[Review] Superman (7.5/10)

 

Title - Superman
Production - DC Studios, Warner Bros. The Safran Company
Starring - David Corenswet, Rachel Brosnahan, Nicholas Hoult, Edi Gathegi, Maria Gabriela de Faria, Skylar Gisondo, Nathan Fillion, Isabela Merced, Alan Tudyk, Wendell Pierce, Beck Bennett, Sara Sampaio, Mikaela Hoover, Bradley Cooper, Angela Sarafyan, Sean Gunn
Writer - James Gunn, Jerry Siegel, Joe Shuster
Director - James Gunn
Release - 10 July 2025

It's a headscratcher, this one. While the whole movie was enjoyable, but the best parts of the movie were the ones that had James Gunn's signature and style all over it. And yet, those were the parts that didn't feel like a Superman movie that my brain is wired to.

The best part of the movie didn't even involve Superman - it was when Edi Gathegi and Rachel Brosnahan's characters were investigating the site where Superman was last seen. And the classic Gunn action sequence ensued.

But when Gunn shot Superman flying for the first time, then with slow motion focusing on the chest emblem, and that amazing score from John Murphy and David Fleming - announcing "Superman is back"; I choked up. 

Gunn's use of slow motion with the new score, plus certain visuals, like when Superman held off an entire skyscraper just to save one woman in her car, and then the whole screen was just him in the air among the yellow dust. How great of a shot was that? I need that as a poster, please.

But honestly, the best character in this movie was Brosnahan, who just breathed as Lois Lane. The second was Gathegi's Mr. Terrific with the best lines and the best scenes. Then it was Superman. So, you can see how I didn't give this movie a higher score. (The 0.5 was for a great rewatch-ability.)

As a Superman movie, this was not one in the traditional sense. I understood what Gunn was trying to do with building this universe, but I wished there was more focus on Superman / Clark Kent. But no doubt about it, David Corenswet is this generation's Superman.