Skip to main content

Superman-Great Past and New Hero Magic

Superman (2025) poster. Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures.


James Gunn's iteration of Superman was a well-thought-out film. I give it a 9.4/10 for both the occasional references to the Christopher Reeve film from the late 1970s and for standing out with different presentations of the iconic Man of Steel and his colorful supporting characters. This was my first time seeing David Corenswet, but he was great acting out the drama and heroism in the lives of Clark Kent and Superman. It was also great to see Rachel Brosnahan bring some gumption and humor to her role of Superman's love interest, Lois Lane, and it was great to see former X-Men actor Nicholas Hoult bring some vigor to his role of Superman's ruthless archenemy, Lex Luthor.

In this Superman, it stood out by skipping the intro of Kal-El leaving Krypton as a baby and instead showing Superman, played by Corenswet, in his third year of protecting Metropolis and the world. In his quest to prove Superman a threat to humanity, Lex Luthor, played by Hoult, alters some footage from Superman's biological parents and tries to break the laws of physics, similar to the super collider from the Spider-Verse films. It's going to take perky Lois Lane, played by Brosnahan, a horde of superheroes known as the Justice Gang, played by Nathan Fillion, Edi Gathegi, and Isabela Merced, and a troublesome super-dog named Krypto to help Superman find his inner hero and save the world.

The film was lovely because of Corenswet's showing that it's hard work to be as great as Superman, Brosnahan's Lois Lane being cute and gutsy between figuring out her love for Clark and going to the end of the world to bring Luthor down, Hoult's Luthor being a ruthless, overbearing boss in fancy suits and manipulating technology-also current- in his pursuit of power, Sara Sampaio's funny moments playing Lex's ditzy girlfriend Eve Tessmacher, Skyler Gisondo's funny and awkward times being Jimmy Olsen, Gathegi's seriousness and prowess as tech genius Mister Terrific, Fillion's being a lovable jerk as Guy Gardner/Green Lantern, Anthony Carrigan's emotion and humor as Metamorpho, Isabela Merced's cool yet fierce times as Hawkgirl, and Krypto's being a reckless yet lovable superhero mutt.

Going back to Corenswet's performance, his Superman is still learning to earn humanity's good graces, such as knowing he can't just fly to a battle unannounced and play good cop/bad cop with humans. That may make him more lovable because he's relatable to audiences looking for their own place in society. And even if there's a battle with Luthor and tons of collateral damage around, as long as you have someone like Lois Lane, Ma and Pa Kent, and even Krypto on your side, you can be someone great for the world. That's what I saw with Corenswet's interactions with the other cast.

There were vibes from Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy films, such as a pocket dimension reminiscent of the space jump scene in Vol. 2 and the bickering between the Justice Gang similar to the main Guardians. There was also great scoring by John Murphy and David Fleming in cases such as the menacing electronics for Luthor, poignant choir and piano for Superman's personal battles, and guitar tributes to John Williams' score from the original Superman to highlight his victories.

Great job to the cast and crew of the newest Superman film. Readers, I hope you check it out in theaters. Thank you.

#Superman2025

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

'Roofman': Channing Tatum Played a Lovable Thief

Poster for 'Roofman.' Courtesy of Paramount Pictures and Miramax. Channing Tatum played Jeffrey Manchester, an ex-Army Reserve soldier and divorced dad who had a penchant for details and thieving. He was known as "The Roofman" for breaking into his targets by drilling into their roofs. It was like Tatum channeled Sam Dawson and Scott Lang into one as his character managed to find a way to sneak out of prison underneath a truck with skills from prison shop, then make a home in a corner in a 2004 Toys 'R Us.  It was pretty funny and amusing how Jeffrey sort of took control of the store after closing. How he snacked on M and M's, skated around on Heely-like shoes, he acted like a grown man with a kid's bedroom with inflatables and Spider-Man merchandise, and he kept security with baby monitors. It was also kind of funny how he made money out of stealing and pawning a bunch of video games. While trying to get out of the country after fleeing to the store, Jeff...
Post a Comment
Read more

'Sarah's Oil': A Sharp-Willed, Inspirational Tale

Poster for 'Sarah's Oil.' Courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios. Naya Desir-Johnson triumphed as the eponymous character of Sarah's Oil . She channeled intelligence, comic relief, and proud spirit in her role as child oil baron Sarah Rector. I also enjoyed Zachary Levi's role as Sarah's business partner Bert Smith with his Southwestern charm and protectiveness over Sarah. You'll also appreciate the performance of Sonequa Martin-Green as Sarah's mother,  the costume designing by Michael T. Boyd, the scoring by Kathryn Bostic, and the filming in Oklahoma where the story took place. In the early 1900s, Sarah Rector, played by Desir-Johnson, was granted land that, unbeknownst to people of power at the time, had crude oil gushing underneath the infertile land. With help wildcatter from Bert Smith, played by Levi, and her family, and eventually others in Oklahoma, Sarah shows certain racist people that she will stop at nothing to drill for that oil and make a great l...
Post a Comment
Read more