Politics aside, early hate aside, casting drama aside, this Superman 2025 review is as unbiased as it gets. I’m not a James Gunn fanboy, even though I am well aware of his contributions to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I have thoroughly enjoyed his Guardians of the Galaxy movies for their fun tone and clever storytelling.
When the news hit about his big move to the DCEU (well, now DCU), I had mixed feelings. I knew it would change the narrative suddenly. Movies were going to be more entertaining, sure. Will they have more jokes? Good humour? Yes! Definitely! But somewhere, I was reluctant to let go of the contrasting dark tone of the DCEU that was built on some serious filmmaking.
Even though Nolan’s The Dark Knight trilogy was not part of it, the tone was set, and we enjoyed them more because of how wild the acting, the drama, and how sombre the music was. The fact that they let you feel emotions, the trauma, the choices, going through the head of the actors was something that I didn’t want to suddenly disappear. It made us feel, really feel something.
The new Suicide Squad movie was definitely a big improvement over the 2016 debacle, sure. But it ended up being forgettable. Now that’s the biggest concern that I have—of any movie becoming forgettable. Well, now that I press hard, all I can distinctly remember from it is how well King Shark was done. How the character just ripped people apart. Even though the movie had an ensemble of amazing comic book heroes, I only remember one that was done well.
The Superman of the Superman 2025
Superman, a far mammoth project, had more on the line. Not only was it already pitted against some solid performances done by the Sups in the past, but it was also battling to revive the already dead universe. The big question it carried was: will this Superman be strong enough to carry it all on his shoulders? Unfortunately, watching this version gives you mixed emotions. While you are happy to see Superman take flight again, with a lot of things kept comic book accurate, there are still things that aren’t so, for the sake of storytelling.
While the movie awkwardly starts with a battered Superman played by the handsome David Corenswet, Gunn explores storytelling creatively with a title sequence and introduces the thing that has always worked for him in all the movies he has made so far—the cuteness factor. Enter Krypto, a terrier mutt who comes as a saviour to an already lost hero. Watching your childhood hero already in pain before the movie starts is quite unsettling, even though it was bound to get justified towards the end with the possible Bizarro storyline.
However, you’d think that the nightmare would stop somewhere, where you see Superman manning up to become ‘The Superman’ of your childhood. Someone whom we looked up to, and marvelled at the things he could do, and what he could achieve. I remember those days when his mere onscreen presence made your heart swell up with pride. It made you jump on your feet, and you’d try to take off whenever you’d get the chance—the flight, the mere flight, the feeling of strong wind hitting your face, ah! It was all left for the imagination, but they showed it and made you experience it, didn’t they? Here, unfortunately, all of it was gone.
Superman’s Legacy – Superman 2025 Review
Suddenly, none of that mattered or was relevant anymore. Gunn’s Superman had too many things on his mind to worry about the most common thing that used to set this very superhero apart from the rest. There has been so much flying in all of this MCU and DCEU that he believes it barely matters now at this point. The fact that this character was and is the OG, the very reason everything started in the first place, was forgotten too quickly.
It felt as if Sups had been supermanning for so long that he’d become irrelevant. Honestly, he was never like any other superhero, like Star-Lord or Deadshot—he was far above them. He was the goddamn Superman, right? If only the script had written him with the kind of prowess that makes a superhero matter so much, it gives you butterflies in your tummy by their mere onscreen presence.
To make Superman vulnerable, James Gunn portrays him as so pathetic and weak that you realise he has been outclassed by almost every metahuman there is. You will see him get beaten on so many occasions that it becomes quite frustrating, making you want to question: was he really the same Superman we looked up to? Wasn’t he supposed to be a superhero? All these questions come to you now, when people would compare fights across universes, like what if Hulk and Superman fought? Well, this Superman looked so weak that he would definitely get his ass kicked.
Lex Luthor – Superman’s Archnemesis
Nicholas Hoult‘s Lex is an apt enemy to an apt superhero. Lex is a complete badass channelled by his hatred so much that he is the cause of most of the narrative in the movie. Superman is played like a puppet by his hands.
The most bizarre thing one might feel is what he is doing with the controls. It’s almost as if he’s a coach asking his players to execute his commands instead of taking the remote in his hand and playing it himself. The dependency makes you wonder if defeating him was so easy that any other Superman would have been smart enough to figure out from where the commands were being meted out.
There’s more in this Superman 2025 review.
Comic Book Accurate?
Unlike other versions, this Lex keeps on winning until there comes a point where he gets outsmarted by a dog. When Krypto takes away those cameras—er, the reins of control—from Lex’s hands, it feels as if it was so simple, why couldn’t Superman use his laser eyes instead to get that done?
When the Lex of the comics or the DCAU, who likes working alone, gets replaced by a Lex who is completely dependent on his team to get things done without any backup plan, things do feel a bit off. Generally, Lex is the smartest person anywhere, yet he completely ignores Eve Teschmacher, who is trading secrets with Jimmy Olsen, who, by the way, is suddenly portrayed as being so hot that girls can’t get over. Well, that’s not comic book accurate exactly.
The quick rundown in the end suddenly makes you feel that Luthor was so unprepared and predictable that it was just sad. Some way to make a fool out of an absolute star of a villain!
Superman 2025 Review The Parent Angle
Well, the new Superman movie is completely built on the plot—They said, they said. The whole sacrificial, sacred story of Jor-El and Lara from Krypton, their poignant decision to save their child, gets overwritten by the most implausible and reckless interpretation. While at some point you hope that, by the end, the creators will try to right the wrong, to your surprise, nothing of that sort happens. They’re still portrayed as the dead antagonists of the movie, parents who supposedly want their child to kill everyone on their planet and rule over them. Like, what kind of parents want their child to do that?
The key plot point remains that their saying something “so mean” has affected how people view Kal-El, and now Lex has found a reason to get rid of him for good. The emotional trauma that Sups undergoes because of the reason he was sent to Earth is the real crisis, so tragic that it begins to affect his relationship with the world just as much as it does his love life. I’m coming to Lois Lane in a second.
Towards the end, it becomes more about the realisation that Superman truly accepts his Earth parents as his only parents. His choice to move on and focus on what they think of him, redefining his actual purpose, completely erases everything Jor-El and Lara went through on Krypton. Why did Bradley Cooper play Jor-El again? Seriously, anyone could have played that character if it was going to be forgotten just like that.
Lois and Clark
Rachel Brosnahan definitely looks the part. She is smart, witty and gorgeous. While the new Lois and Clark are an absolute match here, the focus has mostly been on how they are supposed to behave in this new universe. Well, they fight like real couples. They have disagreements, Lois has valid questions which every person should be asking Superman, and it’s pissing our hero off. The guy who didn’t answer to anyone has to answer to the love of his life. The fight is real, but do you feel their love to be real?
Only here, you don’t exactly feel the right chemistry that you were so fond of. It was that one thing about these two amazing characters. Maybe it has something to do with the acting, because it could have been a little bit more dramatic if they were so much in love. Even though both of them were well-cast, you feel something off even in those prolonged kisses.
Other Metahumans
Other Metahumans depicted in the movie are a joke. Not only were their roles made funny, but they were treated unfairly. Nathan Fillion, even though he gets his place in the DCU, is moulded as a comic Green Lantern Guy Gardner who feels a bit off to be taken seriously at all. Was Guy supposed to be funny? These side heroes have been kept so detached from their work they seem to be doing a forced 9 to 5.
Except for maybe Mr. Terrific, who has been done absolute justice. He gets his own five minutes of fame, where he gets to beat a lot of people in the same fashion that Gunn is often known for—kind of reminds you of Yondu and his arrow that does the cool killing for him.
The Vibes of the New Superman Movie
Getting out of the theatre, you realise you have watched maybe yet another Marvel movie. It’s entertaining, sure, it’s humorous as well, but it’s a very different Superman movie you’re used to watching. It’s some superhero, alright, who is having a mid-life crisis, is getting his ass constantly kicked, is escaping close calls, is trying to save even a squirrel, is still destroying buildings (no one’s complaining now), is weaker than many other metahumans, but is he really the Superman? Well, I will leave that one for the big debate.
The whole movie is screaming a weird Gen-Z vibe, as if it is only made for the younger masses today. People are on social media, they take selfies, talk like Gen-Zs, move like them, vibe like them, and have their modern sense of fashion. I don’t know if it is the James Gunn effect or it’s his attempt to make his humour still relevant for today’s times.
Conclusion for the Superman 2025 Review
Above all, this Superman 2025 review wouldn’t be complete without mentioning that it makes you feel as if Krypto is the real hero and not Superman. He saved the movie not only by being absolutely cute, behaving like an actual dog, and sticking more to his characteristics than Superman himself. Of course, if we were to ignore some noticeable unnatural CGI jumps, Krypto was an absolute hoot.
One thing that was mighty off was the focus. The movie felt sprinting towards chaos and confusion. The focus we were all fond of had suddenly disappeared.
To be honest, it felt like another Marvel movie with all the elements that a Marvel movie generally has. With the onset of directors like James Gunn, that visible line of distinction has today completely diminished.
Superman
Pros
- Fun and Entertaining
- Somewhat Comic book accurate
- Introduction to possible future storylines
Cons
- Superman felt too vulnerable
- Changes the OG Jor-El and Lara story
- Too much Gen-Z vibes
