Travis Hightower

Superman ... has no agency in his own movie? This felt very comic book and at first it seemed like that was going to be a good thing. It wasn’t. The story meandered as if the editor changed his mind on the direction every month. There were some really good ideas that didn’t pay off because Superman doesn’t get to solve his own problems. I think the story manages to hit some personal themes nicely, but the victory for Kal El feels empty and ends with the audience scratching their head. ***** Spoilers from here on out **** Martian Manhunter is in this, and serves as sort of a mentor character for Clark - but he saves Clark twice, and has a fake out death that would only fool a very rookie audience This is a Superman origin story that asks the question “what does the origin story look like if Superman was the rookie hero and not the veteran” .. and has some good ideas ... but ultimately the origin has been told better in so many other ways The only one Superman outsmarts or defeats in this film is Lois Lane - and it’s kind of played for laughs, which leaves an empty feeling for the character Luther gets the best of him, and Lobo switches loyalty because Lex pays more ... I guess. Lobo didn’t need to be in this at all, in fact. Even though he’s fun, He’s the extra villain that just crams too much into one story And so Superman is outclassed in every way except by Lois and his ability to make friends with humanity is his only victory.