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New ‘Superman’ succeeds with a charming adventure that avoids monotony

 
 

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(FOLHAPRESS) – James Gunn showed, in the “Guardians of the Galaxy” movie series, especially in the Christmas special released last year, that his greatest interest lies on Earth and humanity.

Somewhat contradictory for a director known for intergalactic plots. But it is evident that the strongest parts of these movies are those that show some feeling related to humanity and our planet, whether in the pop and rock hits that pop up here and there, or in the customs of the so-called “American way of life,” always shown with a strong nostalgia for life on Earth.

And it is precisely this interest that lies at the heart of this new incarnation of the “man of steel,” here divided between his extraterrestrial condition and his love for Earthlings, the feeling that makes him feel human. It is an anguish that the actor chosen for this new look, David Corenswet, portrays very well.

“Superman,” by James Gunn, is the first film from DC Studios, the successor to DC Films, the company that explored the DC Comics universe from 2016 to 2023, precisely during a period when many Marvel movies began to appear vulnerable.

There is nothing wrong with new versions of classic comic book or literary characters. Each era has its need for updates according to current customs and tastes. But it’s good to consider the risks of this process.

When the first movie featuring the superhero played by Christopher Reeve, “Superman: The Movie,” released in 1978 and directed by Richard Donner, came out, the public was excited. Ten-year-old Sérgio Alpendre will never forget when the cinema collapsed during the hero’s first transformation, as he entered the revolving door as Clark Kent and emerged as Superman to save Lois Lane on top of a building.

Would it be possible today, such an uproar? Perhaps, if in commercial screenings they took the cell phones from the audience’s hands, as they do in some sessions for journalists. Even so, it is more likely that it would not happen. And not only because the cinema of today lacks charm, but because the audience itself is more suspicious—or discouraged.

However, the movie far from deserves any contempt. And, at least in relation to previous films for cinema, it brings some interesting innovations.

The main point will be clear to the spectator from the first minutes. Lois Lane, played by Rachel Brosnahan, is secretly dating Clark Kent. And she is complicit in her boyfriend’s dual personality, knowing that Kent’s glasses hypnotize people into seeing him very differently than he actually is.

Another important addition is the message left by Clark’s father, Jor-El, a role played by Marlon Brando in the 1978 film and here performed by Bradley Cooper. This change will be primarily responsible for the hero’s identity crisis, as well as intensify the content of the critique against imperialism.

There are other news that should remain silent to not reveal too much before the right time. But it is certain that Gunn managed to escape both the senseless trip with very well-known characters and the same old thing that usually dominates this type of cinema.

Although it once again shows Lex Luthor’s antagonism, here portrayed by Nicholas Hoult as a colder and more tyrannical man, while Gene Hackman, the most famous portrayal of the character, added a delicious irony to the villain.

Luthor is able to provoke a war between two fictional nations – which the viewer will have no trouble associating with their real-world equivalents – just to take advantage of his nemesis’s actions to spread fake news and obtain official permission to destroy him.

James Gunn wraps up the movie about creatures and monsters, making another blend with the “Guardians of the Galaxy” universe, as he had done with “The Suicide Squad” from 2021. In doing so, he moves away quite a bit from the universe of when the hero was played by Christopher Reeve – four films between 1978 and 1987.

The associations with the real world and the rise of the far right, as already written, are easily recognizable, but the viewer does not depend on this to enjoy, for two hours, a reasonably well-crafted adventure, with a dose of humor typical of its director, and a charming Clark Kent and Lois Lane enough to engage us in the existing romance between them.

SUPERMAN

Rating Good

When Premieres here. (10) in cinemas

14 years old

List David Corenswet, Rachel Brosnahan, Nicholas Hoult

Production United States, 2025

Direction James Gunn

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