In Review: Superman (2025)

 The newest Superman film is what punk rock should be. James Gunn did an amazing job of capturing the essence of Superman with his trademark style. The new film comes almost as a throw back to the Christopher Reeves films. It skips the origin story that we all know in favor of giving us a new adventure. 

The plot (no spoilers) is that Lex Luthor wants to kill Superman. He is not rounding up kryptonite. Instead, he is digging for dirt on the Man of Steel. Superman is invulnerable to bullets, but social media is a monster that can hurt even him. After stopping a war, Superman is catching heat for interfering in foreign politics. And Luthor makes it much worse when he is able to reveal something that even Superman did not know about his past. Now Lex has hit at Superman’s good name and Clark Kent’s ideals. But it is not brute force that wins the day. Superman has allies that want to help, and his willingness to save others leads to them being willing to stand with him.

One of the things that made the Guardians of the Galaxy films so great was that they had cartoony fun, but hammered in the deep emotions. Superman does not take itself too seriously, leaning into things that might otherwise seem less serious. This Superman spends his fights trying to get squirrels and dogs out of the way of giant monsters and says corny lines. He also has to reconcile who he thinks he is supposed to be with who others expect him to be and feels it keenly when others are hurt. The film realizes that the heart of a good Superman story is not him punching his problems. Instead, it is about someone with ultimate power making the decision to do the right thing even when they do not have to.

Superman opens with the hero recovering from a fight before going off again. It keeps up this great energy through out the film, never really slowing down. It is not action, action, action, but it keeps each scene happening at a steady pace whether it is for a bit of humor or to have emotional dialogue. Time is not wasted to pad things out.

David Corenswet was a great casting for the titular hero. He has the right kind of handsome to pull shining light that is Superman and the humble everyman that is Clark Kent. He brings a great deal of warmth to the role. His Superman is earnest, hopeful, and a bit goofy in the way only someone that is not trying to be anyone other than themself can be. He is inspired to do good and believes that everyone can do the right thing given a chance. He makes you believe that the real punk rock is being positive in a world that is shouting everything is negative.

The Justice Gang (Mr. Terrific, Guy Gardner, and Hawkgirl) bring additional heroes into the film without making it come off as an ensemble. Mr. Terrific is the breakout of the three. Probably the least well known, in keeping with Gunn’s trend, he brings scientific expertise and a bit of buttkicking to the film. Indeed, he gets one of the best action sequences in the film set to a musical beat. 

One of the only things that I did not care for was a “surprise” villain. If you are familiar with Superman, it probably won’t be a surprise as soon as you hear the name. Even if you aren’t, a savvy person could probably still guess. So nothing terrible. More than that, I think they missed a great opportunity to introduce a new character that would have kept better with the film’s theme. But I’ll leave it at that to not spoil things for anyone that it will be a surprise for.

It features a mid-credits and post credits scene. The mid-credits one is just a sweet moment. The post credits is a funny little bit. There is no grand reveal of the next film. Just a little humor.

I highly recommend this film if you want something fun and inspiring. Superman is a punk rocker, yes he is. And I am inspired to be punk rocker, yes I am.