The Most Timeless of Comic Book Movies
'Superman' | James Gunn
Dear Moviegoers,
Mere minutes before my feature presentation of the latest Superman flick began, I was privy to a trailer from the folks at Angel Studios. They make movies with a "wholesome" and Christian-ish bent, usually involving family values and underdogs, and sometimes straight up being about Jesus. This time around, they previewed for my audience, all packed into a 2D regular screen auditorium at a Movie Tavern sports bar cinema - one of only two operating movie theaters on the Northshore of New Orleans - a WWII drama called Truth & Treason. It's a story about a kid who starts a rebellion against the Nazis, amid aggressive arrests of Jewish friends and neighbors.
The standard Angel Studios level of schmaltz notwithstanding, I got a kick out of what was offered up. Whether intentional or not, Truth & Treason might get more conservative Americans to think a bit about the times they live in. But, for now, its timing of its debut, right before a film about a heroic immigrant saving the day in the USA, is most interesting on the part of this theater chain.
A sly act of defiance? A whip-smart promotion?
Sly defiance and smart promotion of thought can be seen all over Superman, the kick-off to the feature film slate from the new DC Studios, helmed in part by James Gunn of Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy directorial fame. Gunn directs this entry tale into cinematic comic book lore too, bursting his colorful characters onto and sometimes through the screen, with the sheen and serenity of a Max Fleischer cartoon. After years of the so-called "Snyder-verse" takeover of DC movies, it's nice to see such brightness flashed back at us. If movies are mirrors held up to our worlds, what does Superman's visual scheme say about us all? What does it say about our time and place? Our wants and needs?
Gunn gets geeks, but geeks don't get Gunn - at least, not all of them do. It's exciting to see such conversation about a movie, any movie, play out all over social and mainstream media, even if some talk is found to be infuriating. Superman punches through the noise as if it were harmful pollution, not because he was told to, but because it had to be done. Chat all day, but let's not lose the film itself.
Superman is great, and it might be the best movie of the moment.
Of the year? Possibly, but I think that, as the world teeters back and forth near the cusp of absurd disaster, it's more interesting for a film to be alive in this present, having something to suggest or recommend to an audience wishing for escape from fear, neglect, and ignorance. I'm not saying that Superman's production was somehow "prophetic" about 2025 - not at all - but I AM, maybe, stating that this movie has achieved becoming timeless so very early into its theatrical release. This isn't hyperbole from me, but it could be an overdose of joyousness that I'm poisoned by.
Wholesome by virtue, righteous by mandate, and kind by determination. Superman, as a figure, has, to varying degrees, stood for hope and justice. David Corenswet, tasked with fulfilling this role on screen, takes to the assignment at first like a child wanting to do right by his parents. This is reflected in the story from the snowy beginning, but also by Corenswet's handsome looks and "love me" eyes. He's tough when needed, confident through and through, but in private, he has that "aw shucks" attitude that suggests some charming arrogance and slightly sad, delayed development of personality and promise. Always, he has his alien parents in mind, their words comforting him in times of pain, reminding him of what he's "meant" to be.
This is incredible. This is a Superman movie that, while doing the business of fun, of heroes and villains, of lights and colors, of discovery and revelation related to real world news...
...is able to be a movie of tricks, of facade, of confusion, and of doubt too. And it's able to include all of that without snapping any necks or toppling over buildings with reckless abandon. I could (and likely will in future articles) go over Superman's other finer and finest points, but to me, for now, in this moment, I'm startled and happy to find an interpretation of the character that can grow out of the shadow of past generations and soar into one of his own making. Of his own choice.
This is but one aspect that makes the movie "timeless" to me. Immigration, fascism, corporate influence, the importance of journalism, idealism, and more all play huge parts in Superman's overall arc, from comics to radio to motion pictures. Those are tried and true. What adds that splash of thought for audiences big and small to chew on, more than simple current event connections and contrasts, is in who Superman is and who he can become. In who our protagonist is and who they can become. In who we are and what we can become in this moment or any moment at any given time.
I go back to that Truth & Treason trailer, and how it reverse punctuated Superman for me. While we were supposed to be chomping on our snacks through the previews, we were absorbing a story we already knew as being true. A story of oppressed people fighting against the horrors of the day. It's a different time now, a new present, but all too similar a moment. Superman screened, finished, and reset for more moviegoers to watch, while everyone else went to the parking lot to return home.
To return.
Home.
The same as before? I hope not. 5/5
Superman is now playing in theaters.
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Sincerely Yours in Moviegoing,
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