Superman (2025) Review

”You have a dog?”

THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

Everyone knows that starting from scratch for a beloved character is hard because you still want it to relate to each generation before & after. Writer/Director James Gunn was aware of this and successfully delivered with his own adaptation of Superman.


PLOT


The 2025 film that kickstarts the first chapter of the new shared universe of DC Universe dubbed ‘Gods and Monsters’, follows Kal El/Clark Kent protecting Earth from great evil for the past three years, believing he was destined to do good; At the same time, he keeps his cover working at the Daily Planet. Although he has protecting the foreign country Jarhanpur from being invaded by the opposing Boravia, many question his actions. The story’s present shows him suffer from his first defeat at the hands of the Hammer of Boravia, who is in fact his doppelgänger Ultraman, manufactured by billionaire Lex Luthor of Luthor Corp. He does quickly recover at the Fortress of Solitude when exposed to concentrated solar radiation and gives a better fight to the Hammer. By night, Clark encourages his girlfriend, fellow reporter Lois Lane to interview him as Superman but it leads to an argument of the legal & ethical implications that comes from confronting Boravia. The following day, Luthor infiltrates the Fortress with Ultraman and Angela Spica/The Engineer who has a nanotech infused body. There, they overpower Superman’s personal robots guarding the hideout and capture the super-powered dog Krypto. They also recover a message left from Kal’s biological parents Jor & Lara (Bradley Cooper & Angela Sarafyan). As a distraction, Luthor also sends a Kaiju to attack Metropolis. Superman is able to defeat it with the assist of other heroes sponsored by Maxwell Lord of Lord Tech Industries (Sean Gunn). The team includes: Superintelligent inventor Michael Holt/Mister Terrific, winged Thanagarian Kendra Saunders/Hawkgirl and Guy Gardner of the Green Lantern Corps who dubs their team the ‘Justice Gang’. Shortly after defeating the monster does Luthor go public with the message and based on the study of skilled linguists, the message translated he was meant to rule earth instead of protect it. This leaves Kal in shock because the message was damaged when he crash-landed. Realizing Luthor had to have taken the message from the Fortress, he would only be furthermore infuriated that Krypto and when confronting his rival, it would only worsen his image. Needing to be the bigger person, he chooses to surrender hoping find the dog and he tells Lois of his intent. The day after, he is taken to a pocket dimension prison where Luthor holds the dog and other enemies of his. He gets put in a cell next to the metahuman Rex Mason/Element Man, who can transmute elements in his body. Luthor pairs the two in the same cell, forcing the latter to summon the former’s weakness from his hand, Kryptonite, for the sake of the safety of his mutant son Joey. When questioning Superman of his origins, he psychotically threatens one of his supporters, cart vendor Malik Ali (Dinesh Thygarajan), to get answers only to kill him via Russian Roulette and threatening to kill more people he cares about. Once leaving, Rex would confess being so horrified that he would choose helping Superman escape in exchange of saving his son. With the help of Mr. Terrific tracking him down, Lois is able to find the pocket dimension portal. Luckily, Terrific keeps it open long enough for Superman & Rex to escape with Krypto & Joey before it collapses. Lois then takes Clark to his childhood home in Smallville, where he would recover from Kryptonite poisoning overnight. When Lex goes ballistic, he takes it out on his girlfriend Eve Tessmacher (Sara Sampaio), who then responds by sending proof to reporter Jimmy Olsen that he is aiding Boravia’s President Vasil Ghurkos (Zlatko Burić) in exchange for half of Jarhanpur. Wanting to lure Superman back, he opens an unstable portal of the pocket universe that starts ripping Metropolis in half. Waking up recovered, Clark is motivated by his adopted father Jonathan that it’s his own actions that’ll always define him and not what his birth parents told him to do, telling him he’s proud of who he became to be. Upon seeing the news of Jarhanpur being attacked again, Rex goes to help Guy & Hawkgirl neutralize the situation, in which the latter kills the president. Superman meets up with Mr. Terrific in Metropolis to undo Luthor’s rift. He is able to defeat The Engineer by flying her straight into space, forcing her to disengage & plummet upon landing back to Earth. When fighting Ultraman long enough to see him unmasked, he confirms he’s the reason the Fortress was infiltrated in the first place. With Krypto’s help though, he’s able to push him into a black hole before Terrific closes the rift. As it closes, Superman tells Lex he’ll always identify as human because he accepts he’s flawed. Although the latter disagrees, it leads to Krypto subduing and after that happens, the Daily Planet goes public with Lex’s intentions with Boravia, causing him to be arrested and clear Superman’s name. With everyone including Eve being freed from pocket universe, Lois reunites with Kal and confesses she loves him as much as he loves her. When recovering at the Fortress, his cousin Kara Zor El (Milly Alcock) returns to pick up Krypto. The film ends with Superman being comforted by the robots who play footage of his childhood.


THOUGHTS


The pressure was on for the DC Universe to have a cinematic restart when it wasn’t having a better track record Warner Bros. was hoping for. All we had to do in advance was trust Gunn since The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker (starring John Cena who hilariously cameoed here criticizing the protagonist's actions) raised the bar in how creative comic book adaptations can be. He uses that level and successfully applies it into Superman, which would in turn exceed my expectations. Like any modern blockbuster, you know what you’re in for when it comes to unprecedented passion. The visual effects done to see how everyone’s powers work is amazing, whereas we won’t stop pointing out how adorable Krypto is. And then I couldn’t stop digesting how surreal it was to realize how authentic the costume and makeup is you’d assume they’re pulled from the pages. All of these elements do make each fight scene well edited in the process. Every time I heard the score composed by John Murphy & David Fleming, I felt rocked to the core on how fantastic it all sounded from start to finish. The big question I had going into this reboot was how different is this gonna be from past iterations. While one thing can be how everyone already exists and we don’t have to for an origin story to explore them, which can be how most of the MCU played out, the true difference was its heart. There was a big emphasis on it this time because I got put to tears over seeing Jarhanpur raise their flag calling for Superman. I got extremely emotional at that moment because it was the loudest example on how this character has been the embodiment of hope. David Corenswet ultimately became a great choice to play the man of steel because everytime he was losing his patience and overwhelmed with responsibilities, he still manages to do the right thing which is the whole point of this movie. He was stunned that his birth parents sent him for dark purposes, but the fact he was raised by good people proved he doesn’t have to follow any footstep but his own. Hell, seeing how his flag inspires the Justice Gang take charge proves how he sets the bar in what a hero should be, constantly selfless. He further proved his selflessness by making an article on Malik, calling him Metropolis’ true hero for sharing the same mindset. And when we get to his speech on how human he is, we believe him after everything we've seen him do and feel throughout the runtime. Sadly, it didn't convince one guy. In a certain case of how there's a high bar in casting Superman, the same will remain and Lex Luthor and boy did Nicholas Hoult deliver and then some. This is the most diabolical hater you will ever see in cinema history because every action from hating on Krypto, to shooting poor Malik, making an obedient clone out of Ultraman that Corenswet also plays impressively, or being responsible for a rift and getting involved in a civil war for financial gain just to get to Superman proves how psychotic he is and he doesn't exactly hide it the way he thinks he does. He says he is envious on how physically powerful he is and knows he'll never be that no matter how rich he gets, thus determined to wipe out him and all metahumans in general. With all this constant animosity, you already know it was gonna blow up in his face. Luckily, Krypto fucks him up in the same vein of what Hulk did to Loki in The Avengers and I found it fitting since we all know Superman will never harm him in an unfair fight. And it even gets funnier he was taken down through selfies. By the time they cross paths again in Man of Tomorrow, all bets could be off should it be fair. It's even a surprise he still had someone loyal enough to fight his battles. Angela Spica was quite interesting as The Engineer because she's ruthless enough to hang in a fight, yet she genuinely believes she's on the right side after all that transpires. Since she survived the climax, you cannot doubt seeing her again in this ongoing franchise. Going back to inspiration, it was always nice to see how Supes affected others positively, the first of which being the love of his life. While you can pick your favorite member of the Daily Planet, whether it is Beck Bennett being the ideal Super-fanboy we identify as Steve Lombard, an observant boss Wendell Pierce made as Perry White, Mikaela Hoover being clever in making Cat Grant sharp witted, or Skyler Gisondo making Jimmy a guy who is desirable without trying to the point he can't stand Eve. In the end, the real standout of the office is always gonna be Lois because Rachel Brosnahan is able to accurately portray her as one who fierce with her words to the point where not even an alien like Superman can prepare, which is what to expect from journalism. Their impromptu interview is a top tier acting lesson because this was also her way to understand his character more than what she already knows, implying she still shared suspicions like everyone else outside work. She still went out of her way trying to save him because enough time had passed for her to know he didn't deserve criticism without all the details in place. The two love each other so much because they're an opposites attract in this case because her skepticism matches his optimism. That only makes them love each other more because they inspire each other to keep being the best versions of themselves. And by the time she met his parents, Jonathan & Martha (Pruitt Taylor Prince & Neva Howell), all the doubt was long gone. Now that they’re on the same page, there’s no doubt they’ll have many stories to share and create together. The best part of Gunn doing comic book adaptations is that he turns the most obscure characters into household names and he continues the trend here with ones I’ve been dying to see on the big screen. You don't even get to see that much of Frank Grillo in his live action debut as Rick Flag Sr., having first appeared in the animated series, Creature Comandos, but he sure made the best of it when he saw him. He's the most neutral of characters because due to his beef with Peacemaker (that is explored in the series' second season), he tries to let the situation play out long enough for him to know what the right choice is. It did bother hm to incarcerate Superman when he deserved to have a chance at sharing his side of the story, but that feeling sure went out the window once Luthor got exposed. It’s kind of ironic that the best movie thus far to star a Green Lantern happens to be a Superman movie and the one in question isn’t even the iconic Hal Jordan, at least not until the series Lanterns that released in 2026. Nathan Fillion felt tailor made as Guy because because he’s authentic in portraying him as arrogant and boastful you can expect from any hero that backs it up. He doesn’t kid about his duty to the GL Corps, but he mostly uses it to avoid legit responsibilities until having no choice. The fact he does cave proves he just cares unconventionally. Hawkgirl is another underrated hero I had waiting to see and Isabela Merced was a great choice for nailing her independence despite being a team player. In one way you can say it was the right thing for her to kill Ghurkos since he wasn’t gonna stop his tyranny and she knew no one else especially Superman would dare doing so. Having said that, I wouldn’t doubt the ramifications that could come after. Mr. Terrific is a character I knew the least yet I was intrigued from the name alone on what he was gonna do. Edi Gathegi was the movie’s scene stealer because his intelligence makes him pragmatic yet focused to do whatever he has to do. Having nanite trackers on his teammates without consent is definitely a paranoid decision I expect from Batman, but at least it was a useful Deus ex machina. While he tells Lois he’s not good with emotions, that doesn’t mean he doesn’t care as he expressed sympathy towards Superman’s bombshell. Apart from being rightfully irritated of Krypto chewing up his expensively useful T-Sphere drones, he was eager for Superman to save Metropolis because he knew only he can do it. Another character I’ve always wanted to see was Element Man or as many fans know him as Metamorpho. Anthony Carrigan was an excellent choice to play him because he’s the introvert of heroes that gets to break out of his shell. Sadly, it took tension for that to happen since Luthor threatened his son’s life for him to do his bidding. Once he saw the consequences of standing by, he knew he had to take action before it could get any worse hence helping from then on. Again with each hero seeing the flag, they all knew it was up to them to be there when others can’t defend themselves. With it all paying off, it’s a given when I say Rex will fit right in as an official Justice Gang teammate and it’ll be an exhilarating roll credits moment should the team be officially be called Justice League or Justice Society. With all these heroes sharing the same goals, I’m sure the expansion that can come after will be as epic as this whole adventure was. I'm going to love this film dearly like I have with past films of the genre, but great stuff like this have questionable moments upon rewatching. For instance, I'm surprised Superman never tried fixing the damaged message in order to find out what his birth parents really wanted him to do. I'm sure he was grateful to know his upbringing but once he made a friend out of Terrific, it puts me in disbelief it doesn't cross his mind. Speaking of which, I can believe he didn't want to overthink of the idea of putting a tracker on Krypto because he was sure he wouldn't lose him, but then I ask how the hell did Terrific pull off putting a tracker on him? His skin is impenetrable without the presence of Kryptonite, so I gotta wonder how he got nanites into him before he ever needed to find him. Another thing, did he even try looking for Luthor while waiting for Superman? If he knew he needed to get to him to stop the rift? It's another surprise he didn't seem to find him. I can excuse Luthor for doubting Eve would ever go against him with her selfies, but then I ask how did he not think of the Raptor Watch program sooner? If he wanted to be the hero people look up to, he should've thought of this way before Superman and general metahumans became a factor. Another thing, why didn't he tell Engineer that Ultraman was Supes' clone? If he wants her to be on the same page, which she surprisingly remained, he should've been upfront about it and not leave her confused on how they would infiltrate the Fortress. Lastly, I feel like Clark should've not been surprised Lois would press him with the tough questions in their impromptu interview because that is exactly how reporters like her question others and he is one himself. Ignore these things however, then you're still in awe in how the rest of this movie is executed. In conclusion, 2025’s Superman is the true renaissance DC fans have been waiting for due to its warmth and inner confidence it shares throughout. If you still love superheroes, see this now.