New Superman Film Faces Backlash Amid Controversial Narrative and Allegations of Fabricated Reviews
Los Angeles, CA – The new Superman film is stirring significant debate, not just for its cinematic quality, but for what appears to be a deliberate narrative push and disturbing allegations of artificially manufacturing positive reviews. We’ve been closely tracking the unfolding situation, and it seems this controversy is already impacting the film’s initial reception.
The “Immigrant” Narrative Under Fire A central point of contention revolves around comments from the film’s director, James Gunn, and his brother, an actor, who have been promoting a narrative that Superman is an immigrant. They claim that we all need to be more thoughtful about immigrants. However, we firmly contend that this portrayal is inaccurate; Superman is not an immigrant, but rather an alien who fictionally blasted off from his home planet, landed on Earth, and was legally adopted by American parents. The most apt comparison, in our view, would be to call Superman a Chinese baby adopted into an American family.
Adding fuel to the fire, one individual, Shaun Gunn, has reportedly stated that disliking the film’s immigrant message makes one “un-American”. This is a very bold statement to make, especially when implying that disagreement with their message somehow equates to a lack of American patriotism.
Opening Weekend Impact and Our Perspective The consistent promotion of this immigrant narrative by James Gunn, his brother, and the mainstream media has already cost the Superman movie our opening weekend money. While we find the “Superman bleeding” or jokes unappealing for the character, we acknowledge that the movie could still be very good despite these narrative choices. We’ve noted the irony that some outlets we typically disagree with, like The Daily Beast, are giving the film bad reviews, which almost makes us consider seeing it.
Shocking Allegations of Bot-Generated Reviews Perhaps the most concerning development is what appears to be irrefutable evidence of the film’s marketing team deploying bots to recycle positive reviews. This was caught red-handed, thanks to the work of Master of TDS. We observed a clear instance where YouTube movie reviewer Grace Randolph’s positive review was literally copied and pasted by the official Superman account, which then sought authorization to use her content for marketing promotions.
Further investigation revealed other accounts, including Olivia XO, Ravi, Fisel Khan, and Gage Gagan Mandelle, also posting Grace Randolph’s review word for word. These appear to be literal bots posting her review, and it suggests that these accounts were paid for these tweets. We question whether individuals like Olivia XO disclosed if they were compensated for copying and pasting these tweets, especially given that such practices, if undisclosed, could be illegal.
Critical Reception: A Mixed Bag Initial critical reviews for the Superman film started strong, with a 91% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, but this has steadily declined to 85% based on 118 reviews. Top critics offer a range of opinions:
- One critic noted that while Superman claims to be driven by good, “more often than not he feels like he’s someone the plot happens to”.
- Others described the film as a “would-be franchise re-setter that resembles a Saturday morning cartoon” and “overstuffed Helter Skelter”.
- While acknowledging James Gunn’s brilliance at conjuring spectacle and alien realms, critics suggest his storytelling is not as strong, leading to a narrative that is “all over the place”.
- The film has been called “a mess but a colorful one,” with some concluding it’s either a “terrible superhero movie or an okay parody”.
Jeremy Jahns, a reviewer we typically trust, gave the film a rotten score. He highlighted that many support characters felt “one-dimensional,” specifically mentioning Guy Gardner, Mr. Terrific, and Hawkgirl, and lamented that too many characters were crammed into the story.
Given the controversies and the mixed critical reception, we won’t be rushing out to see Superman on its opening weekend. We encourage you to let us know your thoughts if you decide to see it.
