Growing up, I was not that invested in superheroes. Later on though, this would start to change greatly. I would start to become heavily infatuated with characters such as Spiderman, Batman and Moon Knight. Despite my growing love for superheroes though, I never seemed to find myself that into Superman.
When I was young, I used to picture Superman as this just really strong dude and not too much else. When movies like “Man of Steel” and “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” came out, I never really bothered to watch them, but hearing about them would begin to further change my view of the character. They made me start leaning more into that mindset as well as thinking of Superman as an antagonist, in a sense.
The “Injustice” game series would also further push this narrative into my head, cementing Superman as this character who, if he loses his mind, becomes some being of mass destruction.
Many characters in the future would take up this idea of a powerful being who uses their strength to commit heinous actions, such as Omni-man or Homelander. It wouldn’t be until last year that this influx of these archetypes led to people to some degree reflecting on Superman and what he stands for.
During this time, I’d see many videos showing people doing heroic actions accompanied by the song “Starman” by David Bowie with an image of Superman on the bottom of the video. It was from these memes where I would learn more about what Superman was meant to represent, hope. So when, eventually, it was announced that there was a new Superman movie in development, I was actually somewhat intrigued this time.
It wouldn’t be until I started hearing about how great the movie was that I had decided to go see it myself. After watching, I can say for sure that Superman has moved up to being one of my favorite superheroes. This movie does an amazing job at portraying exactly what Superman is meant to be, rather the edgier persona he has taken up in more recent times.
This movie starts off by showing you exactly what you’re in for and what to expect. It starts by showing Superman heavily injured lying in the snow telling you that three minutes ago Superman lost his first ever battle. With this it establishes that this isn’t the insanely powerful and pretty much god-like Superman that the media has been portraying him as up until this point. It shows the audience that this Superman is vulnerable, making him feel more human.
In the movie, there are many scenes that incredibly depict just how kind this Superman is too. He constantly goes out his way to save people during the movie. He even has these moments where he will stop in the middle of battle to make sure people are okay, and when the world gets upset with him, he doesn’t get mad, he just keeps on walking. By far my favorite showcase of this is where he stops mid-battle to protect even a squirrel from dying.
The cinematography of some of these scenes even further helps drive this feeling of hope into the audience. A core thing about Superman is that he is healed and made stronger by the power of the yellow sun. As a result, there are many beautiful scenes in the movie where Superman is flying in the sky above others and the sun is shining behind him ever so brightly, creating this almost unreal and vibrant scene showing off the hope people see in Superman.
Now while Superman is my favorite character in the movie and the main part of it, there are so many other cool characters within this movie. It has cameos from characters such as Guy Gardner, Mr. Terrific, Hawkgirl and even Metamorpho. They each have these really cool moments within the movie and each have such amazing and cool personalities that I can’t wait to see more of in the future of James Gunn’s DC Universe.
There is also Krypto, Superman’s cousin’s dog. Krypto was a really funny part of the movie, rather than just being like some obedient pet that listens to Superman’s commands, he acts exactly like most dogs. He is extremely playful and energetic, constantly causing a lot of damage and even accidentally injuring Superman.
Even when it comes down to the more human characters like Lois Lane and Jimmy, they are also such great characters throughout the movie. Jimmy has a lot of funny moments throughout and Lois Lane greatly helps to further the plot and help with Superman as he fights against Ultraman, the Engineer and Lex Luthor.
This brings me to another highlight of the movie, Lex Luthor. In this movie Lex constantly serves as this symbol and envy and hate towards Superman. Every step of the way he does whatever he can to hurt and ridicule him. It makes it all the more rewarding when he eventually gets defeated and sent to jail.
To me, this movie drives home a major theme that I feel is more important now than ever: to be kind towards others and to be optimistic.
In today’s society, so many people are cynical that it is sometimes difficult to be optimistic. There might be a show or something you like and online all you see is a bunch of hate towards it, for no reason than simply just to hate and be cynical.
I’ve even seen people hate others for doing good things and being kind.
In times like these, it’s important to be optimistic, to express trust in others and humanity. To have faith in others. As Superman himself says, “Maybe that’s the real punk rock.” If punk rock is to be rebellious, then in a world where cynicism and hate is commonplace, there is nothing more punk rock than being optimistic and sticking to your principles.