A One Mann’s Movies review of “Superman” (2025).
There seems to be nothing like Superman to set social media on flames: MAGA supporters claiming they are not going to see if because it is “woke” (as if kindness, empathy and compassion were bad things!); comments over Corenswet’s pacifist Superman being a wimp; some sort of ridiculous ‘Snyder vs Gunn’ nonsense; etc etc. So I’m going to chuck all that hot-air aside and just focus on the film.
My worst Spider-Man film was “Spider-Man 3“, primarily because it was too stuffed with adversaries and the plot was all over the place. I had the same fears for this film based on the trailer. I just couldn’t see how all of those diverse characters and events could ever be stuffed into a two-hour film. But stuffed they were, and although the film is a hot-mess, it turned out to be a surprisingly enjoyable hot-mess.
“Superman” Plot:
Superman (David Corenswet) is having a PR nightmare. After deflecting a political invasion of Jarhanpur by a very well-armed Boravia, Superman is being accused of interfering in US foreign policy. Moreover, he has met his match in fighting the incredibly strong “Hammer of Boravia” in the skies over Metropolis. As the film opens, he is lying battered and bleeding in the snow near the Fortress of Solitude. Time for Krypto the rescue dog to arrive!
Certification:
UK: 12A; US: PG-13. (From the BBFC web site: “Moderate violence, threat, injury detail, language.”)
Talent:
Starring: David Corenswet, Nicholas Hoult, Rachel Brosnahan, Bradley Cooper, Angela Sarafyan, María Gabriela de Faría, Sara Sampaio, Wendell Pierce, Neva Howell, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Mikaela Hoover, Skyler Gisondo, Zlatko Buric, Edi Gathegi, Nathan Fillion, Isabela Merced, Milly Alcock, John Cena, Alan Tudyk, Pom Klementieff, Will Reeve.
Directed by: James Gunn.
Written by: James Gunn. (Based on Superman created by Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster.)
Running Time: 2h 9m.
“Superman” Summary:
Positives:
- It’s not another Superman ‘origin’ story.
- It’s a breathless torrent of colourful action sequences, all delivered with verve and good humour.
- The tone is reminiscent of the original Richard Donner films, rather than the dark and brooding recent Zach Snyder versions.
- David Corenswet makes for an excellent Superman, but it is Nicolas Hoult that knocks it out of the park as Lex Luthor.
- The political allusions are well-made.
Negatives:
- It’s not a Superman ‘origin’ story.
- The film is over-stuffed with characters and plot that it comes across as a real mess.
- Elements are overly contrived, without having sufficient back-story
Review of “Superman”:
Not another Superman origin film, thank God, but…
The re-treads of both Superman and Spider-Man have always made my eyes roll. Both “Spider-Man” and “The Amazing Spider-Man” had the same retelling of Spidey and a dying Uncle Ben, yada yada. And similarly, we had the whole Krypton-exploding origins of Superman in “Superman: The Movie” (1978) and Zack Snyder’s “Man of Steel” (2013). Surely, I thought, James Gunn isn’t going to take us there yet again?
Thankfully, no. Gunn makes the wise decision to pitch us straight into the middle of his timeline, where Superman (David Corenswet) is a recognised figure on earth; Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan) is complicit in his identity and regularly receiving the ‘rod of steel’; and where he’s even dog-sitting for Krypto the wonder-dog.
But this is both a blessing and a curse for the film, since we don’t get introduced to this gently. The first screen is awash with text explaining where we are and what’s been going on such that before anything happens I was going “what, wait, what??”. If Gunn was trying to set the frenetic tone of the film from the outset, he succeeded.
All over the place.
The film then proceeds to throw stuff at the screen like some mad toddler is at the controls. We get Luthor diabolically trying to influence the views of the American people against Superman; we get Ultraman battling Superman; we get “The Justice Gang” flying in without warning or introduction; we get some rapidly growing fire-breathing dragon; we get some strange attacking giant-eyeball-alien thing (that Superman isn’t even involved in fighting!); we get a mad foreign dictator waging war; we get multiverse worm-holes; we get a happy-clappy beachside version of Guantanamo Bay; we get an infinite number of monkeys; and on and on and on. It’s quite mind-blowingly mental!
None of this really gets properly explored: it feels like Gunn is trying to force-fit two films into this single two-hour offering. For example, the “Justice Gang” are all fun enough – the finger-giving Green Lantern (Nathan Fillion, sporting a ludicrous haircut); Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced) and the scene-stealing Mr Terrific (Edi Gathegi) – but they are thrown in without any backstory and their character development is superficial to say the least. Worse still, Malik Ali (Dinesh Thyagarajan) gets introduced as almost an afterthought as a Superman ally and “friend”, in a blink-and-you’ll-miss it introduction, and only seems to be in the film for one reason and one reason alone.
But, somehow, it manages to work.
Given that description, you would think I would be reaching for my 1* or 2* logo. But, for some ludicrous reason it just manages to work, in a mindless-summer-blockbuster kind of way: far better, I have to say, than “Jurassic World: Rebirth” did.
Gunn has somehow managed to capture some of the fun of the Richard Donner original film, veering away from the dark and brooding tone of Zach Snyder’s interpretation. Much of this is down to Gunn’s script as well as some excellent casting:
- David Corenswet is perfectly cast as the main man with the only disappointment being that we don’t see enough of his bumbling alter-ego Clark Kent. The opening scene of him self-consciously jostling his way along the sidewalk makes you ache for more of that. The flying sequences with Corenswet are well-done, although the head-mounted camera did hilariously remind me of “Peep Show”!;
- Rachel Brosnahan almost inhabits the spirit of the late Margot Kidder as Lois Lane, adopting the same no-nonsense aggressive reporter attitude. Although, as I said at the opening, I hate ‘repeats’ I feel like it would have been nice to have seen the whole Kent/Superman reveal to their relationship.
- Nicolas Hoult seems to be having a complete blast as Elon M…. sorry…. Lex Luthor in the first of what turns out to be many political allusions scattered through the film. He chews the scenery magnificently in portraying our evil mastermind. It’s not subtle but, again, it’s a superb piece of acting from Hoult which, if the Academy were not snobby about superhero films, should get some awards attention.
- Skyler Gisondo is perfectly cast as photographer Jimmy Olsen who seems to have a strangely magnetic attraction with the ladies. That (conveniently) includes Luthor’s secretary Eve Teschmacher (Sara Sampaio) who is constantly throwing herself at him providing good comedy value.
Elsewhere, there is some quirky casting: Alan Tudyk and Pom Klementieff voice two of the Fortress droids; Bradley Cooper and Angela (“Westworld”) Sarafyan play Superman’s parents; Will Reeve – Christopher’s son – appears as a news reporter; an uncredited John Cena reprises his role from “The Suicide Squad” in a brief cameo and Milly (“House of the Dragon”) Alcock makes a brief, uncredited but memorable appearance as another character, surely one to be revisited down the road by Gunn.
Political allusions.
As well as having the politics of the US manipulated by a billionaire self-promoting techno-crat, the film slips in various other allusions:
- An infinite array of monkeys hammering out the ‘Truth’ in social media propaganda, made me laugh out loud;
- Nay-sayers of the US regime are incarcerated in cells, accessed via a loosely disguised beach-front version of Guantanamo Bay (playing a selection of wonderfully cheesy summer hits);
- The battle between the massively powerful and US-backed Boravia and the poor, defenceless Jarhanpur is certainly reminiscent of events in the Middle East at the moment.
We never actually met POTUS in this film… perhaps that is a treat that Gunn is leaving for a follow-on film!
Woke is as woke does.
As for the “wokeness” that MAGAts have been bleating on about, the Merriam dictionary defines woke as “aware of and actively attentive to important societal facts and issues (especially issues of racial and social justice)”. Superman is deeply concerned about the invasion of a foreign power against innocent individuals; cares enough to rescue an old Asian lady; a young white girl and even a squirrel; loves his dog; and has the emotional intelligence to understand the power he holds and how to carefully use it. If that make him “woke”, then he is woke. As if that was EVER an undesirable state of being!
MAGAts also seem to be concerned that he is not a totally invisible hero, showing fallibility and doubt. I personally think all of this makes Gunn’s superhero one of the most accessible and interesting superhero characters in quite a while. This Superman feels like he *could* be beaten, both physically and emotionally. He is also a pacifist and refuses to deliberately kill, even if they are “bad people”. (Thankfully, Hawkgirl has none of those foibles when she has President Netan… sorry… President Ghurkos (Zlatko Buric) of Boravia in her claws!)
Suitable for the kids?
All kids are obviously different. But I took two of my (pretty robust) grandkids – aged 8 and 10 – and they really enjoyed it. They found a creepy alien in the ‘multiverse’ (or whatever it is) a bit scary. And they didn’t like a sequence involving Russian Roulette, which I can fully understand: even though the BBFC are correct in saying that the scene is “without strong detail” the violence is callous and unpleasant and earns the 12A certificate.
Monkeys
Yes, there are two “monkeys“: a mid-credit one which is little more than an (albeit impressive) still image, destined to be the wallpaper on multiple desktops; and a final ‘funny’ exchange between Superman and Mr Terrific which manages to be almost totally devoid of humour.
Summary Thoughts on “Superman”
It’s a horrible mess of a movie that I really should be slamming. But, amazingly, it did put a stupid grin on my face from its sheer exuberance and sense of fun. So much so, that I might even go and give it a second watch!
Where to Watch it?
Trailer for “Superman”:
The trailer is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RteyP21eb0U.
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