FILM REVIEW - Superman (2025)
By The Masked Medic
You know that the summer of film was going to reach a peak eventually. When I say peak, I mean excitement levels. I have been a DC fan for as long as I can remember, and I have had a great deal of affection for the DCEU. However, towards the end of it, it was clear that mixed messages between directors and studio executives were leading to some poor decisions. With the creation of DC Studios and the chance of a new start, I was looking forward to seeing what James Gunn and Peter Safran had cooked up!
‘Superman’ tells a new story of the titular character. Set in a world where metahumans have been known to exist for a number of centuries, and Superman has been around for a few years, the film starts with our hero coming under fire for stepping into a conflict with two countries, Boravia and Jarhanpur. Despite Boravia being an ally of the US, Superman sides with the underdog, Jarhanpur, attracting the wrath of billionaire genius Lex Luthor. Superman, aka Clark Kent, believes that he was sent to Earth from Krypton to help mankind and to be good, but Lex doesn’t see it that way. In order to carry out his plan, Lex tracks down the location of the Fortress of Solitude, breaking in and finding the evidence he needs to bring Superman down. Clark attempts to focus on all aspects of his life, including his budding relationship with fellow Daily Planet reporter Lois Lane. However, the discovery by Luthor of the full message sent by Clark’s birth parents to him sends everyone, including him, into a panic. Despite all his good standing with the people of Metropolis and his fellow superheroes, ‘The Justice Gang’ consisting of Mr Terrific, Green Lantern Guy Gardner, and Hawkgirl, Superman finds himself alone and at the whims of Luthor, who takes it upon himself to bring the hero to his knees. Can Superman figure out a way to clear his name and restore his reputation? And to what lengths will Lex Luthor go to prove that Earth cannot trust Superman?
I’m very excited to get into this cast. So I want to start with the Daily Planet staff, and the most important of those is Lois Lane, played by Rachel Brosnahan. I’ve not seen her in anything else, except maybe a few clips of ‘The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’, and I’ve got to say, I felt that she was well cast, but the film didn’t give her enough time to shine. We can get into this a little later. Playing Jimmy Olsen was Skyler Gisondo, and again, just very well cast. He was funny and charming, everything that Jimmy is supposed to be. A few characters I was very excited to see were the “Justice Gang”, including Nathan Fillion as Guy Gardner, Isabella Merced as Hawkgirl and Edi Gathegi as Mr Terrific. Fillon does such a good job of playing the most annoying Green Lantern, and I’m excited to see what he does in the ‘Lanterns’ TV show, coming out next year. I’m not sure Hawkgirl got as much time to shine, but I have a feeling big things are coming for her, *cough* Justice League *cough*. Meanwhile Edi steals every scene he is in as Mr Terrific. Although there are a few scenes where I felt the writing was inconsistent with his comic-book counterpart, on the whole, it left me wanting to see more of him. We have to talk about Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor. Hoult reportedly was in the final three to be Superman, and I can only imagine that missing out on the role would have led to a slight bit of jealousy, which he may have channelled for his performance. During the first half of the film, he is clever and vindictive in a way that Luthor needs to be, but towards the end, you see him losing it a bit. Again, given what a key character he is in the DC Universe, I’m sure there are plans for him later down the line. Finally, the standout performance. It’s a no-brainer; David Corenswet as Superman/Clark Kent. Corenswet’s performance as Superman was almost perfect. He was hopeful and optimistic but certainly not one-dimensional. He is believable as both Clark and Kal-El, and I honestly can’t wait to see more of him!
I had to go into this film with an open mind. There are a number of reasons for that. One, I’ve seen that having expectations can sometimes cause greater disappointment if the project doesn’t deliver. Secondly, and controversially, I was a fan of the version of these characters that existed in the DCEU. Having to put aside my dreams of what that universe could have been to start supporting a new one, it’s not been an easy ride. It is with great joy, however, that I say ‘Superman’ delivers everything it is supposed to. The introduction of the characters seems effortless, and you go in, absolutely accepting that we’ve known about metahumans and aliens for a while. No intro story needed. There is a fairly clear political message embedded in the film, which has garnered both negative and positive reviews from most viewers. If Superman can stand up for oppressed populations, surely we should be able to as well, even when it goes against the foreign policies of the nations where we live. I don’t know how they managed to keep that plot in the film, but kudos to them, and more importantly, I hope that it does give us mortals the strength to speak up against injustice in all its forms. If I had to speak about negatives, it’s not a massive one, but the film is clearly trying to set up a whole new cinematic universe. Although James Gunn stated that he would never jeopardise the quality of any of the projects to advance that universe, there were points at which I felt that the film might be a little overstuffed in terms of plot points. I certainly enjoyed seeing all these characters, but to the average viewer, I can imagine if it was overwhelming!
The cinematography was certainly one aspect that worried me a lot. Initially, when I watched the trailers, I thought to myself, oof, some of these shots need a bit of work. Thankfully, a lot of that was fixed in the final cut. That being said, there were still moments when I felt the CGI could’ve used some work. The CGI for Krypto, though? That was amazing! Part of the cinematography is also the costumes, and I have to say, I liked the designs of all of the characters. I know that the “Justice Gang” costumes are only prototypes, but they worked for this film. Now, let’s talk about the soundtrack. James Gunn is a master of infusing music into his films, and ‘Superman’ is no different. Some interesting song choices, but ones that worked. I also think that the theme for the film, which took inspiration from both John Williams’ original track and Hans Zimmer’s work from ‘Man of Steel’, was the perfect fit. Overall, I went in with no expectation, and ultimately, I realized that it wasn’t a perfect film, but it was a perfect Superman film!
Rating:
Story: ★★★★
Acting: ★★★½
Cinematography: ★★★½
Music: ★★★★
Enjoyability: ★★★★