Superman

What’s the Movie? Superman, 2025 version

What’s It All About, JG? Superman (David Corinswet) stops Jarhanpur from being invaded by Boravia, a US ally, and, as a result, gets his ass kicked and is defeated for the very first time by a metahuman going by the name of The Hammer of Boravia (which sounds like some kind of black metal band). Landing in Antarctica, he retreats to the Fortress of Solitude – or rather is dragged there by his dog, Krypto – before returning to the fight, unaware that he’s been followed. Later, after Luthor releases a monster in Metropolis to distract Superman and the “Justice Gang” (Green Lantern, Hawk Girl, Mr Terrific), The Engineer (Maria Gabriela de Faria) and Lex Luthor (Nicholas Holt) break in and The Engineer uses the nanotechnology in her body to hack the computer system there. They discover that a damaged message from Superman’s parents contains a second half where they tell Superman he should rule over humanity ruthlessly. Luthor uses this to destroy public support for Superman and ultimately captures him in a pocket universe using Metamorpho (Anthony Carrigan), who can create kryptonite with his body.

Superman escapes, saving Metamorpho’s son in the process, while Mr Terrific and Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan) find a way into the pocket universe so they can escape. A demoralised Superman returns to Ma and Pa Kent, who tell him it’s what he does that makes him who he is, not some silly message. This gives Superman enough hope that he stops Luthor, who has unleashed a dimensional rift and wants to start the war between Boravia and Jarhanpur, so he could have half of Jarhanpur after. Turns out he’s cloned Superman (which is how he got into the Fortress of Solitude) and used him as the Hammer of Boravia, and the whole scheme was just to take down Superman anyway. He doesn’t, and Krypto – the true hero of this film – takes him down.

Why Did You Give It A Go? Well, it’s been getting remarkably good reviews, which for a slightly cornball character like Superman is rather surprising, especially following Zack Snyder’s divisive take on the character. Henry Cavill was often a good Superman given not-very-good material (see also Routh, Brandon), which tended to eclipse his performance as he got stuck being a rather joyless misery magnet. And though Snyder’s take on the character – essentially a lonely god humanity can barely even come close to understanding – is a valid one, it’s also not a terribly interesting one and didn’t result in a lot of good material for Cavill to get his teeth into. With the demise of the Snyder version of the D.C. universe, this film brings Superman back in a more traditional mode. But can the character really be redeemed from both Snyder’s take and work in a modern context?

Is It Any Good? Krypto, the Super-Dog, is essentially the hero of this film. 10/10. No notes.

Oh, alright, some notes. This film is, basically, an utter delight. It’s full of joy and hope and love and all the things one could possibly want from a Superman movie. Other than, y’know, Krypto being the hero, it’s not quite perfect, but there’s such an infusion of joy in the film it’s hard not to get swept along in its big, happy wake. And one of the things that makes that joy so easy to tune into is that this film is content to embrace the one thing the Snyder Superman outings never were and could never be and it’s this – it’s silly.

But, crucially, it’s silly in all the right ways, and in this regard, Krypro really does work as a stand-in for everything the film gets right. Because, you know, it’s a Super-dog, complete with adorable little cape. We don’t really get an explanation for Krypto – apart from a short scene at the end where apparently he’s Supergirl’s dog, not Superman’s – but he’s there to provide silliness and levity, and yet also work as a character within the film. And he does! From the moment Krypto rescues Superman in the opening few minutes of the film to him taking down Luthor at the end, Krypto’s appearance is just an absolute delight. It’s silly but – and here’s the key thing – he’s also important because he brings heart to the film. He’s not just a novelty, he helps to anchor what the film is about. One of the few times we see Superman genuinely lose his temper and be livid with Lex is when Luthor has taken Krypro and Superman explodes with, “Where is the dog!” Because the dog matters. So does the squirrel he saves from a rampaging monster (in a scene that goes out of its way not to destroy buildings that feels like a very pointed rebuke to the end battle in Man of Steel). In this movie, every life matters. Krypto is the symbol of that. But he’s also just a bloody delight, so there’s that too.

That silliness is carried through to the Justice Gang, too. In his role as the Green Lantern, Nathan Fillion is a perfect pick for a slightly demented take on the character. He’s smug, arrogant, has a terrible haircut, but is also, ultimately, a decent person. Hawk Girl, given comparatively little screen time, has more edge but comes across as likeable. And Mr Terrific really does live up to his name. Of the three, he’s by far the most important, operating pretty much as Superman’s sidekick for a decent chunk of the movie. Edi Gathegi is great in the role, being stoic but not completely inaccessible, a necessary point between Green Lantern and Hawk Girl (though I’d be lying if I didn’t say I missed Echo Kellum’s fantastic take on the character from Arrow). But the whole Justice Gang are just tremendously fun, from the squabbling about their daft name to them helping to defeat the monster Luthor releases into Metropolis. When we spent time with the Justice Gang, there’s never a feeling that we’re doing it at the expense of spending time with Superman. Which is a neat trick to pull.

In fact, fun is the word that just comes back time and time again in this movie because that’s what it is. Just terrific (heh) fun. In truth, the plot here is relatively slight – the whole fake war thing has been done plenty of times before and Luthor using this as an excuse to take down Superman isn’t exactly a new and unique take on the character. But the plot gives enough of a framework to hang the film on, at the very least, and doesn’t get in the way. The weakest part of the film – the “clone” Superman, a late-in-the-day reveal, does end up having a point (brains over brawn) but it’s a bit of a cheap shortcut. It doesn’t undermine the film but it’s not exactly original and about five minutes after he’s been revealed, he gets kicked into a black hole in the pocket universe anyway.

The politics, too, are a bit clunky, like slapping a few “here’s the politics” Lego bricks together and hoping they result in a convincing final model. They sort of do, but it’s a little clums. Resting the politics on Superman being an alien as a reason to doubt his intentions makes sense in the current political climate, as does Luthor hating Superman simply because he’s an alien rather than for anything he’s actually done. And a few scenes of politicians sitting about and blowing where the wind goes – initially supporting Superman because the “optics are good” then doubting him following the reveal of the message – are pretty familiar beats at this stage. As for the evil country that’s an ally of the U.S. trying to find a pretext to invade a neighbouring country who appears to be innocent but isn’t an ally… well, I wonder what that could possibly connect to in this day and age? I mean, it’s probably too slender a branch to rest an analogy of the Israel/Gaza conflict on, even though there are obviously parallels. Still, it is, again, just effective enough, and the whole conflict is portrayed on screen in a single location that kind of looks like M*A*S*H could have been shot there so it doesn’t threaten to spill into anything unfortunate.. It gets the job done.

These, though, are fairly minor quibbles. This is a joyful film that clearly takes huge pleasure in playing about in the Superman sandbox, able to do all sorts of things that haven’t been possible with a big-screen Superman since Christopher Reeve hung up his cape. It’s a delightful movie, funny rather than “funny” and genuine in a way that really rings true. Despite this, you know, being a James Gunn film, it also doesn’t feel like a Marvel clone – it’s got plenty of funny lines and moments but they’re not in the quippy, rat-a-tat-a-tat style that’s become associated with Marvel. There’s a sincerity about all this that just shines through. And the most remarkable thing about Superman is that it actually manages to pull that sincerity off.

This really is a bloody great film.

How Many of These Have You Seen? In terms of Superman movies, I’ve seen the first two Christopher Reeve movies and half of the third one, which was dreadful and I gave up on it. I’ve seen the Brandon Routh one-and-done which… I mean, I do quite like it and Routh was excellent casting for Superman but it’s hard to claim it was a great movie, even though it goes up a little in my estimation every time I watch it. If it had been the start of a sequence of movies, Routh could have been something really special but instead we got Snyder’s profoundly odd take on the character. I have seen all of the Snyder Superman outings, for my sins. I’m not a Snyder hater, per se, but I don’t think his take on the character is particularly successful. Cavill’s a good pick for the character, and I think you could do interesting things with Snyder’s vision for Superman – he just doesn’t, that’s all.

Would You Recommend It? See the above comment about Krypto, 10/10 and no notes. But yes, of course I would. This isn’t just the best superhero movie in donkey’s years, it’s just a straightforwardly fantastic evening out to the cinema. You don’t, in other words, need to be a superhero fan to enjoy this film, it’s accessible to anyone who just wants to see a fun, enjoyable, engaging, and ultimately meaningful film. This is a movie made for the general public, a subset of whom are Superman fans, not a movie made for Superman fans that might catch on with the public. It’s an important distinction.

Because one of the interesting things about this film is what it doesn’t do – it doesn’t slather on the lore like a big hunk of plot cholesterol, clogging up the film’s arteries. It takes for granted that the audience is going to be up to speed on a lot of the basic details. That means we don’t get an origin story, we don’t need to explain the whole Clark Kent is Superman thing, we know Lois and Clark are an item, and so on. And it’s great to see a film liberated from all that tedious detail everyone knows anyway, and just get on with telling its story. This film trusts the audience and, free from all that boring lore stuff, can use its run-time for something more interesting than seeing a spaceship with a baby in it crash in a Kansas field for the umpteenth time. The film is pleasingly uncluttered and that sense of clean lines is one of the things that helps the film feel really well paced. It can tell its story without having to stop every five minutes to fill out some boring bit of lore backstory.

And Superman himself is just great. I mean, if there was one thing the film had to get right, it was that, and David Corenswet is just brilliant in the role. He’s very easy to buy into as Superman, and, while he’s clearly fit and developed, it’s also nice to have him not be some ‘roided up muscle man cliché. Apart from making the Clark Kent / Superman divide more believable, it just makes him more credible as a character. Strong, defined, but not absurd. Corenswet’s performance helps with this too – he’s just charming in the role. It’s something the character needs, the ability to be genuine and sincere, but not schmaltzy or saccharine and Cirinswet hits that sweet spot (pun intended) perfectly. He’s a delight in the role, never more so than his occasional frustrations with Krypto, but throughout the film, he never puts a foot wrong. We don’t get to spend a lot of time with the Clark Kent side of things, but presumably that’s something that will be addressed in a future film. This is a Superman film all about re-establishing Superman, so it’s fair enough that’s the side of the character we spend most time with.

As Luthor, Nicholas Holt (a long way from his screen acting debut in The Bill, of all things) is… fine. In truth, Luthor’s part is a little underwritten here, so there’s only so much he can do with it. He broadly goes for a scenery-chewing approach while ranting and raving in his special secret ship or base, and while that works, it’s also a little limited. Portraying Luthor as a tech bro is an interesting take on the character, as is his arms sales, but there’s actually very little of that which makes it to the screen beyond the fact we are told that these are things that are known about him. We assume the Engineer’s nanobots are from him (though this isn’t explicitly stated, as far as I can recall) and his cloning of Superman is an off-handed, off-screen event. Holt is an understandable choice for the role but he’s not quite fleshing it out yet. Again, this might be something that gets addressed in future films but for this one, he’s “generic evil guy who hates Superman” and little more. Which works for this movie but isn’t sustainable in the long run.

But despite that, Luthor still works as enough of a threat in the movie. One of the perpetual challenges of writing a Superman movie (or comic, for that matter) is finding a way to challenge Superman in a way that seems convincing. He is, after all, a super-powered alien who can defeat practically anyone he comes up against. In this, the limited use of kryptonite is welcome. It’s a plot point midway through the film but importantly, the film doesn’t hinge on it. That’s great because kryptonite is more than a bit of a cliché by this stage, and finding other ways to take Superman down is just inherently more interesting. Here, the film splits the difference effectively, having the Hammer of Boravia take care of physically challenging him while using his own morality and self-belief be used as ways to contain him emotionally. Both of these work well, and both have enough screen time to be effective without overstaying their welcome. It’s another indication of the intelligence that has gone into constructing this script.

And while it is an intelligent script, and while this is also fun, engaging, enthusiastic, and positively joyful in places, what the film is, ultimately, is kind. This is a kind movie that cares, and it’s almost impossible to express just how refreshing that feels. This isn’t the clenched, sarcastic flippancy that Marvel has been trapped in since about Endgame (give or take a movie). And it’s not the abstracted, distant take that Snyder brought to the character. The John Williams Superman theme is deployed here, and it is a glorious piece of music but it’s used carefully. The movie isn’t covered in it from start to finish, rather it’s used to support certain moments in the film where it’s needed. There’s restraint here, and that restraint adds to the impact when it finally does get used. It is used to support the central thesis of the film and that thesis is always anchored by kindness. So yes, if there is a single word to describe this film, that word is “kind”.

And that really, really matters.

Scores on the Doors? Krypto is the hero. 10/10 But aside from that 8.5/10