WB/DC is shooting for the moon with their relaunch of their cinematic universe with the oft-remade Superman. They are under a lot of pressure for this movie to be successful, which is probably why they focused on screening this movie for handpicked partners and influencers, rather than critics.
This movie starts with a fair amount of story catch up, telling us that we’re 3 years into Superman’s time of saving Metropolis and navigating the world of supervillains and misfit metahumans. We enter the story as Clark (David Corenswet) already works at The Daily Planet, is in a relationship with Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan), and already has a rivalry with Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult).
Superman struggles with the balance of when to save people and when diplomacy is more of what the world demands. Public sentiment has also started to turn on the hero. Oh, and there’s a super CG dog too.
This movie, and relaunch, is meant to change the grim perception of the recent cinematic universe and return to the bright and cheery depiction made immediately famous by Christopher Reeve, Richard Donner, and John Williams. This will be a step in the right direction for those who have wanted to revisit the 1978 film. It is a big budget cartoon that feels more like a serialized adventure that desires to leave a big grin on your face. The plot delves into elements that are sure to make children happy as well; with fire-breathing kaijus, Minecraft dimensions, and CG alien babies (merch).
David Corenswet is a worthy Superman. His depiction is of a much weaker hero who is constantly beaten. He feels like the forced underdog because of his immaturity and experience. He’s an affable lead, if not a little over pouty. Rachel Brosnahan is channeling Margot Kidder’s version of the character in every way. Though, she’s plucky enough to make it work. I liked their scenes together, but wish they had more than a couple of short moments to share the screen.
I think these two have such great potential as Lois and Clark. It’s just a shame they’re in a James Gunn written and directed movie. There’s moments of wonder that the movie almost reaches, but it’s such an ugly movie. It doesn’t help that his cinematographer is also the guy behind The Flash. Instead of capturing amazing moments that will live on in superhero movie history, they focus on spinning the camera around constantly and using a fish eye lens for some reason. The CG in the action scenes jumps between solid and looking elastic, and there’s a low-grade colorization to it that makes it hard to look at.
The script is rough and is the worst possible foundation. Sure, the actors elevate the material beyond what it is, but this movie is entirely guilty of telling, not showing. Every time a new character enters a scene, they introduce themselves and provide exposition on what their point in the movie is. These rushed expositions only seem to fill in the blanks to what scenes and transitions the poor editing left out.
And the jokes! This is guilty of every Marvel sin. If a scene is ever nearing a moment of sincerity, don’t worry, a joke will undercut it immediately. It doesn’t help that there are 278 supporting characters in a pretty short movie. This is more Superman and Friends, than it is a foundational movie for the titular hero. The one and only standout from the lot is Mister Terrific, who is there to be snarky and get the coolest action scene (and really only good one) of the movie.
There’s innocence and camp to Superman and those factors are what makes his character stand the test of time. Based on this movie’s vibe, it is captured once again by Corenswet and his “gee golly” demeanor. Add to that, the old stand-by John Williams theme, this will provide a very comic booky feel. Sadly, John Murphy’s score outside of that can’t keep up and doesn’t help add any emotion other than nostalgia.
If you liked Joss Whedon’s 2017 Justice League, you’ll love 2025’s Superman. It’s an adventure that is so jokey and quick, that you’ll never get bored in the slightly over two hour runtime. There’s no story. It’s just a sequence of things happening without cohesion. This ultimately feels like fluff that will be forgotten as every cape flick has in the past six years. I’d be happy to see Corenswet and Brosnahan in their roles again, but hopefully with a better creative team behind them. C-
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