Superman (2025) is without a doubt the best Superman movie since Superman III. The tone, like Superman III and Batman Forever and the Tim Story Fantastic Four movies and Thor Ragnarok and The Flash, is action-comedy. It is also a live action cartoon. Not a live action version of Superman The Animated Series to be clear, but a live action Saturday morning cartoon never the less. It has loads of references and call backs to the long comic book history of not just Superman, but DC in general. And like Superman III, there is even a scene where David Corenswet fights himself.
The film opens, very comic book like, with text narration setting the stage. Unfortunately we do not see the epic battle the narration describes as the story opens on the aftermath of Superman's first lost fight. This makes the opening of the movie seem almost like the 2nd or 3rd chapter of a 1940s serial. Some more casual viewers may mistake this movie to be a sequel to a Superman movie that does not exist. The plot deals with the consequences of Superman's actions of preventing a war between two small third world countries, giving Lex Luthor the window of opportunity to manipulate things so that he can kill Superman.
Corenswet, as Superman and Clark Kent, gives a good performance, keeping the character in the light mode of both Christopher Reeve and Dean Cain. Some of his mannerisms and facial expressions reminded me of Cain specifically. My two biggest complaints are that at times he can seem a little whiney, and I really wish the costume didn't look so "low budget".
Rachel Brosnahan's take on Lois Lane was excellent. She may be one of the best silver screen Loises yet. Her performance also slightly reminded me of Lois & Clark's Teri Hatcher. Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor, on the other hand, did not echo John Shea or Gene Hackman, but rather definitely seemed like a homage to Smallville's Michael Rosenbaum.
Many other characters from the comics and Reeve movies are represented. Just a few worth noting are Jimmy Olsen, played by Skyler Gisando, is probably the character's best live action interpretation since the 1950s TV series. We get a very new and unique twist on the character of Eve Tessmacher, played by Sara Sampaio. Mikaela Hoover's Cat Grant, on the other hand, is there just to be some eye candy. There is a fledgling Justice League made up of Guy Gardner, Hawkgirl, Mr Terrific, and later Metamorpho, whose headquarters is the Hall of Justice from from the classic Superfriends cartoons. Isabela Merced's Hawkgirl could become the breakout character in future movies. There is a unique spin on Ma and Pa Kent, who are portrayed for the first time as deep Southerners, and there is an addition to Jor-El and Lara that is similar to the recent trend of giving Thomas Wayne a dark side. And of course there is Krypto, who nearly steals the show, although he doesn't get as much screen time as the trailers suggest.
The film is loaded with in-jokes, comedy, action, and an updated version of the classic John Williams theme. One of the in-jokes is a team of monkeys (yes, real monkeys) employed by Luthor to make certain things trend on the internet. Clearly a jab at the Snyder cult.
The action scenes in most of the recent DC superhero movies are jarring because it looks like it switches from a movie to a CGI video game. I have to congratulate this movie's CGI department because the CGI flows more naturally than the other DC movies, and I didn't think "oh, now it's all CGI".
Last minute concerns that the move would be full of woke sermonizing like the Greg Berlanti CW DC TV shows, are unfounded. Director James Gunn's last minute claims that the film is political is really aimed at the two fictional small third world countries rather than anything about American politics.
The end of movie cameo by Supergirl (Milly Alcock) portrays her as a intergalactic party girl who goes to planets with red suns so she can get drunk. Makes me wonder what her solo (probably R-rated) movie will be like. Gunn should title it Supergirl Gone Wild.
All in all, this was a good movie that I wouldn't mind repeated viewings. It's not the unquestioned classic that the 1978 movie was, and I'm not sure if the 2025 version will stand the test of time, but for now it is a very fun, entertaining Summer popcorn movie.
