(title a play on the tagline of the 1978 Superman movie: “You’ll Believe A Man Can Fly”)

If you’ve read my blog, you already know that Superman is my favorite superhero. You know that I was excited about this movie. Given James Gunn’s previous track record with the Guardians movies, The Suicide Squad, and Peacemaker, I expected him to get Superman.

So as not to bury the lede: he does. In a superhero movie market saturated with heroes who are psychologically broken, conflicted rebels, Superman is unapologetically, unironically, good. When Lois Lane suggests that he can’t be a rebel if he sees the beauty in everyone, Superman shoots back that in a cynical world, refusing to be cynical is, in itself, an act of rebellion.

What’s even better is that in this story, Superman doesn’t get his goodness from a pep talk from his alien parents. He gets his goodness, his character, his drive to be a hero, from his adoptive human parents, living on their subsistence farm (unlike other stories where the Kent farm is clearly expensive and expansive, here the Kents live on a very modest farm in a double-wide trailer). Superman is an alien, yes, but it is his humanity that shines.

Credit where credit is due, David Corenswet is able to pull off being unapologetically optimistic and kind without being cheesy or ironic. Corenswet has that Christopher Reeves “thing” where when he’s on the screen, he quietly commands it with complete authenticity. Which is a great trait to have, because the entire core cast, with Nicholas Hoult as an icy, obsessed Lex Luthor and Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane both being excellent. All three completely inhabit their roles.

Really, the entire cast, from Ma and Pa Kent to the Justice Gang, Parry White, Jimmy Olsen…everyone is perfectly cast. Nathan Fillion as Guy Gardner (Green Lantern) and Edi Gathegi as Michael Holt (Mr. Terrific) of the Justice Gang are just the right blend of serious and comic to elevate the movie even more. Even Krypto is an amazing character in this movie!

Speaking of the supporting cast, it’s been widely discussed that this is the first movie in James Gunn’s DC Universe (DCU), and as such, the temptation is to load it with as many known DC characters as possible, to introduce them here for future movies. Gunn avoids the temptation include more characters than necessary; every character in the movie is there for a reason, and has something to do that moves and/or ties into the story in a meaningful way.

Visually the movie is gorgeous, stunningly so. Standing out in the over-crowded genre of comic book movies isn’t easy these days (even Gunn admits “superhero fatigue” is real) but Superman does. Since the beginning of the modern age of superhero movie, their color palette has always been artificially washed out in post-production. The result is that movies like Superman that are as colorful and vibrant as a real comic page stand out in the best way. And suffice to say all the locations (the movie was filmed all over the world, not just against a green screen), effects, and so on are fantastic.

The music is also excellent. Gunn puts aside his love of “needle dropping” contemporary pop songs into every scene, and instead commissioned an soaring score by John Murphy and David Fleming that quotes and floats around John Williams’ original theme from 1978, while building it’s own modern pieces around it, fusing both orchestral, electronic, and rock elements. And speaking of rock, Gunn does include a couple deep cut needledrops: Punkrocker by Teddybears & Iggy Pop, and 5 Years Time by UK band Noah & The Whale which frames one of the most amusing and perhaps “James Gunn-esque” action scenes in the film.

The bottom line is as excited as I was for the movie, it exceeded my expectations. The story, acting, and directing were all excellent, the movie gorgeous and the music transcendent. It had the style, heart, emotion, humanity, and story that make a movie “A James Gunn film.” No character is wasted and this movie isn’t any longer than it needs to be (it has a 2:09 minute runtime, but probably 10 minutes are credits). And yes, there are after-credits scenes, but they’re not setting up future movies—yeay! They’re just extra beats for beauty and humor; the story is all told during the movie.

If you like Superman, James Gunn films, or comic book movies, you will not be disappointed. If you want to see an example of how great acting, direction, and story can shine in a huge special effects movie, you will not be disappointed. If you just want to watch a movie about hope beating out over cynicism, you will not be disappointed. Honestly, I recommend this movie to everyone but really young kids—there’s hardly any blood and no gore or sex or f-bombs or the like, but some scenes are intense and my wife pointed out that while certainly appropriate for children over 12, some of it might be a bit much for the youngest. (That said, I will likely show it to my toddlers, sitting with them and seeing how they do).