Euronews Culture's Film of the Week: 'Superman' – A bird? A plane? No, a terrific reboot
This year’s 'Superman' isn't afraid to be fun and silly - and maybe that's the real superpower when it comes to comic book films in an age of superhero fatigue.
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00:00David, we've just come back from seeing Superman, James Gunn, revisiting this classic icon of cinema and comic books and so many people's lives.
00:11What did you make of it? Up and away or down in the dumps?
00:15I loved it. I thought it was exactly what I wanted from a Superman film.
00:19It does away with all the the dourness of the Snyderverse and it is this joyful, vibrant, very exciting blockbuster, essentially.
00:31And all you would have wanted, not only from a Superman film, but from a summer blockbuster.
00:36I thought David Cornswit is an absolutely fantastic Clark Kent Superman.
00:41I thought that the humour, I mean, you'll either get on board with it if you're a fan of James Gunn's brand of humour.
00:47Others who are less keen on it may have troubles and they may feel that some of the humour might undercut some of the more emotional moments.
00:57But on the whole, while the film is very overstuffed and there's a lot going on, it is just really, really deliriously entertaining fun.
01:09David, so many things were going on in this film.
01:12It was packed with different features and so many elements of, you know, for people who love the comic book, parts of the Superman story.
01:20But who do you think this film was aimed at?
01:23Everyone. It's aimed at children as well.
01:27I think it's one of those things that you can see with your family.
01:29It's aimed at fans of superhero films and certainly comic book fans, because more than any film I've seen in a long time, any superhero film I've seen in a long time,
01:40this is like a comic book transposed onto the screen in its goofiness, in its more outlandish moments.
01:47And I'd rather see a film like this, which embraces that, rather than something that's dour and sombre and boring.
01:57And right now I think we need a little bit of levity.
01:59And not that there isn't, you know, more serious moments in the film.
02:04There are very timely echoes with regards to social media, cancel culture, even the conflict in the Middle East, which was quite surprising.
02:13But it does it remarkably well. And considering the blockbusters that we've had this year, F1, Mission Impossible, Jurassic World,
02:23this is heads and shoulders above those films.
02:26So we'll have to wait to see whether Marvel's Fantastic Four tops it.
02:31But it's going to be a tall ask, because frankly, I came out of Superman thinking that is exactly what I wanted from it.
02:39But it's perfectly acted. It looks great on the screen.
02:43And yes, it may be overstuffed and it has its blemishes.
02:47But for all of them, it's an absolutely brilliant ride.
02:50OK. And David, what do you think this could mean for DC?
02:54Because, you know, I think it's fair to say that when it comes to putting their famous characters on screen,
02:59so far they've had quite a lot of failures.
03:02Oh, it's been absolutely rubbish. Let's face facts.
03:04I mean, like, I know that there are devotees to the Zack Snyder's Snyderverse,
03:10and it has had its high points, but by and large, they failed to replicate what the MCU have done.
03:17And they wanted to get there and get there fast.
03:20So they essentially did away with all the characters and any kind of meaningful plots
03:26and just went straight to the finish line and it didn't work.
03:29And Superman is the first film in the James Gunn canon of the DC Universe.
03:37And from this film alone, it's a really promising style.
