Superman (2025) - First Thoughts
so I don't usually do this but I just came back from my showing of Superman (2025) and reallllyyy wanna talk about it
I don't think this is going to be a review...I don't think...lol. It's definitely a movie I have to see at least 4 times before saying I've actually seen it so THAT should tell you something!
I'll most likely touch on spoilers so fair warning!
I'm not even sure where to begin...so I think I'll start with the trailer(s)
My worry about this movie came about when the first couple of trailers dropped. And my worry wasn't with anything other people had issues with like Clark/Superman being emotional while being interviewed by Lois
no, no, no
My issue was with everything & everyone I didn't recognize.
because that scared me.
The trailer ALONE felt over stuffed, which made me think if the trailer is like this...what about the movie?
If I don't recognize these characters, will my parents? when I show them the movie? Will the general audience?
The trailer text and music had the feel of a superman movie, honestly...a Christopher Reeve superman movie but didn't FEEL like a superman movie, let alone a Christopher Reeve one. (and oh no for sure, it's definitely not trying to be one & I don't except it to be, I just thought that was a nice way to end the sentence and now I've ruined it with this one 😅)
That was my worry going into the movie...that it wasn't going to be a simple story. that it wasn't really going to focus on Superman/Clark Kent himself, or why he does what he does, his relationship with his living adopted parents or that we weren't going to see him really helping and interacting with the public, making those connections.
And in this version of Superman he has made those connections (at least with one person who helps him up) but we are shown through text and told through conversation...we don't see anything...
I was watching a review and they made a good point, this movie isn't the beginning of anything, it's not the ending of anything either when I think about it, we the audience from the very beginning are thrown into act 3 of a two part sequel
And I guess that's different, we're not starting with an origin story (bold choice & personally I have preferred that), we don't even start with an introduction, we just are suppose to know
And I guess that works fine with the hard core DC fans and people who have read the comics, watch the animated series, heck maybe even seen the new animated series, My Adventures With Superman (which I absolutely love and could not recommend enough, you should totally see it)
But I don't think that's the way they or James Gunn should have started for their FIRST Superman movie
There are emotional moments in this movie, like when Superman's robots get destroy and we see Sups holding one of them, or when one of the public members gets captured by Lex and is used to make Superman talk and then gets killed or even the moment with Clark and Pa on the bench! THAT should have been an emotional moment but it was hard to understand what Pa was saying and I was too distracted by his eyes jittering and Clark looking...angry....?
(I'm serious! pay attention to this scene when you see it, tell me Pa's eyes aren't jittering back and forth!)
these moments just fell flat...like i felt nothing...
I don't know these people, I don't know their relationships so why should i care about them or this moment?
Or like when Sups barges into Lex's office and yells "where's the dog?" multiple times. I don't get why Superman cares, because he never really seemed to like the dog. He didn't throw him a toy to play fetch, didn't pet him...
I didn't feel that Superman really cared about him
and that made me sad.
I wanted this movie to make me feel hopeful, I wanted to...I guess feel something and I didn't.
Superman has a scene at the end where he's telling Lex what makes him human, and he states he wakes up every morning, puts one foot forward to be good, that he makes mistakes and that makes him human...and okkayyyy....
Yeah we "saw" him make a mistake...well we were "told" he "made a mistake" when he got involved in a war...
saw in quotation marks because we see the after math..
told in quotations marks because it's the scene were Lois is interviewing him, which is honestly my favourite scene in the movie!
made a mistake in quotation marks because it really depends on how you look at it (to me, he didn't make a mistake, people were going to die)
It's these things that really brought the movie down for me. And I didn't touch on the action, actors, music or visual effects yet!
Let me do that now...
OH BUT FIRST!
The story!
Let me talk about that real quick...
in this movie ALONE...!!
Superman has stopped a war that is now threaten to escalate & has to deal with the fallout of that & what they are saying on social media about him, he has to deal with lex & his goons which consist of ultra man and the mechanic, he has relationship issues with Lois lane, he has to deal with revelation of his biological parents final words and what that means for him on earth, his fortress of solitude got broken into, he has to fight this giant monster thing with the members of the justice Gang that don't seem to like him very much, there's a pocket dimension cutting metropolis in half, he has to fight...himself... & he has to babysitting Krypto, his cousin's dog.
ALL this in ONE movie...
lol, this guy in the gif plays Perry White but he is BARELY in this movie! like maybe 1-2 mins of screen time at the MOST
so imagine now that you are suppose to watch, go on this journey with Superman, not really knowing THIS version of Superman or the world or characters...
YEAH.
anyway...
the visual effects....
are AWESOME.
Honestly, I said it when the movie was announced, I'm so jealous of the artists that get to work on a SUPERMAN movie!
and there were a lot of them! the best of the best from WETA, ILM and Framestore ☺️
They produced great work!
My issue...was the direction of the action scenes
It felt like no action scene was able to breathe, you know. there was so much camera movement and extreme close ups & dolly moments, like it really felt like I was having a stroke.
There is a scene with Mr. Terrific as he's taking out a whole bunch of people, it is ABSOLUTELY James Gunn! It was framed like a one take and it was cool and it worked...for that scene. For the others...I can't even tell you what happened...I can't describe...
the only other one is maybe when Superman fights himself...a form of Bizzaro, yeah ANOTHER character! but that comes at the end of the movie
now the music...honestly I only remembered it when it came to the quieter scenes. Around the last act of the movie, it really dives in the John William score but it...doesn't really feel earned...or I didn't really feel a sense of heroic-ness when it was playing during one or two scenes at the last act.
It was the quieter moments when I felt the score really, really scored lol. Oh and during the credits too! so good! But again, it sounded like a superman movie but didn't feel like a superman movie
The actors now...honestly there's only about 3 I really wanna touch on.
This dude,
David Corenswet...
when he started talking..
I was not ready.
I was like there is no way he sounds like that and he does! When he was talking in the movie, I couldn't take him seriously...I was like no way you sound like that! he sounds like someone trying to do an impersonation of Superman and I just thought it kinda funny.
as for his protral of Superman/Clark Kent...
sssuurreeee...
from the reviews that I've seen everyone says that he was great and the best part of the movie and I guess I kinda agree. I guess...
you know what...I'm just gonna say it...
I didn't really like his Superman. There's a post credit scene where he says he can sometimes be kind of a jerk (I'm pretty that's the word) and I agree
I found his superman to be a bit cocky and smug. Yes he did help people, save a dog & squirrel and kids, and that was all great but unfortunately those moments didn't out heigh the others.
Lois Lane
Rachel Bronsnahan
she was great!
Okay so this has absolutely turned into a review 😅
I loved her lois alot! honestly, my third favourite after the animated series Lois & Margot Kidder.
This version of Lois Lane I thought Margot Kidder would absolutely be proud of! she's smart, strong, insecure (she honestly reminded me of Kidder's Lois so much) and she does a lot...at the beginning of the movie 😅
At the end of the movie she takes a flying machine with a couple other people from the Daily Planet (Perry, Steve, Jimmy and Kat, I don't know, I don't know her name, I don't think we're suppose to care to be honest...) and flies, I guess around, so that Jimmy can write an article and post it right in time to expose Luthor
Then when Mr. Terrific is able to stop a pocket dimension from destroying more of metropolis...they cheer and celebrate in the flying machine like they had anything to do with that. I just thought it was so weird and funny.
But anyway! Other than that, Lois was awesome!
And her scenes with Superman/Clark...also my favourite ❤️
Lex...
Nicholas Hoult...
lex...lexy lexy lexy....
He was fine...there was a of couple moments were I felt his accent slipped through, like when he was getting louder/emotional I was like
and maybe it's because I just finished watching The Great with him and he's...great...lol, he really is! Him and Elle Fanning have great chemistry!
but I didn't mind his Lex! I thought it was fine and I wouldn't mind seeing more of him
now for my closing thoughts...
Gosh I feel better having written this review, just throwing my thoughts out there
I bought tickets to see this movie today (Friday) in case I wanted to see it again on Saturday and honestly, I don't want to
I get Gunn didn't want to do an origin story, I know he's trying to build a universe here but I don't think was a great start to it
I don't care that peacemaker is also in this universe
I don't care that Supergirl showed up in this movie to say thanks for taking care of her dog and then just dipped to go partying and drinking another planet...
gosh maybe it's because I'm getting older but I just didn't care...
and I can't believe I'm saying this but I don't want to see this movie again either...at least not any time soon and that really bums me out
I wanted to like it, truly. But unfortunately, it's not a movie I would recommend to everyone, it's not a movie I would take my parents to see (but their a different kind of people lol), it's not a movie I would put on to even pass the time.
It's a 7/10 for me (honestly maybe even a 6.8/10 🫣
Safe to say it will be the top movie at the box office this weekend, but I am so, SO curious to see how it goes in the up coming weeks.
If you have seen, please let me know. I'm curious to know more of people's thought, where you rank it, would you watch it again if you have seen it, your favourite part, I wanna know!
🫧
