Superman (2025)

You’d think it would be easier than ever to make a version of Superman that would surpass, or at the very least equal, Richard Donner’s 1978 film. This has more to do with advancements in technology and special effects; it stands to reason that new generations of filmmakers and actors should be able to bring something worthwhile to the table. Alas, this new 2025 film proves that Donner’s film will – for the time being, at least – remain the gold standard. Superman, a DC Comics film written and directed by Marvel defector James Gunn, has the comic book element of the story down pat, but it has none of the heart. Similarly to Gunn’s own Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy (minus the ‘80s-style cheesiness, thank God), it’s essentially a series of glorious IMAX 3D battle scenes punctuated by a litany of jokes and half-hearted political allusions.

I can’t say I hated it, as I did Zack Snyder’s brooding, dour, ridiculous Man of Steel. But I’d also be lying if I said I felt much of anything for it; I sat through it in a numb indifference, waiting in vain for something, anything, to ignite within me. I admit, the endlessly proliferating comic book films of the last decade and a half have long since killed my appetite for them. That doesn’t mean I’ve lost the ability to enjoy them altogether. They just have to be good. It really is that simple for me. Superman doesn’t have that extra something special, that secret ingredient, that magic touch. It certainly doesn’t have what made Donner’s film such an exciting, fun, and overall wonderful experience, even with the less advanced special effects. For the most part, it just goes through the motions.

Although just about all of us know the title character’s backstory by heart, that doesn’t mean audiences should be deprived of it. Gunn apparently disagrees, since all the important details – the explosion of his home planet Krypton, the fact that he was sent to Earth by his parents and subsequently raised in Kansas as Clark Kent, moving to Metropolis, becoming a newspaper reporter, and meeting fellow reporter Lois Lane – are all summarized in brief onscreen paragraphs just as the film opens. We’re also spared an introduction to Lex Luthor. Indeed, his first scene shows him already committing evil deeds in secret while publicly prospering as a tech billionaire with ties to the American government. And we see that Lois already knows that Clark and Superman are one and the same, and that they’re in a somewhat strained relationship.

In what was likely an attempt to comment on America’s current political climate, the plot involves the people of the world turning their backs on Superman (David Corenswet). In part, it’s because he intervened on behalf of a fictional country when it was invaded by a hostile neighboring country, also fictional. Mostly, it’s because of a conspiracy theory, perpetuated by Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult), claiming Superman came to Earth not to serve humanity but replace it with a master race of physically superior beings like himself. I won’t reveal how the conspiracy theory started. I will say that Luthor’s hatred of Superman has grown into a dangerous pathological obsession that takes xenophobia to a frightening new level. If Superman is to escape custody from a too difficult to explain multiverse prison, he’ll need the help of resourceful Daily Planet reporter Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan) and the superpowers of the Justice Gang. This group includes Nathan Fillion’s incarnation of the Green Lantern, which almost made me forgive Ryan Reynolds’ 2011 incarnation.

When it comes to the cast and their characterizations, it’s a mixed bag. I did like Hoult’s take on Lex Luthor, a combination of megalomania, insecurity, and psychopathy. Corenswet was fine as Superman, but I didn’t once believe him as Clark Kent; he wears the trademark dress shirt, tie, and glasses, but they’re uncharacteristically crumpled, and he conveys little of Superman’s slightly clumsy but kind and mild-mannered alter ego. Thankfully, this side of him is limited to two small scenes. I also couldn’t reconcile the personality of Clark Kent with the lifestyle of his adoptive Earth parents Jonathan and Martha Kent (Pruitt Taylor Vince and Neva Howell). Though loving, they’re also just one step above country bumpkins, living on a rural rundown farm and speaking with heavy Kansas-farmer drawls. There’s just no way that Clark, so clean-cut and articulate, could have been reared by these two.

Of all the new additions to the film, my least favorite was Superman’s dog Krypto, a CG pure-white mutt with a red cape and a gold S insignia on his collar (which, incidentally, barely resembles an S, and this is equally true of the insignias on Superman’s suit). If the original comics provided an explanation for why a dog has Kryptonian superpowers or how he came to be owned by Superman, Gunn didn’t see fit to include it in his film. The dog is just there – and is, frankly, too rambunctious and destructive to be considered lovable. Ultimately, the only emotional stimulus Superman has to offer is a cameo by ABC reporter Will Reeve, the late Christopher Reeve’s son. Even then, the film’s pre-release hype told us to expect it. You’ll be far more surprised by another cameo appearance. No, I won’t say who makes it. And no, I won’t say what character this person plays. You’ll know when you see it. Ironically, that’s something I don’t recommend you do.