By: Kimberly Grant

The first word that comes to mind when I think about the latest Superman movie is “wow”.  Not “Wow, how exciting”.  But “Wow, Warner Bros. spent $225 million on this film and it’s bad”.

Superman will be in IMAX theaters nationwide starting July 11.

I Wanted to Be Wrong About This One

Yes, it’s true.  When I saw the teaser trailer for this film months ago, I thought: “This looks like it’s going to be bad.”  As the months went by and the Warner Bros. Discovery marketing team earned every bit of their pay in promoting Superman, I decided that I was probably wrong about this movie.  I wanted to be wrong.  Alas, I wasn’t.

Let’s start with the biggest culprit: James Gunn, who wrote and directed the Guardians of the Galaxy movies.  Not only did he direct Superman, but he wrote the film based on characters created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.  The paper-thin plot is about Lex Luthor (played by Nicholas Hoult) trying to take down Superman.  Now, this is nothing new.  Lex has always hated Superman and tried to take him down.  This time around, Lex is using a message from Kal-El’s deceased parents to turn the world against Superman a. k. a. Clarke Kent (David Corenswet). 

In a Trump-style bid for power, Lex uses a looming war between the fictional countries of Boravia and Jarhanpur to help him defeat Superman.  He also has a gaggle of cronies blindly following his negative ambitions as mindless villains.  On Superman’s side are his love Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan), and the Justice Gang, which includes Mr. Terrific (Edi Gathegi), Hawkgirl (Isabel Merced), and The Green Lantern (Nathan Fillion). 

If you are planning on seeing Superman, it is recommended that you stop reading this review at this point.

Too Many Characters Not Enough Plot

For the rest of my readers, herein lies one of the main problems with this film.  Gunn obviously wanted to cram as many characters into this film as he could for nostalgic purposes.  But this method falls flat.  There are so many great actors in this movie that it almost feels like a disservice to them for it to be so bad.

Wendell Pierce plays Daily Planet publisher Perry White.  Bradley Cooper plays Superman’s real dad Jor-El. Pom Klementieff voices a CGI robot.  Sean Gunn, Alan Tudyk, Milly Alcock, Michael Ian Black, Frank Grillo, and John Cena all make appearances.  Beloved characters include Cat Grant, Jimmy Olson, Ma and Pa Kent, and even Eve Teschmacher.  As a fan of the CW’s Arrowverse I can appreciate these characters.  What I can’t appreciate is that these characters do nothing to save this movie.  Most of the performances are campy at best and don’t get enough screen time to make an impact.  So, they become NPCs to the main plot, which is weak.

Furthermore, there are things that are not explained properly in the movie to even make it make sense.  Like, who does the dog belong to and how did he get super powers?  Why hasn’t anyone noticed that Clarke Kent hasn’t shown up to work in a few days?  What was the point of adding the Justice Gang to the plot?  Why is Nathan Fillion wearing such a horrendous wig?  Why are so many women attracted to Skyler Gisondo’s Jimmy Olson?  And, who greenlit $225 million for this movie to get made?

Let’s Be Nice

If you twisted my arm to write something nice about this film, it would be that Corenswet is really easy on the eyes.  The woman in me would be entertained just watching him read a book.  The critic in me is not so impressed.  Although, Corenswet and Brosnahan do have great chemistry.  So, that’s a plus.  Krypto the dog is super cute.  And, Fillion’s portrayal of The Green Lantern is so bad that it further redeems Ryan Reynolds from his turn as the character.

In all fairness, Superman is bad, but it’s not the worst movie I’ve seen this year.  That distinction belongs to Bride Hard.  It’s also not the worst movie I’ve ever seen in recent years.  That super bad movie badge belongs to Megalopolis in all of its ridiculously confusing glory. 

There you have it.  Superman isn’t the worst movie of the year, but it is still bad and yet another misstep by Warner Bros. Discovery and DC Studios.

Want to read more reviews by K. A. Grant? You can read her Entertainment Blog.