Man, I've been waiting for this movie for over two years now. I absolutely LOVE James Gunn's films. Those three Guardians of the Galaxy movies and The Suicide Squad?
They're basically at the top of my superhero movie list. There's actually one more I'll get to in a bit.
But let's talk about Superman first. Look, it wasn't quite as amazing as Gunn's other stuff, but damn if it wasn't still a really fun ride.
It had everything - action, laughs, great music - just maybe not quite as much as Guardians or Suicide Squad. But honestly? I don't blame Gunn for that at all.
Those other movies were built around these quirky, offbeat heroes whose comics were basically comedy gold. Superman though? He's THE superhero. You can't just mess around when you're putting him on the big screen.
I actually respect the hell out of Gunn for treating Superman with that kind of reverence. It goes way beyond respect - the guy showed serious love for the hero who kicked off this whole thing over 70 years ago.
He had to work within some pretty strict boundaries, dealing with a character everyone knows inside and out.
Since Gunn's basically a genius at superhero movies, he had to find his own angle on the origin story, and wow - he nailed it. Plus he did it fast, which was smart.
The last thing any of us needed was another drawn-out Superman origin story. So instead of boring us with that, Gunn got creative and gave us his take without wasting our time.
That left tons of room for the good stuff - action and comedy.
This time around, he found it in Krypto - Superman's super dog from Krypton. That character is absolutely essential to the Superman story.
It's crazy that he's been missing from the movies for so long. Gunn gets that fans need some laughs when we're watching a guy in his underwear save the world. Using Krypto as comic relief? Pure genius!
What's really interesting is that I didn't actually start loving this movie until about halfway through. There weren't any "holy crap!" moments early on. No scenes that made me go "I've never seen anything like that before."
And you know what? That's totally fine. This isn't that kind of movie. It's more of a slow burn where you need to see the whole thing to really appreciate it.
By the end, me and everyone else in that packed theater had reached the same conclusion - as a complete experience, this movie was great. Super entertaining story and a perfect way to launch Gunn's DC universe.
I walked out wanting more, which was really the whole point. The movie's entertaining, funny, and packed with action. If you're into that stuff, go see it on the biggest screen you can find. Like, right now.
Now, back to Gunn's best work. After watching this with my son, he asked me "What's your favorite Superman movie?"
Since he knows I'm a child of the 70s, he knows I've basically seen it all - from George Reeves on TV to Christopher Reeve in theaters back in the day to Henry Cavill and his whole disappearing mustache situation. When I answered his question, I completely surprised him.
My all-time favorite Superman movie is actually Gunn's "other" Superman story - Brightburn. If you haven't seen it, you absolutely should. But think about what we're really talking about here - a baby from another planet who gets godlike superpowers.
I actually wrote about that one years ago if you want to dig deeper.
So has anyone else seen Superman yet? What did you think?
