Superman (2025)

Superman is the first film in the James Gunn led DCU. After nearly 2 decades of missteps after missteps, Warner Bros decided to hire James Gunn which might be a smart move based on how good the Peacemaker TV series turned out to be and how I felt after the end of this film. The film decides to start when people are aware of Superman and Lois Lane knows that Clark Kent is Superman. I didn't mind this as I felt that it saved about 40 minutes to an hour of plot which probably wouldn't have helped that much so getting on with it was quite refreshing.

First of all, they cast Superman well. I didn't know who David Corenswet really was before this film but his version of Clark Kent/Superman had the vibes of Christopher Reeve but still felt like it had his stamp on it. I liked how they addressed the thing that always bothered me which is how the resident of Metropolis never worked out that Clark Kent is Superman and in this film they say that Kent is wearing Hypno-Glasses which is a completely stupid idea but at least it addresses it and we will never have to ask that question again. I also thought that Rachel Brosnahan was really good as Lois Lane. She is someone who is smart but never made to come across as smug or arrogant. Brosnahan and Corenswet had good chemistry together which is something that has been lacking from Superman films recently. I also thought that Nicholas Hoult was a good bit of casting as Lex Luthor. I’ll admit that I wasn't keen on his casting when it was first announced but I like the intensity that he gave especially in the latter half of the film. 

This might not be a shocking statement but this is the most Marvel film that DC have ever done. That was something I was expecting but it didn't feel like DC were trying to copy Marvel like they have done to disastrous results in the past. The film had some of the things that James Gunn is known for such as the well choreographed fight scenes and the great songs that they use. I really loved the score and thought that John Murphy and David Fleming did a very good job and made me go out and buy the soundtrack after the film.

This isn't a perfect film, There were two main issues for me. The first is that it felt like they threw too much at the plot. I think if they had gone down the introductory route of explaining who people are and what's going on then it would probably have been a more streamlined plot but they introduced so much that it felt a little bit bloated. It could have been a bigger problem had they given this to someone who isn't James Gunn and managed to make the Guardians of the Galaxy films work. The second issue is that the film takes the view that everyone knows all the characters. I didn't know about Krypto the Dog or the Justice Gang. The only one of the Justice Gang that I was aware of was The Green Lantern and that was it.

Interesting way to bring in super girl. I know we are due to get a Supergirl film in 2026 and so having her appear in the final moments of the film felt like it was a nice teaser but didn't feel out of place in the film.

The film reveals that Lex got a strand of Superman’s hair and that is why he is able to get into Superman’s lair or whatever you want to call it. It would have been nice to have a little flashback even if it only lasted 30 seconds or so. It just seemed to have been thrown into the exposition dump that Nicholas Hoult has to give. A rare Cinematography critique is When we have the scenes set in the parallel world, I found the lighting to be quite bad. It did remind me of alien vs predator requiem. Which is one of the worst lit films I think I have ever seen. It did feel like a bit of a misstep given that the rest of the film is lit perfectly but it was difficult to see what was happening.

Overall I really liked this film. It’s a good start to James Gunn’s vision for the DCU which is what it needed to be. I suppose time will tell whether it was a good idea to start in the middle of a story and not introduce things but as I write this I enjoyed it and hope that Corenswet gets a long run in the role and I am looking forward to what other films in this new DCU bring us. There are two post credit scenes which aren't really worth your time, the first is Superman and Krypto looking at the earth which I am sure I have seen a picture of before and the second is of Superman and Mr. Terrific looking at a building and Superman criticising that Terrific didn't do a terrific job.

Good job James Gunn.