Superman is a 2025 super-hero film written and directed by James Gunn. The film follows Clark Kent and his super alter ego, Superman (David Corenswet) as he utilizes the powers of good, tolerance and empathy to defeat evil billionaire, Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult). In the year of 2025, SUPERMAN is the exact superhero movie we needed. It has so many metaphors for the current state of our world that aren’t subtly hidden. SUPERMAN is an “alien”, billionaires are evil, journalism is good, etc. SUPERMAN is the exact hero that the world needs right now. He always thinks and does the best, never utilizes violence and fights for the underdog. It was really inspiring to see these messages. SUPERMAN is not in any way, shape or form a “woke” movie, it is not pushing crazy ideologies. It is just touching on the values that Superman has stood for since day one of his creation. I want to get all of this out of the way before I move onto the actual content and substance of the movie which in my opinion, was a complete mixed bag. To me… the movie was meh. I recognize I might not be the ideal audience for this movie. I didn’t grow up with any superhero media, but when I did finally watch my first Marvel project (WANDAVISION), I became a huge fan of everything that Stan Lee did. Before watching SUPERMAN, my only real experience with DC was SHAZAM, the JOKER films, THE BATMAN (2022), THE DARK KNIGHT, and obviously the best in the BATMAN series… THE LEGO BATMAN MOVIE. Typing that list, I suppose it’s not an insignificant amount, but compared to my Marvel catalogue it looks like nothing. Even with my Marvel love the only comics I ever got die-hard into were Archie Comics (I believe I have a 200+ collection, the last time I counted about a year ago), so whenever any superhero adaptation comes out I never tend to gripe about whether or not it’s “comic accurate”. This film could be super connected to its original source material! Everything I discuss in this review was just my own personal opinion as someone who was very excited going into the movie.
I’ll start with the good, which was without a doubt the cinematography. Easily the strongest component of the film. The best shots are used in the promotion for the film, as well as all the trailers. However there are still many gems sprinkled throughout the film that are just really spectacular. The action scenes are interesting, which is a high compliment from someone who isn’t the most well versed in action films. The film has moments of a vibrant color palette that feel dynamic and full of soul. The contrast between Superman’s world and Lex Luthor’s office are stark, from their work spaces all the way to their cohorts. There is one fight scene is particular that left me in awe, hitting every mark between the fight choreography, editing, cinematography and a fire needle drop.
As I mentioned in my introduction the highest praise (or backlash, depending on what news sites you’re on) is the message. It is so clearly anti everything that is going on in the world right now. It showcases the purest good and humanity that we have lost sight of. Superman isn’t a superhero like BATMAN or IRON MAN, he is just a good hearted soul deep down. There is something so beautiful in seeing kids root for someone and having a good role model to put their faith in. You see that a lot in this film. It really did make me wish we had someone like Superman in the real world. I think the true Superman lies in the everyday unseen good that goes around. Paying for someone behind you, complimenting a stranger, laughing with your friends, helping someone pick up something they dropped. It’s not about these extravagant moments of saving someone’s life against a monster, those types of moments don’t occur in our universe. The character of Malik Ali that we see in the film is our representation of how we can be Superman, even when we feel powerless against the Lex Luthors of the world. Even though I have problems with the film, if that message gets out there and creates some kind of feeling of goodness, then I’m glad it happened.
I liked most of the characters. Superman was someone you could easily root for and Corenswet IS Superman. Both in looks and persona. Edi Gathegi was my standout performance, with his acting and character. I’ll touch on the script in a while but he was by far the funniest. So many hilarious moments. Nathan Fillion is superb, I have been a fan of Fillion for almost 10 years now when I first saw him in A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS and my love for him only grew after watching him in the YouTube short series DR. HORRIBLE’S SING ALONG BLOG (I HIGHLY recommend it if you are a fan of Superheros, Comedy or Musicals, very underrated). Rachel Brosnahan was fine as Lois Lane, this was my first depiction I’d ever seen of her so she’s now my basis for Lois but I really don’y have much to say. Her and Corenswet had little chemistry, but I thought the dialogue between them was fine. Nicholas Hoult plays the villain character VERY well, but unfortunately I don’t mean that 100% as a compliment. He had this switch from playing a classic cartoon villain and someone we could see taking form in our real world. It was a little startling to see him go from playing these dorky guys to this infamous menacing villain. His acting balanced between being just right, but getting far too caricatured in the dramatic scenes.
Now, time for my issues.
For me, the film just gets worse as it goes on. I started off really enjoying it but my rating just continuously plummeted. I think that all the good things I just said can coexist with the things I didn’t like. The script is not strong. The film isn’t a comedy so of course it’s not to be over the top funny but none of the jokes really landed to me. I found myself laughing out loud maybe once or twice, and chuckling whenever Mr. Terrific gave a joke. Whether it was the writing or his delivery he just had something strong going on. There is a final monologue performed by Superman and Luthor that was one of the weakest written pieces in the film. The acting fell so flat and I think it was just because the dialogue got quite corny and didn’t have much substance to support the pivotal moment in the plot. There were many moments that I looked over at my dad, or he looked over at me and we just went… what is going on? So many one-liners that just made me question what I was doing there. There is a line between silly and goofy, and they went far too into the latter for my taste. I was really quite surprised because I think the GUARDIANS series is hilarious, so I’m just not sure where the disconnect was between these two. I understand this was never going to be GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY and this was James Gunn embarking on a new project, but it felt like he did a complete 180.
The messages itself are great but the actual content of the plot is kind of messy. Honestly, I don’t really remember much of it because it just kind of passed. I think this goes hand and hand in my issues with the script. I know I just touched on the humor aspect but even the normal dialogue was not tight. It sometimes felt like it didn’t know what it wanted to be. There are just so many subtle moments that made me go, “what are we doing here?โ. The film is just corny and over the top and simply didn’t work for me. I know everyone loves the dog, it was cute, it was fun, but why did so much of the jokes and plot revolve around it? If you are a big dog fan, this might be your favorite film of all time! The film has so many moments that are never touched on again that just feel so out of place. The world building of Clark Kent/Superman DEFINITELY didn’t work and was maybe one of my biggest gripes with the plot. There are so many big ideas and thoughts circling around and it just felt oddly put together. It starts strong, and takes a rapid decline. If I had to pin it down to one issue in particular, it would be the script but there are so many more aspects with the plot and set up that make it wonky.
As loud as the messages in the story may be, I think it needs to be that bold to reach the attention of the people who need to hear it. They spell it out in big, capital, bold letters โEVIL BILLIONAIRE BLAMES ALL ISSUES ON ILLEGAL ALIEN AND CRUSHES ANYONE WHO DISAGREES WITH HIMโ. With full honesty, I would not go to see this film again. I am beyond glad that so many people love this and are connecting to it. I was excited to see the film, but as someone who is not the biggest DC lover, I’m not losing sleep over the fact this one just wasn’t for me. It’s a big budget blockbuster that has just enough space in between FANTASTIC FOUR: THE FIRST STEPS that I think it’ll do just fine at the box office. I saw it at a special “Clark Kent” showing in a packed theater on a huge screen which was pretty fun. There were many people wearing Superman memorabilia which was nice to see. I consider myself a big fanatic, so stuff like this always makes my heart a little happier. What Superman means to these people would be similar to what I would do if The Muppets came back on the big screen. As much as I dog on Superhero movies recently, there is something really special about seeing these characters on the silver screen. I think that somewhere in the world there might be a 70 year old man who grew up eating cereal and watching SUPERMAN on Saturday mornings, who shows up to the cinema for the first time in a while to see his idol defeat evil once again. He is watching the film, but so is the little boy who sat by his TV in awe all those years ago. I try to remember small, glimmering moments like that while I go on and on about the lack of passion and soul in them. The connection that these characters have on so many generations is a legacy that can not be replicated. Even though I did not love the film, I hope that every little kid who saw themselves in the Man of Steel walks out a little bit happier. That is what film is supposed to do at the end of the day, and that is why I can excuse some of the lacking production aspects. In a movie like SUPERMAN, I think what you take away from the film is more important than the definable qualities. So if you liked SUPERMAN, that makes me very happy.
SUPERMAN is now playing in theaters.
