Movie Review: Superman (2025)

Superman (2025)

Mmm, yeah. This review was in the editing pile for forever because I just don't know how to talk about the brand-new 'DCU / DC Universe'. Not to be confused with Zack Snyder's 'DCEU / DC Extended Universe'. Even though some characters/actors and events may be ported over, it's mostly a brand-new reboot. 

It's a bit silly, honestly. I really do feel a bad taste from how poorly the DCEU has been handled in general, and while I appreciate the fresh start, I can go a bit on a rant of how reboots should be. 

And 2025's Superman is the Man of Steel's first solo movie in more than a decade after the, well, Man of Steel in 2013. And David Corenswet's Superman is... a remarkably different take from Henry Cavill's. For one, he's got the outside-underwear back! But for another... this movie isn't so much just a Superman movie, but rather a soft 'Justice League' pilot episode. 

Now, do I like this movie as a DC fan, who grew up on Silver Age and 90's comics, on the DC Animated Universe with Justice League, Justice League Unlimited and Superman The Animated Series? Absolutely. The Justice 'Gang' was great, Guy Gardner was great, Mr. Terrific was terrific, I thought that the secondary heroes didn't overstay their welcome. Krypto was fun. I laughed out loud at the Supergirl cameo at the end. 

As a reboot and reintroduction of a franchise? I felt like the movie probably should've focused really hard on Superman himself, for the simple nature that, well, it is a reboot. We are trying to get to know this version of the iconic Man of Steel. 

And the parts that are Superman-centric were great as well. Most importantly, we've got the supporting cast back! Lois is there as Clark's secret-keeper and love interest, of course, but we've got Jimmy Olsen being a dork (and getting a fun subplot with Luthor's girlfriend Eve), and Ma and Pa Kent showing up for a short but memorable scene, giving their son some very human wisdom. The Kryptonian parents also show up as traditional holograms and I'll talk about the big twist a bit later, but I've always been of the opinion that Superman is relatable always because he was raised by some farmers on Kansas, America, Earth... and never because of the manifest destiny given by the Kryptonians. So I'm happy about the focus that this movie goes to. 

Lex Luthor is also excellently portrayed as a smart, intelligent, super-insane man without resorting to being a nonsensical giggling manchild. He is suave, he is calculated, he is vindictive... but the neuroses and cruelty doesn't actually appear until he gets pushed. I feel like this is particularly well-shown when he actually threatens to kill Clark Kent in front of Superman. So hyperfocused is he in hurting Superman, his rival, that he doesn't care or is willing to entertain the idea that Superman is Clark Kent. 

Luthor's plan with his insanely powerful and useful portal device ends up being used to service him creating a private prison for all the people who did petty slights against him. He created a clone of Superman, Bizarro Ultraman, and instead of using it as his own personal showcase of a human eraching the level of a 'supposed god', Ultraman instead dresses up in Hammer of Barovia armour and beats up Superman to discredit him. Again, that massive flaw of being so utterly petty is what Luthor is all about. So smart, but so short-sighted. 

Krypto... Krypto is adorable. Krypto acts like an actual dog, but I do admit that he is in the movie for perhaps a bit too much of the screentime; again, for a reboot and reintroduction. I cannot argue with Superman finally going full rage mode when Krypto was kidnapped, though. I must say I am happy they didn't kill the dog in this movie. 

The political storylines... it's serviceable. It's hard to discuss it without bringing up actual real-life conflicts, and I'm not really in the mood to do that here, but it does feel like an old-school Superman plot. At least the evil president Ghurkos was actually involved in Luthor's plans, which I appreciate. 

The Justice Gang is there to provide some contrast as other heroes on Earth, which... again, feels a bit too crowded in the movie. Guy Gardner's Green Lantern is perfect casting, and Hawkgirl is a bit of a flat angry mace-to-the-face superhero, but I appreciate the execution. Mr. Terrific is the show-stealer, being essentially a 'good' version of Luthor  and receiving an amazing solo action scene when he goes to save Superman with Lois. 

There's also the subplot about public opinion against Superman -- a plotline that would be much more poignant without the one glaringly stupid part of the movie, the monkeys-on-typewriters. It would be much more thematic, even if it is simple, if it truly is just public opinion swaying back and forth. Luthor hacks into the Fortress of Solitude, and decrypts the Kryptonian message from Superman's parents. In a new for the character's history (Elseworlds incarnations notwithstanding), turns out that Jor-El and Lara actually sent Superman to Earth to conquer and rule, not to protect. That's a twist all right, and Superman falls into a bit of a despair after this. Throw in the dognapping incident, and Superman ends up being vulnerable and captured by Luthor. 

That is an interesting take on the character, highlighting his emotional insecurities and a nice way to get a loved one in distress without subejcting poor Lois to being kidnapped. I also like the argument that Superman has with Lois during their interview, which is an excellent distillation of Superman. He will never let his mask drop in public, not when he's inspirational. He's secure that interfering in global politics to save lives is the right thing to do, consequences be damned. But when Lois pokes holes and prods his story, he actually shows off that beneath it all is a farmboy from Kansas who really is just trying to do his best. I like that. 

I'm not really recapping the movie particularly well, but suffice to say that the movie eventually goes into a series of action scenes. Superman convinces another captive metahuman, Metamorpho (I like him! He also came out of nowhere in the movie!) and inspires him to let him escape. Lois and Mr. Terrific rescue Superman, and they rescue Metamorpho and Krypto. There's some action scenes as theey fly through some CGI environments and avoid a black hole, and return to the real world. Superman also gets back his grove from Lois and his parents. 

The Justice Gang and Metamorpho go off to deal with the Barovia/Jarhanpur crisis, with some images of kids and whatnot being inspired by Superman. Superman himself, meanwhile, deals with Luthor's portal malfunctioning and creating a rift that splits the city in half. In the middle of this huge world-ending crisis, Superman fights and defeats Luthor's two metahuman goons, the Engineer and Ultraman. It's all right. I felt like there could've been more about Superman and Ultraman, and whether this is just Ultraman being saved for a sequel where he returns mutated as Bizarro or not, I still feel like the final moments could have been a bit more drawn-out, particularly with Superman being on a full 'no-killing' rule in this incarnation and being angry when the Justice Gang killed the random kaiju in the middle of the movie. 

Luthor and Superman's confrontation is fun, even if the ending is predictable with the Daily Bugle gang exposing Luthor's schemes to the public. It's more of a clash of words and ideology anyway, with Superman, as with all of his best-written incarnations, simply refusing to play into Luthor's 'who is better, me or you' game. 

The movie handles Superman and his supporting cast well, I must say. Having grown up with TAS and a lot of the '90's-00's era comics, this is the exact take of Superman I want. And I even really like the 'wider universe' stuff introduced here, like Guy Gardner, Mr. Terrific, Hawkgirl, Metamorpho and Ultraman. It's just...  it's just a bit too much in a movie that already has to do a lot. In a vaccuum it's all right for a movie to do a lot. James Gunn made his career with movies that do too much but still manage to work regardless. But outside the vacuum, with the pedigree that Superman and a full DC universe reboot brings... it's a bit unfortunate that yes, the movie does feel a bit too overstuffed for its own good.