There’s the old claim that test screenings don’t make a movie. Still, It’s interesting how James Gunn and Warner Bros have allowed “Superman” to test so openly given the inevitable leaks that could occur, not to mention the risk of having negative reactions pummeling advanced hype.
Yes, a few days ago, “Superman” had its first non-internal test screening — I only spoke to a few attendees. Suffice it to say, they both felt underwhelmed by Gunn’s film, and I’m being kind here. No need to taint the film further.
Now, reporting on two people who didn’t like “Superman” doesn’t mean much in terms of quality. I’ve heard of people being turned off by the inherent humor, and silliness, that comes with a James Gunn movie — which Superman seems to have in spades.
So far, based on what’s leaked, we’ve had the usual “scoopers” weighing on the reactions. MyTimeToShineHello says the reactions were “decidedly mixed.” According to “insider” Daniel Richtman, people he spoke to “loved it.”
Yesterday, scooper ViewerAnon shared, “The response I heard directly from Warner Bros was decidedly less glowing than Daniel [Richtman]'s post. Not to say it went terribly, but it’s a divisive film with a particularly silly tone. Some people click with it, some seem to bounce right off.”
Gamora is definitely the straight man in Guardians. Suicide Squad is a lot less even. Idris Elba’s Bloodsport is played mostly straight, the humor is in interacting with everybody else, and the same goes for Rick Flag, Amanda Waller and arguably Ratcatcher.
I mean, they’re comedies, but they aren’t gag-a-minute comedies. Some characters are much more out there than others, but every one of them has some heart, a thing they want but can’t have and typically a tragic backstory. Guardians 3 in particular is such an oppressively sad movie. That goes for the Creature Commandos spinoff, too, which while keeping the tone is just trauma city.
How that balance works in Superman I don’t know. The original Reeve movie plays Krypton very straight, but also very 50s sci-fi. If there is a baseline for reality in that movie it’s definitely the Smallville segment in the middle, where they set the stakes for both mortality and the version of Americana that Donner sees Superman as representing. The Metropolis segments are just a conservative parody of 80s society mixed with an over the top cartoon. Supes is played straight, and Reeve manages to suggest there is a real person there, to his credit, but… I mean, the superheroing he does is taking cats down trees and giving out corny speeches about how “statistically speaking flying is the safest way to travel”. A thief clocks him with a crowbar over the head and it goes “boing-ing”, leaving him shaking. Had the cast misunderstood the assignment even a little bit we’d be in Adam West territory.