Superman (2025)

The reason I waited this long to watch was that the friend I wanted to accompany was busy. It was no longer in a nearby theater, so we streamed it. On the plus side, that let us pause as needed during the 129 minutes. I wasn't entirely sure we'd like it anyway; its reception has been mostly positive, but I knew of some complaints.

Little did I suspect that the previews starting with a badly wounded Superman (David Corenswet) reflected the actual start of the movie, in medias res. Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult) has quite a few minions in play, including engineers and, well, the Engineer (María Gabriela de Faría), whose bodily nanomachines allow versatile abilities. Behind the scenes, Lex has been fomenting a war between two fictitious nations -- the invasive Boravia, led by Vasil Ghurko (Zlatko Burić), and poor Jarhanpur -- both to enrich himself selling weapons and to lure the Last Son of Krypton into making controversial interventions. But the general public doesn't turn against Earth's mightiest hero until Lex's discovery of a shocking message from the Kryptonian parents (Bradley Cooper and Angela Sarafyan)....

That points to one problem some viewers have with the movie. In prior outings, Jor-El and Lara Lor-Van have always been honorable, perhaps even the greatest on Krypton, but now they're more like the Viltrumites from Invincible. I myself am OK with the writers trying a whole new obstacle for Superman. I'm more concerned that nearly every character just assumes he's taken his long-dead folks' instructions to heart. And that the terrestrial translators of an extinct alien language got it right, tho Supes doesn't deny it. At least neither of his adoptive parents (Pruitt Taylor Vince and Neva Howell) displays questionable ethical priorities. Not that they get much screentime at all. And why is their accent so different from Clark's?

For that matter, we hardly get to see Clark Kent as such. Even when he's not in the caped costume, he tends to have his glasses off, being alone with a savvy Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan). Their relationship is a bit rocky at the moment, particularly because she sees more nuance to the political situation and deems him dangerously unprofessional by reporter standards.

Yes, this is a more mature Superman story than usual. In addition to the grown-up talk above, there's some bloodshed, gloom, and an uncharacteristic amount of PG-13 swearing. I almost called that last detail surprising, but hey, James Gunn was directing.

No, Boravia and Jarhanpur do not stand in for Israel and Palestine; the script predates the current war. I don't know whether Ghurko was modeled on Putin at all, but Jarhanpur resembles India more than Ukraine, despite other sources placing it in Eastern Europe.

If you're looking for more in the way of light-hearted fun, I suggest turning your attention to the other superheroes herein. A cute if mischievous Krypto may hog the attention in ads, but he's not the coolest or the funniest. The fledgling Justice Gang -- a name favored only by its leader, a deliberately obnoxious Green Lantern (Nathan Fillion), tho nobody offers an alternative -- often steps in when Superman can't handle everything. Hawkgirl (Isabel Merced) adds a little color and estrogen, but the real breakout star is Mr. Terrific (Edi Gathegi), kicking far more butt than he ever did on Arrow.

Best performance? Possibly Hoult. He really sells the perpetually annoyed, arrogant, cold-hearted genius. That said, for a guy who plans far ahead, he hasn't gotten any better at picking confidants who are neither ditzy nor disloyal, as evidenced by girlfriend Eve (Sara Sampaio) cheating on him with none other than inexplicably popular Kent/Lois coworker Jimmy Olsen (Skyler Gisondo). I also have to wonder about most of Lex's other regular-seeming people. Tony Stark personally bothered a bunch of Mysterio's allies; what's these jerks' excuse for endangering the world? (I'll stop naming names so I won't be here all night.)

On balance, this may just be my favorite Superman movie. Certainly since Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut. It's jam-packed with interesting elements, some of which I might enjoy better on a second viewing someday. Sure, it's not consistently smart, but when was that ever an option?