'Superman' solves the problem of perfection, adding complexity to a classic

At some point in your comic-book life you make the switch from Superman to Batman, or so the conventional wisdom goes.

As it was with me. When you’re little, Superman’s invincibility and his truth, justice and the American way mission statement are simple and appealing. He gets himself into trouble, sure, and there’s always Kryptonite, his Achilles heel, to look out for, but there’s never a lot of doubt that things will turn out OK in the end.

David Corenswet as Superman in DC Studios’ and Warner Bros. Pictures’ “Superman,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release.

That gets old after a while. Which is where Batman comes in. A psychopathic vigilante inspired by his parents’ murder is a bit much for beginners. But at some point you want that complexity, that inner conflict, that inherent vulnerability (Batman has no super powers, after all).

Being perfect all day every day gets boring. It’s the Superman problem.

James Gunn may have solved it.

Is 'Superman' any good?

How? Can’t say. I don’t want to spoil too much other than to say that “Superman,” which Gunn wrote and directs and has a lot riding on, given that he’s the CEO of DC Studios, is a good movie. It will not overtax your brain, but it will entertain you. A lot. It’s loads of fun.

It’s also topical, and an attempt to reclaim some of what we’ve lost. Superman is Earth’s most famous immigrant, after all, and his otherness gets talked about a lot. The “he’s not one of us” argument carries some weight with a few characters.

"Brains beats brawn," more than one character repeats during the movie. And while there is plenty of brawn in the film — Gunn, who directed the three “Guardians of the Galaxy” movies didn't leave the chaotic battle scenes behind when he left Marvel — "Superman" is smart about a lot of things.

David Corenswet is the best Superman since Christopher Reeve

It doesn't hurt that David Corenswet is the best Superman since Christopher Reeve — in fact his performance, his mannerisms, even his looks, seem based on Reeves. The same goes with Rachel Brosnahan's Margot Kidder-like performance as Lois Lane. If it's an homage, it works. It works if it’s not, too.

When the film begins, Superman has inserted himself into global politics, stopping Boravia from invading Jarhanpur (don’t bother looking them up on a map, you’ll find them only in comics). This is controversial, to say the least.

Stranger still is that Superman has just lost his first fight, to a metahuman, of which there are a few hanging around Earth. Broken and bleeding and lying in the snow of Antarctica — Superman is broken and bleeding! — he whistles.

And here comes Krypto, churning up snow and ice. He’s Superdog, if you remember from the comics, only here he is super annoying (if cute) — an indestructible puppy. Krypto wants to play, and since he’s got super strength that’s not good for Superman. But he gets him back to the Fortress of Solitude, Superman’s high-tech hideout at the bottom of the Earth. (The look is a clear homage to Richard Donner’s 1978 film "Superman: The Movie," as are a lot of things.)

Superman has various robots there, who heal him with the help of the sun. He also has them play a hologram of his parents, Jor-El (Bradley Cooper) and Lara (Angela Sarafyan), recorded before they sent him as an infant to Earth because their planet was destroyed. He finds comfort in it.

It’s all familiar stuff to Superman fans, but a little different, too.

Much of the film feels familiar, as it must, but Gunn has updated the characters and the story. Clark Kent is polite and naive. Lois is an intrepid reporter at The Daily Planet, Jimmy Olsen (Skyler Gasondo, excellent) is a cub reporter, Perry White (Wendell Pierce) is the gruff editor. In this alternative world, you see people reading newspapers on the street, although the big scoop gets published online from a laptop.

Lex Luthor is basically Elon Musk

And, of course, there is genius supervillain Lex Luthor, played with bald menace by Nicholas Hoult. Here he’s rendered as a billionaire tech bro with lots of government contracts and the ear of the administration. He’s arrogant, greedy and more than a little crazy.

As an aside, I wonder what Elon Musk is up to these days.

So far, so familiar, though the metahumans being something of a match for Superman is an intriguing wrinkle. Oh, and Lois knows. She knows. And the addition of the corporate-sponsored Justice Gang (they’re working on the name) — Green Lantern (a hilarious, as always, Nathan Fillion), Mr. Terrific (Edi Gathegi) and Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced) — is a nice touch.

But you’ve still got the Superman problem. We have become used to superhero movies trying to out-dark “The Dark Knight” — Christopher Nolan’s trilogy of Batman movies are still the greatest ever made in the genre — with tortured psyches that seem tacked on. With Batman, sure, it’s genuine. But how do you make Superman worry about anything?

You flip the script.

What if things weren’t exactly what we’ve always thought they were? What if our canonical knowledge of this world — and the characters’ knowledge of it — were off? Flawed? Wrong? What then?

Then you give Superman something to worry about.

Truth, justice and the American way mean different things now

It’s an audacious move, and one that could have failed spectacularly. But it doesn’t. Gunn has the right amount of reverence not only for the character, but the “Superman” films and comic-book versions that have come before this, to let that happen. He strikes the right balance between some serious soul-searching and the kind of fun a Superman requires.

“Truth, justice and the American way” mean far different things than they did when Donner made his “Superman” film. Except they don’t. Some people have just tried to hijack them for their own political purposes.

“Superman” is Gunn’s attempt to take them back. Let’s hope it works.

'Superman' 4 stars

Great ★★★★★ Good ★★★★

Fair ★★★ Bad ★★ Bomb ★

Director: James Gunn.

Cast: David Corenswet, Rachel Brosnahan, Nicholas Hoult.

Rating: PG-13 for violence, action and language.

How to watch: In theaters Friday, July 11.

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