Superman reviews are out, and they feel that James Gunn has hit it out of the park with the reboot, while David Corenswet is being hailed for his performance.
Look up! Superman has arrived to save the day. The ‘new’ Man of Steel is not just beating criminals, but he is saving an entire genre, if first reviews are to be believed. The early reviews for James Gunn‘s reboot of Superman are here, and they almost unanimously hail the film as the saviour of the superhero genre. Barring a few notable exceptions, critics agree that the new Superman is fun, colourful, and just what the audiences need today.
Superman reviews
Superman currently holds an 86% approval rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes from 147 reviews. “Pulling off the heroic feat of fleshing out a dynamic new world while putting its champion’s big, beating heart front and center, this Superman flies high as a Man of Tomorrow grounded in the here and now,” reads the site’s critics consensus.
Critics praise the film’s tone
Writing for the Los Angeles Times, Amy Nicholson credits director James Gunn for giving a Superman that ‘isn’t too sweet or too serious’, but adds: “Frankly, he’s a little stupid.” However, Nicholson reasons, “Stupid is a smart idea for a 21st century reboot. Superman’s stymied do-gooder impulse feels right for an era where you can’t say “Save the whales” without some genius asking why you don’t care about plankton.”
Clarisse Loughrey’s review for the Independent says Superman ‘will make you believe in superhero movies again’. She writes, “Superman is conscious enough of its own history to work in elements of John Williams’s 1978 theme. But this is, distinctly, still a James Gunn film in a genre where authorial voice is vanishingly hard to find. He shows a little more restraint with the needle drops here, though his regular cinematographer Henry Braham still approaches action with 360-degree fluidity…as a manifesto, it’s all pretty convincing.”
‘David Corenswet is the best Superman since Reeve’
There is huge praise for the new Superman, David Corenswet, and how he embodies this character for the modern age. In his review for the Boston Globe, Odie Henderson argues, “Superman hasn’t had this much charm and personality since Christopher Reeve made you believe a man could fly. And while David Corenswet won’t replace the memories of Reeve, he’s certainly the best Superman since the late actor hung up his cape and tights.” Corenswet’s co-stars, Rachel Brosnahan (Lois Lane) and Nicholas Hoult (Lex Luthor), earn praise too. Washington Post’s Ann Hornaday praises the lead stars and writes, “In Corenswet, Brosnahan, Hoult and their co-stars, Gunn has clearly found a capable, congenial ensemble to usher Clark, Lois and Lex into a new era.”
Comparing Superman with Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel, AP’s Jake Coyle writes, “Not everything works in “Superman.” For those who like their Superman classically drawn, Gunn’s film will probably seem too irreverent and messy. But for anyone who found Zack Snyder’s previous administration painfully ponderous, this “Superman,” at least, has a pulse.”
‘Stuck somewhere in the 2010s’
However, not every review is glowing. Kevin Maher of The Times is not impressed with Gunn’s reboot. “Gunn approaches the nerdosphere’s most celebrated property like a giddy amnesiac who has missed the precipitous rise and fall of multi-character Marvel superhero movies and is instead stuck somewhere in the early 2010s,” part of his review reads.
Daily Beast‘s Nick Schager calls the film ‘final nail in the superhero coffin’. “Superman doesn’t skimp on the high-flying action, to a fault; the film is so awash in over-the-top CGI insanity that its slam-bang mayhem loses its punch. Not helping matters, the charming Corenswet looks the part but, in the shadow of Christopher Reeve (whose son Will cameos) and Henry Cavill, he comes across as relatively slight—a situation exacerbated by the all-over-the-place nature of his saga,” he adds.
Superman stars David Corenswet in the titular role, alongside Rachel Brosnahan and Nicholas Hoult as Lois Lane and Lex Luthor, respectively. The film releases worldwide on July 11.
The article originally appeared on Hindustan Times
