{"id":48555,"date":"2025-07-08T17:52:03","date_gmt":"2025-07-08T21:52:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/?p=48555"},"modified":"2025-07-12T00:07:19","modified_gmt":"2025-07-12T04:07:19","slug":"superman-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/2025\/07\/08\/superman-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Superman [2025]"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Superman and allies fight monsters, Lex Luthor, and xenophobia in James Gunn\u2019s triumphant and rousing Superman, rebooting the DC franchise.<\/span>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not going to bury the lede. Superman is the movie of the summer. Bold, energetic, triumphant, and exuberant, James Gunn\u2019s new film of the 86-year Superman dynasty is a return to the optimism and hope imbued in the character by creators Jerry Siegel and Joel Shuster. This is due to a complete understanding of the Man of Steel, what he represents, and how he works. It\u2019s a big, crowd-pleasing Blockbuster (with a capital B), but also a personal and pinpointed story.<\/span><\/p>\n

Gunn, writing and directing, brings all the joy and enthusiasm we expect of Superman. Superman is hope. Hope for a better tomorrow through good works today. Being a good person and using what gifts you have to help others. This Superman is the Big Blue Boy Scout through and through. David Corenswet brings the Kryptonian to life with a veracious aplomb.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Corenswet IS Superman, and will be \u201cmy Superman\u201d to a new generation. Christopher Reeve set a high bar in the two Richard Donner films, and every Superman after has been asked to clear it, to varying results. He\u2019s easily the best since. He calls back to Reeve\u2019s good-natured take, but feels entirely his own. It\u2019s been levied that DC is harder to translate because their big hitters are close to invincible, overpowered gods. That\u2019s a bigger conversation, but while this Superman is still the most powerful being on Earth, he\u2019s just as human as the rest of us, flawed and fighting to find himself and his role on this planet. This humanity and questioning don\u2019t crack the power but give an unexpected depth and connection, particularly WHEN Gunn chooses to start the film. Gunn immediately humanizes him, making an already rootable character all the more fallible and sympathetic. Corenswet gives Superman a true soul.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The rest of the cast is equally superb. Rachel Brosnahan embodies the fiery charm of Lois Lane, sharing an incredible chemistry with Corenswet. Like Corenswet\u2019s Superman, she\u2019s her version, but there\u2019s a hell of a lot of Margot Kidder. A highlight of the other humans is Sara Sampaio\u2019s modern take on Eve Teschmacher. A viable cast of Skyler Gisondo, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Stephen Blackehart, and others brings character goodness. Rounding out the humans, Nicholas Hoult is a perfect Lex Luthor: a whiny, xenophobic narcissist with a bad temper and notable hair issues. Hrm\u2026\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In this world, metahumans have existed for 300 years, and Superman is joined by three. Nathan Fillion was born to play Guy Gardiner, the ascerbic ass of a Green Lantern.\u00a0 Isabela Merced is great as Hawkgirl, and Edi Gathegi steals the show as Mr. Terrific. In addition, Anthony Corrigan brings a great deal as another metahuman, but I\u2019ll let the movie tell you more.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There are a lot of characters and plot, but the movie never feels lost in the largesse. It\u2019s a packed, but not over-stuffed, 129 minutes.\u00a0 Gunn keeps only what is needed, presenting an incredibly fast-paced, streamlined story. In a smart move, Gunn cuts what might be the first act or the whole first film, starting us a few years into Superman, a little of time into this particular story. With all the pieces in place, smart exposition and cultural knowledge fill in as it unfolds. It\u2019s akin to hitting a comic store for a six-issue story run, but only finding issues 2-6. It\u2019s okay, the first few pages of #2 will fill in what you need to know (thank you, brilliant opening text in the film).<\/span><\/p>\n

Gunn tightly keeps the story where it needs to be. Characters might vanish for a while, but we know what they\u2019re doing, and Gunn doesn\u2019t cut back to them just to make an improbable wrinkle for the sake of another action or humor beat. The story has large stakes, but Gunn is pinpointed in the telling. He also avoids winky references or shoving in set-ups for where the new DCEU (there is ONE, but it works); there\u2019s no crushing weight of the future.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>As proved in Guardians of the Galaxy, Gunn deftly embraces the weird fiction of comics; all the strangeness and character eccentricity are translated to film with a rousing sense of fun rather than embarrassingly changing or coming out silly. Remember, he\u2019s the guy who made Rocket Raccoon a household name. I love Gunn\u2019s \u201chere\u2019s the comics on screen, take it or leave it\u201d nature. It\u2019s not gatekeeping, but trusting the audience to come along. He makes Krypto work. Good doggo. A flying head with tentacles is beloved, not laughable. The Super-robots garner laughs with exposition (voiced by master of sardonic line-readings Alan Tudyk, along with Michael Rooker, Pom Klementieff, and others). He\u2019s all in, as you should be too.<\/span><\/p>\n

It all comes together to craft a fist-pumping, crowd-cheering awesome time at the cinema. It\u2019s what Summer Movies are about. I spent the film bouncing like an excited kid, with a giant smile on my face and even tears in my eyes at a few speeches and moments that hone in on who Superman is and the hows and whys behind it. (A well-handled xenophobia hook gives an extra prescience.) The action is thrilling and has a great sense of joy within the danger and emotion. The set-ups and pay-offs land in beautiful ways. Heck, there is one payoff that is used a half dozen times and it lands Every. Single. Time.<\/span><\/p>\n

Superman is easily the best Superman media since 1978. It is everything anyone would want. It\u2019s big but personal. It\u2019s full of hope, but with a strong message behind it. Corsenswet is a perfect Superman, backed up by a hell of a cast. James Gunn truly understands why Superman has stood in as the prototypical superhero for 85 years, and he brings that history of culture and character to the screen. I can\u2019t wait for how he shapes the rest of the new DCEU.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I feel like a kid again, with a towel tied around my neck, and I believe a man can fly.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Superman and allies fight monsters, Lex Luthor, and xenophobia in James Gunn\u2019s triumphant and rousing Superman, rebooting the DC franchise.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[58,1004],"class_list":["post-48555","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-movie-reviews","tag-action","tag-superhero"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48555","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/32"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48555"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48555\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48621,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48555\/revisions\/48621"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48555"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48555"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48555"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}