“Superman”, what is supposed to be the first product from whatever has been planned by DC Universe (DCU) during last several years, is a bit welcoming for being, well, cheery. After that ponderously serious period mainly represented by “Man of Steel” (2013), its titular hero is finally moved back into a much lighter territory, and I enjoyed that to some degree while also noticing how clunky it is as an individual product.

The main flaw of the film is that it just puts us into the middle of what feels more like a sequel instead of being the first chapter. Considering nearly all of us are familiar with the origin story of its titular hero, I guess director/writer/co-producer James Gunn decided to skip that part for plot convenience, but his screenplay unfortunately does not spend much time on building up the story and characters while trying to throw a lot of different plot elements into the mix, and the overall result feels often too uneven and scattershot to hold our attention.

At least, Gunn has a suitable actor to fill the titular role. Although Christopher Reeve was not particularly colorful or charismatic, he was perfectly cast as Superman / Clark Kent in the 1978 film because of his plain but natural wholesome presence, and this awesomely perfect match has not been surpassed at all by any of those subsequent Superman movies during the last two decades. David Corenswet, who previously appeared in “Pearl” (2022) and “Twisters” (2024), also does not reach that much to Reeve’s iconic status, but he ably fills his part with enough charm and spirit, and he also shows a bit of good comic timing as Kent.

In addition, Corenswet clicks fairly well with his co-star. As Kent’s fellow Daily Planet reporter Lois Lane, Rachel Brosnahan, who has been mainly known for her Emmy-winning performance in American TV comedy series “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”, deftly balances her character between humor and drama, and her best scene in the film comes from when she has an impromptu interview with Superman at one point early in the story. While there have been some private emotions between them, Lane the journalist comes first as she throws some hard questions to her interviewee, who has recently gotten himself involved with a foreign national crisis outside US.

Not so surprisingly, this international issue is also involved with Superman’s arch-nemesis Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult), who is a prominent billionaire business as arrogant and narcissistic as, say, Elon Musk. Just because Superman has been respected and admired for many of his heroic deeds, Luthor is quite determined to destroy not only Superman but also everything represented by Superman, and, as shown from the early part of the story, he seems very, very, very close to his ultimate goal.

Needless to say, our caped hero soon finds himself needing a lot more than the emotional support from Lane and his adoptive human parents, and that comes from the three members of a “metahuman” group named the “Justice Gang”: Guy Gardner / Green Lanter (Nathan Fillion), Michael Holt / Mister Terrific (Edi Gathegi), and Kendra Saunders / Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced). The first encounter between them and Superman is not exactly pleasant, but you can easily guess from the very beginning that the gang will be more cooperative to Superman later in the story, and that is the main reason why their presence feels rather perfunctory at times despite the game efforts from Fillion, Gathegi, and Merced.

There are also more plot elements to be thrown into the story, and the movie often looks like losing its way as struggling to juggle a lot of things along the narrative. Besides several scenes unfolded inside Luthor’s own private prison space, we get a subplot involved with Luthor’s online influencer girlfriend, and there is also a more serious drama where Superman comes to have a lot of doubt on who he is as well as the meaning of his existence on the Earth. In addition, there is a cute superdog named Krypto, which usually causes much trouble to Superman’s annoyance.   

Anyway, the movie expectedly throws a lot of action onto the screen during the last act, and that is where my level of interest got all the more decreased. The special effects in the film are mostly competent, but they do not look particularly impactful or spectacle without much sense of wonder and imagination, and that makes me appreciate more of those old-fashioned special effects in the 1978 film, which always somehow feel real and wonderful despite the considerable passage of time.

Nevertheless, I must say that there are several good things to remember in the film besides Corenswet and Brosnahan’s solid acting. As the main villain of the story, Nicholas Hoult is quite intense whenever he is required to chew every line of his, and Sara Sampaio holds her own small place well as Luthor’s girlfriend. While Skyler Gisondo, Wendel Pierce, who plays the editor-in-chief of the Daily Planet, and Christopher McDonald are simply required to fill their respective supporting parts, Pruitt Taylor Vince and Neva Howell manage to bring a bit of human touch to the story as Superman’s adoptive human parents, and Vince, who has been one of ever-dependable character actors working in Hollywood for more than 35 years, is poignant when his character has a private conversation scene with Superman at one point later in the film.

In conclusion, “Superman” attempts to bring some fun and excitement, and it succeeds in some parts while also opening the door for whatever may come next, but I only come to have some reservation instead of feeling much enthusiasm. This is probably because of my growing fatigue on its genre during last 20 years, and I can only wish that there will soon come DCU products to interest and entertain me more.