Superman (12A)

Kryptonian refugee Kal-El has been raised by adopted parents Jonathan and Martha Kent as Clark Kent in Smallville, Kansas. He works at The Daily Planet under editor-in-chief Perry White and has managed to keep his true identity secret from colleague Lois Lane. In his guise as Superman, Kal-El faces his greatest test to protect the people of Earth from Lex Luthor, CEO of LuthorCorp.

LondonNet Film Review

Superman (12A) Film Review from LondonNet

Opening with a lingering refrain of composer John Williams’ main theme, the latest reboot of the Man of Steel is a boisterous but bloated romp fashioned by Guardians Of The Galaxy ringmaster James Gunn to appeal to as many people as possible without truly delighting anyone. A menagerie of offbeat characters, including Krypto the dog, competes for limited attention between bombastic action-oriented set pieces that rely heavily on digital effects to pack a punch…

In the few scenes where Gunn turns down the volume and focuses intently on relationships under duress, such as beautifully expressing the pride that Clark’s “mushy” earthbound father feels for his boy, this Superman demonstrates how it might soar in the future with less world-building to shoe-horn into an overly generous 129-minute running time. David Corenswet’s embodiment of the Kryptonian orphan is wholesome and familiar, down to the single S-shaped curl of hair tumbling across his forehead, and there is a gently simmering screen chemistry with Rachel Brosnahan’s appealingly spunky and forthright Lois Lane. Nicholas Hoult’s duplicitous Lex Luthor is another slow burn.

Black holes that open at key junctures of the freewheeling narrative appear to have swallowed quality screen time for many of the super-powered players aside from the title character. Gunn pulls from his Guardians Of The Galaxy trick bag: combat sequences choreographed to a cacophonous soundtrack, a cute alien baby in peril, and a reluctant warrior hero, Metamorpho (Anthony Carrigan), with impressive prosthetics and facial make-up to aesthetically suggest an unholy alliance between Drax and Nebula.

It has been three years since Kryptonian refugee Kal-El (Corenswet) announced his presence as Superman, the most powerful metahuman on Earth. His childhood with adopted parents Jonathan and Martha Kent (Pruitt Taylor Vince, Neva Howell) in Smallville, Kansas, remains a secret to everyone except for his girlfriend, Lois Lane (Brosnahan). When Superman takes a unilateral decision to intervene in military aggression between Boravia and Jarhanpur, Lex Luthor (Hoult) seizes the moment to sow seeds of doubt about Superman’s intentions.

Luthor suggests his super-powered army, spearheaded by Ultraman and The Engineer (Maria Gabriela de Faria), should apprehend the Kryptonian before he meddles in other geopolitical matters. As global tensions rise and Lois works on a major story with Jimmy Olsen (Skyler Gisondo), Superman receives questionable support from privately contracted metahumans called the Justice Gang, comprising Green Lantern (Nathan Fillion), Mister Terrific (Edi Gathegi) and Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced).

Superman delivers large-scale spectacle, covert romance and canine tomfoolery with a heavy hand, diluting the jeopardy so younger audiences won’t ever be fearful that the title character could succumb to his injuries or Kryptonite poisoning. Even a mass extinction event that dominates the messy final 20 minutes fails to get the adrenaline pumping. Corenswet copes effortlessly with the physical demands and looks commanding in close-up with a cape fluttering majestically behind him. Additional scenes in the end credits should have been jettisoned into deep space.

– Kim Hu