elicopperman

Now I know relatability doesn't make a movie objectively worthwhile because everyone's experience is not indicative of the overall quality. That being said, as predictable and oddly structured as Celine Song's Materialists is, I still found myself enjoying it for the cast and scenarios that I've found myself being drawn to a lot in recent years. Living in a similar situation to Chris Evans' character John and seeing the career aspirations of our lead Lucy (played effectively by Dakota Johnson) is quite refreshing to see as a young adult struggling to make by in the world.

Now the main framework of a love triangle between a matchmaker, her aspiring actor ex-boyfriend, and a charming millionaire does sound fairly routine on paper, but the romantic angle is explored fairly well through a delicate observational portrait of love in modern life. As Lucy works for a seemingly lavish matchmaking business, she has calculated what loves mean to the point of not fully acknowledging her own personal views. Through her poor ex, John, her former dream of acting dwindled away while he tried to pursue his calling, making for a compelling contrast between the two. Although Lucy's dwindling relationship with the charismatically rich Harry Castillo does come off fairly shallow and unprecedented, it nonetheless reinstates the notion that true love really can't be bought. If anything, Johnson, Evans and Pascal do the most with the material in showing off how naturalistic these kinds of characters can become, and also showing their insecurities and personal flaws through societal boundaries. With the very concept of romance being codified into these characters, one can see how each of them could work out or not in the long run.

With that said, the one make or break deal for one's viewing pleasure could actually be the story structure. The idea of Lucy becoming disillusioned with her matchmaking job works within the confides of the story's integral themes, but certain plot points like her client Sophie spiraling from a bad match or Harry's own personal ventures either come out of left field or aren't properly resolved beyond mere plot threads. It doesn't that help that the film is so intent on depicting the central leads that other characters don't leave as much of an impact as they could have, such as Lucy's boss Violet or coworker Daisy. I'm personally more forgiving towards the overly descriptive dialogue since it at least works in conjunction to the frustrations that Lucy, John and Harry face in lieu of their sporadic lives. However, the story's pacing does get thrown for a few loops when it feels the need to cram in a bit too many of these plot threads to justify moving itself along. Had the film focused more on Lucy's own disheveled metropolitan lifestyle and then showed off how she conflates with John and Harry interchangeably, perhaps the story wouldn't have struggled too much in figuring out how to conflate all of the character's worldviews together.

But with all of those flaws aside, I still think Materialists is a strong case of "your mileage may vary" in terms of rom coms. While it can be a little overstuffed in trying to justify its simple themes of human intimacy and identity, it nonetheless offers some relatable experiences within modern life that at least somebody would find appealing. One can only imagine what Celine Song's next body of work will entail, but if works like this prove anything, she does have the potential to utilize familiarity with identifiable archetypes fairly decently.

After DC tried and failed to revitalize their canon superheroes with the disastrous DCEU, James Gunn & Peter Safran have recently took it upon themselves to start over and actually change things for the better. If Gunn's latest Superman movie is anything to go by, moviegoing audiences are given a fresh take on the iconic character that once again instills hope and prosperity. Rather than going for another typical origin story, Gunn and the filmmakers chose to depict Superman firmly established as a beloved hero in present day that relates to current events going on today.

Now this isn't to say Superman as a character doesn't have his origins intact, especially given a shockingly refreshing twist on his Kryptonian background. However, the primary focus is on the red caped wonder setting out to prove his worth as a universal protector following billionaire Lex Luthor framing him against public opinion. With the integral themes of idealism & optimism triumphing over hopelessness and corruption, Superman / Kal-El / Clark Kent has never felt this believable on the big screen since the Christopher Reeve movies, complemented further by newcomer David Corenswet's charismatically gripping performance. In addition, the cast as a whole are fun to watch, including Rachel Brosnahan capturing Lois Lane's fiercely intelligent confidence. Corenswet and Brosnahan have such dynamic comflicting chemistry with each other that their portrayals of Clark Kent and Lois Lane are as endearing as any romance in superhero movies can get and more. Also, Nicholas Hoult puts his own devilishly cocky spin on Lex Luthor, portraying seething envy and oppressive nihilism in lieu of his lust for power, albeit disagreeing with Superman's beliefs.

Now while a lot of superhero movies tend to cram in too many supporting characters to leave much of an impact, the Justice Gang in particular are fun to watch. The notable standout, Mister Terrific, is a lot of fun to stay invested in due to his highly active crime fighting gadgets and captivatingly stoic personality. Nathan Fillion and Isabela Merced are both fun in their own right as Green Lantern and Hawkgirl respectively, but their roles aren't as important as the leads. Oddly enough, Kal-El's companion dog Krypto is more relevant given his stake in the plot, alongside being an adorably reckless pet all on his own. Beyond all of that, the visual effects are pretty creative from mere intergalactic creatures to high tech gadgetry to even the numerous set pieces at play, which in turn help the film's intensity rise high and above. Also, alongside the occasional punk rock song suited for Clark and Lois, composers John Murphy and David Fleming generate a lot of suspenseful orchestral work that can range from frightening to uplifting depending on the sequence, all the while paying tribute to John Williams' timely theme music.

As much as I could share more about James Gunn's Superman movie, I would instead recommend people go and check it out for themselves. In our current day and age of fear and outrage causing people to feel more paranoid and hopeless, uplifting superhero stories like this are just what we need. Even without much knowledge of Superman or DC history, this entire film is a solid summer blockbuster that's bound to soar as high as the titular character.