Rating: 4/10

(Spoilers Ahead)

In a world where superheroes completely saturate the movie industry, Superman does not carry the same weight and popularity it once did. Upon viewing the 2025 rendition of “Superman”, I didn’t think this movie did anything to change that.

This movie is nothing like actor Henry Cavil’s performance of a dark brooding Superman in the “Man of Steel” movies. 

“Superman” lit up different movie review sites with an 82% Rotten Tomatoes score and a 4.0 Letterboxd score — for my more savvy readers — but the absolute onslaught of corny humor for a little over two hours left me unimpressed and yearning for the days when superhero movies actually had some heavier stakes.

Going into the movie, I knew the director, James Gunn, was going for more of a lighthearted feel similar to “Guardians of the Galaxy” in 2014. Which was freaking awesome. But this was a far cry from the wonders of “Guardians of the Galaxy.”

The guardians humor and total vibe was like a well oiled machine, the 80’s vibe fit perfectly with the soundtrack and the characters were hilarious because their personalities played off each other perfectly. The violence as well allowed the movie to transition from a comedic to serious vibe in an instant. 

Gunn tried much too hard to copy his previous successes in the superhero realm and his overindulgence of fifth-grade-level jokes led the film to have absolutely no stakes. It was hard to get into the characters or feel sucked into the plot when I’m watching Superman’s dog save him for half of the movie.

The characters didn’t have any depth because the DC Universe is trying so hard to catch up to Marvel that Gunn attempted to establish a universe in just one movie. Ten side characters and a couple of cameos simply aren’t going to do the job.

I will relent in my negativity — slightly.

The visuals were pretty amazing, and don’t get me started on the perfection of the color palette throughout the film. I think the colors themselves could have displayed the lighter tone without the overindulgence of humor, but the slow motion sequences and sets were stunning.

The acting is a bit of a mixed bag, but I think the movie nailed the chemistry with Rachel Brosnhan playing Lois Lane and David Corenswet playing Clark Kent, proving the actors’ talent. Lex, Lois and Superman were all pretty dull characters, but the blame is more on the writing than the acting.

For the life of this movie, Gunn just could not stick with a consistent plot. I mean, jumping from a pocket universe to a foreign country battle took more from the movie than it added. And, any movie that has the plot furthered by a character taking selfies gets two thumbs down from me, and hopefully many others.

I do really like the classic Superman moral code and how he showcased he can be a role model for any kid taking a trip to the theatres. 

The random clone of Superman at the end just threw me off a bit. It felt strange to see a new villain at the very end of the movie. 

One thing I do appreciate about the plot is the fact that it moved past the Superman origin story that everyone and their mom already knows. The story was one that we hadn’t heard before and tried to add some characters that casual Superman fans  aren’t typically familiar with. 

I appreciate what Gunn was trying to do by adding some fresh characters and a fresh storyline, but the delivery was just not quite right. 

Ultimately, I like that the DCEU could have a chance at real success, but after watching the movie, I do think it will land perfectly with a younger audience rather than a more mature one.