So there are two major superhero films being released in July but I’m probably not going to watch both in the cinemas so Superman it is. I’ve watched every one of James Gunn’s superhero work so far and loved them because he understands the characters he is using. It’s very much the case again with a take on Superman that emphasizes not his superhuman abilities but his compassion and heroism. It also updates the story to incorporate modern issues and concerns as all good adaptations must. It does feel somewhat cramped with some characters not getting much of a chance to show off and the denouement at the end feels too neat. But it’s an excellent start for the DCU.

Three years after his public debut, Superman is an established superhero beloved by the general public. However his intervention in the war between Boravia and Jarhanpur has led to some opprobrium. In the skies above Metropolis, he is confronted by a metahuman calling himself the Hammer of Boravia and defeated. He retreats to his Fortress of Solitude with the help of the dog Krypto to be healed. This reveals its location to Lex Luthor who infiltrates it to retrieve the message from Superman’s parents as they sent him to Earth. One of Luthor’s underlings, the nanite-infused Engineer decodes the damaged portion of the message in which Superman’s parents direct him to rule over the Earth and take up a harem of wives to perpetuate the Kryptonian species. Luthor publicizes the message to discredit Superman and push for the US government to take action against him. Meanwhile there are also other superheroes active who are loosely allied with Superman and Lois Lane is aware of Clark Kent’s identity as Superman. The other heroes, tentatively called the Justice Gang, readily help Superman deal with monster attacks but are hesitant to involve themselves in political conflicts.

Gunn has no interest in retelling Superman’s origin story yet again, so he hits the ground running in the middle of the action and events already in motion. There are new characters seen in live-action for the first time and pretty outlandish concepts including a pocket universe. It’s a lot packed into little more than two hours but Gunn makes it work through very clear dialogue and straightforward storytelling. It’s amusing to be in a world in which metahuman threats are so common that fighting against a kaiju is just a side event and a dimensional incursion something Superman can just sit out. The palette is bright and colorful in keeping with the return of a kinder and more compassionate version of Superman. The director also wants the character to be powerful but still be capable of getting hurt. Still some of the feats like swimming in an anti-proton stream or escaping the gravitational pull of a black hole with superbreath seem kind of ridiculous but I suppose are perfectly in keeping with comic book logic. I liked the spotlight given to Mr. Terrific but Guy Gardner’s abilities looked a little vague here. Showing Green Lantern powers in live-action has always been problematic and I’m not sure Gunn has cracked it here. Similarly there’s no indication of who Hawkgirl is and where her wings come from.

Good artists invariably shape their work to match the changing times, so it’s not hard to notice that this return to an older version of the character that strips out the cynicism and edginess, coincides with increased divisiveness in the US and the world and the accompanying uptick in tensions. Gunn would never admit it but it’s not hard to see shades of Gaza in the Boravia and Jarhanpur conflict as well. That’s why I think this is a superlative film as it is thickly layered with meaning amidst this supposedly more naive and even hokey version of Superman. His interpretation of Lex Luthor is good too, not only in being a modern techbro but in weaponizing misinformation. Having Luthor be directly involved in combat by remote controlling his minion is another stroke of genius. If any character needed an origin story in this film, it’s this version of Luthor as he seems to have managed to achieve so much in a short amount of time. It’s also odd that we know almost nothing about the Engineer or why she’s so loyal.

Given the brilliance of Luthor’s plans, the most unconvincing part of the film to me is how easily he is foiled when his plans are uncovered by Lois Lane and her colleagues at the Daily Planet. In the real world, nothing any journalist says these days will be believed by the general public. That’s why this remains a superhero film, however well-made and entertaining it is.