Control – Alt – Delete. Your brain is now reset. You are now in the proper frame of mind for SUPERMAN (2025)- THE REVIEW OF STEEL!
There are super hero movies that are more realistic, and I mean “realistic,” like set in a universe of real, real cities, real people, real physics, more real than cartoon. There are realistic and dour, like MAN OF STEEL and BATMAN V SUPERMAN. Realistic, like WONDER WOMAN. Realistic and silly, like WONDER WOMAN ’84. Or SHAZAM! Realistic and dark, like BLACK ADAM. Realistic and confused, trying to incorporate more of the comics, like FLASH. Realistic and grim – that’s THE BATMAN.
There are super hero movies that try to make the comic books come to life. BATMAN, BATMAN RETURNS, BATMAN FOREVER… basically any Batman movie with nipples on the suit.
There is dark. JOKER. But he’s not a super hero. THE BATMAN, that’s dark. But more realistic.
Christopher Reeves’ original take on Superman ran the gamut, from semi-serious to silly to preachy to stupid, through no fault of the actor.
And then there’s SUPERMAN 2025. It’s a comic book movie. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.*
When the lights went down, I got excited. When the screen lit up with the snow-scape of Antartica, I was getting ready… to… what’s this?
Captions. Text on screen. They say if you have to explain the movie with text at the start, you have a bad movie. My heart sank. 300 years ago, super heroes roamed the earth for the first time? Really? Who?!
Three decades ago, a meteor hit the earth and a baby …. oh you know.
Three years ago, Superman introduced himself to the world. Oh, so this is not an origin story? I guess we are spared another origin story that everyone should know by now, either the original version or the rehashes over the last 100 years.
Something something something… and now Superman crashes to earth, wounded, having lost a fight for the first time. And you’ve seen this bit in the trailer. In fact, you’ve seen a lot of the start of the movie in the trailer. He whistles… and Krypto the super dog shows up to save the day and add humor to the movie. A comic book movie. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.*
We are truly in a comic book universe, with costumes, characters and powers that may have been only seen in the animated movies, but now with “real” people! And that takes some getting used to. You get to see the Superman Robots from the comics and ALL STAR SUPERMAN, the animated movie.
You see Lex Luthor, a bit on the young side, but more evil and conniving in this movie than previous live-action attempts, less silly than Gene Hackman in his worst scenes, chewing less scenery than Kevin Spacey, less grating, so much so, than Jesse Eisenberg. This Luthor, by Nicholas Hoult, is a genius, using his comic book IQ to fight Superman remotely, through his Ultraman bad guy.
Green Lantern is here and he’s great. Nathan Fillion is a great Guy Gardner with the awful hair. His powers, via the ring, are the best live-action version of Green Lantern ever seen. Mister Terrific is going to be new to some people, but he’s more than a brain with a strange face mask, he kicks butt as well. Hawkgirl… Hawkwoman? She screams and her powers aren’t explained very well. Is that weapon made of that Nth metal?
The Lois this time around is excellent. Perry the Chief, excellent. Most of the characters and actors – excellent. Aside from Jimmy Olsen. He seems too old? Has his own desk? Doesn’t take any pictures?
In this universe, giant monsters attack, buildings fall down, Superman saves a squirrel (SQUIRREL!) and a dog, Luthor breaks the laws of physics, minions fall at his feet as he throws crap on the floor for them to pick up. It’s a really entertaining comic book movie. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.*
See, that’s what threw me off, through much of it. The comic book of it all. It was so “accurate” to the comics, in style, in story, in fight scenes. They had the Hall of Justice, for Rao’s sake! The Element Man! I can imagine an entire world of heroes with comic-accurate powers! Better than the Snyderverse, where realism sneaks in and costumes have armored bits, ruining things. Superman in the Snyderverse has armor? Why? Yes, they did that in the comics a while back – but it was stupid then too.
Sure, there are some awkward moments, like Small Country A gets invaded by Big Country B and, just like the comics, they try to make a message out of it. There’s some obvious right-wing characters, and the people of Metropolis can have their minds changed with a glance at a YouTube video. But – they are shallow, just like in the pulp versions. It’s a comic book movie. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.*
Flaws? Sure. Mawww and Pawww Kent are the very definition of country bumpkins. Not like the comics. But, both are still alive, too, not like the comics. They have cows in their front yard. But, these Kents do help explain the naive do-gooder attitude of the hero of the story. They were spared a tornado that traumatized a previous Superman.
Flaws? Well, there’s one character that needs A.A. Perry White needed more screen time. There’s a guy that appears in the Terrific-mobile that you never see until that one scene, with no lines, and you wonder “who the hell is that?”
You can’t tell at one point if Superman is killing a bunch of Luthor’s minions, as they fall out of the sky, on fire. Green Lantern and Hawk… lady… they don’t care – they kill away. Hey, a tank gets flipped by a green hand… those soldiers are dead.
There’s a literal universe of characters that are saved, but we don’t get any easter eggs, that some of them might be people we’ve heard of? Missed opportunity.
Speaking of easter eggs – there’s a video on YouTube that is 90 minutes long that explains all the easter eggs in the movie. I made it to 20 minutes before giving up. But I’ll finish it at some point. Before I see the movie again. And again.
Director and Writer James Gunn deserves all the kudos for making a comic book movie, a great comic book movie. And there’s absolutely NOT anything wrong with that.
(*Total royalties due to Jerry Seinfeld… $3.26.)
PLOT: “Superman,” DC Studios’ first feature film to hit the big screen, is set to soar into theaters worldwide this summer from Warner Bros. Pictures. In his signature style, James Gunn takes on the original superhero in the newly imagined DC universe with a singular blend of epic action, humor and heart, delivering a Superman who’s driven by compassion and an inherent belief in the goodness of humankind.
SEE THE MOVIE WITH US!
Tuesday, JULY 15 at 7:10pm. Spectrum 8 Theatres in Albany.
2 HRS 9 MINS
Event info on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1724697358408526
Superman – Movie Trailer on YouTube
