POPCORN REVIEWSS

The good versus evil template of Superman is certainly backed by good characterization here. So you are introduced to Clark Kent (David Corenswet) who works as a journalist while doubling up as ….you know it…..Superman. The integrity of his demeanor remains paramount given his love for his dog Krypto (or even a fleeting scene involving a squirrel) even as he plunges with a peace-fulfilling mission of stopping a war-like situation between two fictional countries, something that invariably pits him up versus Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult). Lex remains an intimidating antagonist in the fray, an Elon-Musk-coded businessman whose sole motive remains to make money and in turn make the United States America a prospering country (familiar plot ehhh?). In fact to counter the prowess of the metahuman entity (read : Superman), he forms soldiers of his own who are doubly powerful and agile. In this good versus evil template, the kind of obstacles that the protagonist faces is itself an interesting watch, something that is cleverly intercut with dollops of humour.

The drama works wonderfully well when it chooses simplicity over gimmicky overstuffed strands in the narrative. For instance, one of the best scenes of the drama includes Clark Kent cooking ‘breakfast for dinner’ as a surprise for Lois (Rachel Brosnahan), his colleague and girlfriend with whom he is celebrating three months of ‘togetherness’. The quirky setting is further enhanced when Clark “allows” Lois to take an exclusive interview of Superman, wherein the latter brings up crisp and razor sharp questions to a now stumbling protagonist. There is a right amount of playfulness that the scene caters to, highlighting the fact that the galactic alien is ‘being human’ after all.

In another scene, the turn of events involving a shift in public perception around the personality of Superman who until then is regarded as a hero, to now labelling him as a villain or a destroyer, is well stationed and staged too. There remains an internal conflict with respect to the protagonist too, that makes him question his own ‘mission’ or goal in life, something that remained an interesting plot-point in the larger scheme of things. But inexplicably, the emphasis never lies on this plot point, or the subsequent political commentary that once remained the building blocks of the drama. There are only fleeting moments of how the presence of social media is used to create opinions, but the impact of it is significantly diluted in the wake of other plot-points that eventually take centerstage.

One of the significant demerits of the writing remains its attempt at incorporating too many concepts at the same time along with too many characters. If there is a ‘black hole’ sequence that literally appears out of nowhere while adding nothing but glitz to the narrative, the presence of too many characters including Green Lantern (Nathan Fillion) or the Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced) sharing a banter on the identity of their group name, or even Mr Terrific (Edi Gathegi) having a sudden change of heart with his want to help the protagonist through the blackhole, or a hot influencer Eve (Sara Sampaio) taking selfies only to accidently reveal a piece of the puzzle. It is too crowded and quite overstuffed, almost making me wonder if there remained studio interference during the writing/production stint of the film.

The repercussions of these convoluted plot-points has a direct impact on the final act too, even though the adrenaline pumping action sequences in the second hour standout. The whole black hole (pocket universe) tie up to the finale meant that Superman steered clear of the actual action that was to transpire on a geo-political arena. There were no signs of a person conflict, particularly after a heartfelt scene involving Pa Kent who has words of wisdom to share. Yes I say heartfelt because the scene clicked, but in the larger scheme of things, the impact remained diluted. Even the final face-off did not arrive too, making this snack bingeable but never quite lingering.