'Superman' is all about krypto the dog. What if you're a cat person?
The Man of Steel’s canine pal is doing the heavy lifting, in every sense
EVEN IN THE first trailer for Superman, as Esquire’s Johnny Davis noted in his recent feature about the Man of Steel’s troubled public image and long-touted return, we could see him coming a mile off. No, not Superman himself, though he was back too, played this time by a new telegenic beefcake, David Corenswet. What was clearly intended to win over the hearts and minds of cinema-goers, keen to see what Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn would do with the beleaguered superhero in his new summer blockbuster, was not Superman himself but someone even more dewy-eyed and guileless: his doggy friend, Krypto.
In that trailer, which turns out also to be the opening scene of the film, Krypto barrels across the Arctic Tundra to save his master, who’s taken a battering in a recent fight and been left bloodied in the snow. After bouncing up and down on him a few times to express his pleasure at their reunion – not what Supes needs right now, Krypto! – the superdog takes Superman’s cape in his mouth and whisks him off home to the Fortress of Solitude to recuperate. What a good boy.
Krypto is not new character within Superman lore, he has his own extensive backstory that you can delve into if you want to, but this does mark his DC Universe debut. He’s also got a new look: he’s scrappier and scruffier than he once was, apparently modelled after Gunn’s own dog, an admittedly adorable rescue mutt called Ozu (he may not have a Kennel Club pedigree but he’s sure got a cultural one: he’s named after the Japanese director Yusujirō Ozu). Also, because he is super like his owner – though without wishing to spoil the ending, that owner may not be exactly who you think it is – he also wears an adorable cape.
Krypto is not a real dog of course, he’s computer-generated, so the American Humane Association did not have to lose any sleep over him whizzing through the sky or being flung around by baddies. I won’t go into the movie’s full convoluted plot right here – nobly, my colleague Henry Wong has done that – but Krypto is not the only crazy CGI creation in this movie; nor is he by any stretch the worst of them (weird green baby, looking at you).
He is, however, very much indicative of what Gunn is going for with his take on Superman: a cuddly, family-friendly movie which leans in, with a knowing wink, to nostalgia for a simpler, stupider time. Corenswet’s Clark Kent/Superman is so squeaky-clean he won’t even say “heck” or “hell” (he settles for “What the hey?”) and his preferred tipple after a hard day’s crime-fighting is a lovely mug of cocoa. Krypto, a fluffy, somewhat dim-witted dog, is yet another loveable element in what desperately wants to be a loveable film.
I don’t want to suggest that Superman, or Superman, is without charm – some of the laughs do come off, though not enough of them – nor that Krypto’s not winning. He cocks his ear in a cute way, and even though he’s CGI you do find yourself cooing just a little at his wide, uncomprehending eyes. Nevertheless you do have to buy into the non-annoyingness of dogs to really fall for him: anyone who’s ever had a “friendly” muddied-pawed dog jump up at them as a besotted owner looks on from afar, or an unfriendly dog growl at your toddler while said owner assures you that they’re “only playing”, might need a bit more convincing. (And I know the dog people will come for me for this; cat people, you’re my only hope!)
The main issue with Krypto, though, is not that he cracks people’s heads against concrete when he’s pleased to see them, but that he is given far too much to do. The ear-cocking is cute, but maybe not quite as cute the 57th time. He’s even given a starring in the final showdown between Lex Luther and Superman, but the doggy-ex-machina plot twist can’t help but be underwhelming (not helped by the fact that Luther, played by the likeable British actor Nicholas Hoult, is also lacking in menace). It feels less like a DC Universe denouement, and more like the last panel of a Dennis the Menace story in the Beano. Not that any of this is Krypto’s fault, you understand; nor should we blame him. He may be super, but he’s just a dog.
Superman is out now
This story originally appeared on Esquire UK.
Related:
