Kindness Is The New Punk Rock: A 'Superman' Review

Warning: There are definitely going to be some spoilers for the movie below. If you’re worried about spoilers, just go see the movie. The tl;dr is that it’s great. And most theaters offer half-off tickets on Tuesday if you want to go for cheap. AMC Theaters even do half off on Wednesdays now too! You’ve got options.

It’s been 12 years (jeez I feel old) since Henry Cavill took to the skies as the titular Man of Steel. While there have been small screen iterations in recent years, Superman marks the hero’s first solo film in over a decade.

It’s safe to say we were long overdue to see Supes on the big screen.

So, on July 11^th, the world was introduced to David Corenswet’s iteration of the character in the James Gunn directed Superman.

Now, if you know me well, you might be asking yourself, “why is Connor writing about DC? Doesn’t he love Marvel and Chris Evans?” And you would be correct to have those questions.

Put simply, Superman is the best new movie I’ve seen this year*, and I think its message merits a blog post. Marvel just might have to step up its game after this one. There’s a new latex-clad sheriff in town.

*I later remembered that 'Sinners' also came out this year, and that is definitely my favorite new movie of the year (4.5 stars vs. 5 stars).

A Good Movie Makes You Feel Something

 Superman is a fun movie. Oftentimes, that’s all I’m looking for when I watch something.

Another reason I go to movies is to feel something. I’d argue that’s the goal of good art, regardless of the medium.

A perfect example of a movie that never fails to move me (is that a bar?) is La La Land.

I’ll keep this brief since that film probably merits its own post, but La La Land is a movie that’s stuck with me. I vividly remember that feeling I got after seeing it for the first time, and it leaves me with a similar feeling each rewatch.

The whole final montage caused my head to explode in the best way possible. La La Land rips out your heart, but it also dignifies you with a beautiful and believable ending. 

La La Land is the emotional high-water mark for me when it comes to film. This Superman movie nearly reached that level.

The character that is portrayed, a man who is nearly indestructible and literally puts the “super” in superhero, is incredibly down-to-earth. It’s hard not to root for Corenswet’s iteration of Superman.

For a live-action film, Superman does an incredible job feeling like its source material. It’s only surpassed by movies like Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, which has an advantage being animated.

Superman is colorful. It’s bright. It’s campy in all the best ways. This movie draws from the comics to create something jubilant (think Ted Lasso but as a movie with superheroes).

Superman balances this sense of levity with more serious moments as well.

The pacing is very quick, which is one of the weak points. We don’t get a “Clark Kent ripping off his button-down shirt to reveal the suit” scene, which is often a staple of these movies. Clark Kent appears for a few scenes in the beginning, but once the story really gets going, Clark steps back to let Superman take the wheel. 

Superman is not a perfect movie, but it’s a good one. It’s hard not to feel a sense of awe and inspiration at the climactic moments. And those feelings are why I love going to see movies on the big screen.

“Maybe that’s the real punk rock” 

If you’ve been on the Internet at all this past week, you might’ve seen some Superman clips with the song “Punkrocker” by the Teddybears playing in the background.

The movie has inspired a new subgenre of Superman hopecore videos. My favorite might be one that combines The Iron Giant with this movie.

This punk rock theme comes from a scene between Lois Lane and Clark Kent.

In the scene, the couple discusses their differences. Lois is a cynic and sees Clark as too optimistic. 

“You think everything and everyone is beautiful,” Lane says.

Superman responds, “maybe that’s the real punk rock.”

This line is the emotional core of the movie.

How amazing would it be to live in a world where more people operated on this belief? 

When the distance between people seems (at times) unbridgeable, it’s meaningful to hear a character like Superman remind us that we’re more alike than we might think, for better or worse.

Gunn’s integration of the character just feels right in this way.

There’s an earlier scene where Clark lets Lois interview him as Superman. Clark gets emotional when Lois suggests that Superman shouldn’t intervene without government approval. His argument is that without his intervention, people would die. 

I saw a clip from Our Crazy Stupid Podcast that supported this idea and really solidified to me who Superman is. They discuss how Superman is a firefighter, not a cop.

Corenswet’s Superman does the job to save lives. All lives. The man even saves a squirrel at one point.

This character is so focused on doing good for good’s sake that it’s hard not to smile. Clark listens to corny pop groups and sees the good in everyone to a fault. Or is it a fault? 

That’s the movie’s central question.

Is it so bad to look for the good in our shared humanity?

What It Means to Be Human

Lex Luthor, the film’s antagonist and infamous Superman baddie, hates our hero because he sees him as an “other”:

I'm aware envy consumes my every waking moment… Because [Superman’s] strength illuminates how weak we all really are! So, my envy is a calling! It is the sole hope for humanity, because it is what has driven me to annihilating you!

Superman is an alien, someone that Luthor believes can’t be anything like a human. At face value, this may appear to be true.

But that’s not the Superman that Gunn and Corenswet show us.

At the end of the third act, Superman finally confronts Luthor after defeating Planet Watch, Luthor’s evil super-team. Superman directly addresses Luthor’s prior comments:

I'm as human as anyone. I love. I get scared. I wake up every morning and despite not knowing what to do, I put one foot in front of the other and I try to make the best choices I can. I screw up all the time, but that is being human. And that's my greatest strength.

This is a powerhouse of a quote. Superman highlights what it truly means to be human.

It also powerfully echoes an earlier line from Pa Kent.

At the beginning of the third act, an injured Superman returns home to Smallville to recuperate. He’s having a crisis of faith after realizing his Kryptonian parents sent him to Earth to be a conqueror. How does this kind man rectify being an intended conqueror? 

Pa Kent delivers a line to his son:

“Your choices, your actions, that's what makes you who you are.”

To be human is to feel all these emotions and to carry on despite them. To choose to do and be better. To choose to be good.

Superman understands this at the film’s end. It’s what makes him human. He dares to admit that he doesn’t always have the right answers but tries anyway. He puts one foot in front of the other to step forward.

Superman’s humanity is what makes us root for him because we can see ourselves in him. He reminds us that it’s ok to have a bad day. He also reminds us that we are capable of great things.

Krypto, Bring Us Home

Superman was a good movie.

I don’t expect it to be nominated for Best Picture (although it might stand a chance at winning for costuming or production design).

This movie did remind me that I was alive, though. It reminded me that being human can be difficult but also so beautiful because of the hardships. And that certainly counts for something. 

In an age where cynicism is so easy to revert to, Superman dares to be hopeful. The movie’s thesis is that it’s cool to be nice.

At the end of the day, Superman wins not because he’s the strongest hero but because he keeps going. He sees the beauty in those around him, and he trusts his friends.

Whether it’s Krypto eating Luthor’s cameras or Mr. Terrific assisting with closing a rift or Lois Lane inspiring the Justice Gang to act, Superman gets by with a little help from his friends.

Superman leaves you feeling hopeful, and I think that’s pretty damn perfect for a hero who literally wears a symbol of hope on his chest.

What movie, whether new or old, left you feeling inspired?

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