★★★☆☆ Superman (2025), by James Gunn, Jerry Siegel, Joe Shuster
Not the best Superman, not the worst
Superman (2025)
James Gunn, Jerry Siegel, Joe Shuster
Not the best Superman, not the worst
I saw it this afternoon (Saturday 12-July-2025). It was on an IMAX screen, a 1:00 matinee, and well attended for a matinee. I’m wasting time because, honestly, I don’t have a whole lot to say about it. Gunn knows how to direct an entertaining film, and it was that. It was one of those films that have a lot of good moments, but you’d be hard-pressed to say it has good characters or a good plot.
I was most disappointed by Lex Luthor. He’s just a foaming hate-filled maniac. There’s no excuse for having boring villains. It’s always a challenge to make the heroes interesting. Villains have no real excuse for existing but to add a little twist of danger and fun. The most interesting character here was Mr Terrific — one of the good guys.
I’d have to say the best Superman I’ve seen so far was Smallville, despite its “No tights, no flight” rule, and the occasional stupid plot twist. Smallville also had a great Lex Luthor. Gunn’s Superman is fun to watch, but not close to displacing Smallville for me.