‘Superman’ is solid, fun summer entertainment

Lex Luther is a tech bro. Krypto is a rambunctious rescue. And Lois Lane is an independent modern gal who is dating the most eligible bachelor on the planet: a super man.

You see, “Superman” can save the world and make a gal a good stack of pancakes.

Nicholas Hoult is deliciously condescending as Luther. As is customary for the villain, he’s anti-metahuman. His means of domination? Using government contracts, UFC tactics and social media to contain what he sees as a metahuman menace with a tendency to wade into geopolitical conflicts.

That menace, Superman, born Kal-El, is an interstellar alien from another planet. Writer-director James Gunn leans heavily and delightfully into the idea of Superman as the ultimate American story, someone from somewhere else who comes to the U.S. to survive and is taken in by good old country folk who teach him to give back. David Corenswet oozes fun likability and guy-next-door good looks as our titular hero.

Rachel Brosnahan is a solid choice for Lois Lane, a modern journalist who doesn’t hesitate to give her guy a good grilling. There’s no lead-up to romance in this story. We start three months in, and she knows his secret.

For them, their issues are grounded in journalistic ethics – should he be secretly interviewing himself? This Superman is less messianic than in previous incarnations and more, dare I say, real.

He’s not Marvel-ized, nor is the storytelling dark. It’s just your above-average metahuman trying to do right by his new world. And it’s perfectly solid, fun summer entertainment.

What grade are we giving ‘Superman’ the movie?

Review: B

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