment against the frigid cold colors of the Arctic. It’s close to a show-off piece for your setup.
Audio
The Dolby Atmos audio presentation defaults to 7.1. There’s plenty to show off here, as well. The surrounds truly give you a seat within these environments. The Arctic stuff uses the surrounds with simple subtle elements like wind over snow behind you. The city is alive with the sounds you expect in a place like Metropolis. Dialog comes through, and those little moments where you can hear the John Williams original theme add nice emotional beats to the audio presentation. The subs get involved early as Krypto comes plowing through the snow to rescue Superman.
Special Features
The extras are found one on each disc.
Adventures In The Making Of Superman: (58:58). This pretty much covers all of the bases. Gunn starts out in a bright green sweater by telling us about his own comics fandom through the use of storyboards. Apparently he communicates a lot with drawings. You get plenty of cast and crew insights if not too many clips of the movie you likely just watched. There is a ton of behind-the-scenes material as Gunn takes us month by month through the production schedule.
Breaking News – The Daily Planet Returns: (5:25) Take a tour through the sets of the Daily Planet, which was an old train station at one time. It’s an organic set, and you get a look at it and the actors/characters that populate it.
Lex Luthor – The Mind Of A Master Villain: (5:22) A profile of Luthor and Hoult.
The Justice Gang: (10:31) Meet the other heroes. They might get more time here than in the actual movie. There are some nice candid moments of them having fun.
Paws To Pixels – Krypto Is Born: (5:48) I tried to get my Siberian husky to tell you about this feature, and all I got was, “You call that a snow dog. I’m a snow dog.” If you like this version of Krypto (guess where I fall in that argument), then you’ll like this look at how he was brought to life.
The Ultimate Villain: (5:08) This is more about the teaming of Lex Luthor with Ultraman. This is a pretty big movie reveal, which is why I avoided it in my review. So stop here only when you’ve watched the film.
A New Era – DC Takes Off: (4:43) This is basically a promo for the new DCU.
Krypto Short – School Bus Scuffle: (5:33) Cartoon where Krypto’s antics with a pigeon end up causing trouble for a school bus and its driver.
Final Thoughts:
We will see Superman next in The Man Of Tomorrow, which I will assume is based on the comic series of the same name. Next up will be Supergirl, and I expect a Superman cameo there. So have you been keeping score on my James Gunn points? Neither have I. Let’s call it a wash. I’ll take a basic wait-and-see stand until I have a better idea where all of this is going. Warner is giving James Gunn a lot of freedom here. “That’s why he has behavior issues.”
