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Superman '25 -- a review

Superman is back, again.

Writer/director James Gunn, who gave us some fun superhero movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, is now working the other side of the street for the DC Comics’ cinematic equivalent, starting with writing and directing the fantastic The Suicide Squad (2021) and then moving onto writing the HBO-Max animated series Creature Commandos, which was a freaky superhero team show that was ultimately about as entertaining as watching paint dry. Thankfully, his new project, a feature film dealing with the Last Son of Krypton, Superman, is much better.

Gunn presents David Corenswet as Superman in a film that smartly eschews the creaky exploding planet origin story in favor of ‘a day in the life’ storyline where this Man of Steel has already been established as a beloved hero of the people of the city of Metropolis. It opens with Superman crash landing in the artic, after a bruising battle with another super powered being called the Hero of Boravia. The week before, Superman stopped an invasion initiated by the rogue country of Boravia, and now it seems that this nation is getting some payback on Big Blue.

Or are they?

It’s quickly revealed that Lex Luthor (very well played here by Nicolas Hoult) is actually behind the attack by the “hero of Boravia,” who turns out to be Ultraman, Luthor’s muscle. Luthor has launched a massive, complex plan to take down the Man of Steel, whom he sees as being a threat to all of humanity. This new Superman plays more like a sequel to an origin movie that was never made, but it still works.

Gunn’s Superman hits the ground running, and it’s exhilarating at times. The overall DC Superhero universe is already set up, with Green Lantern (a superb Nathan Fillion), Hawkgirl (an engaging Isabela Merced) and Mr. Terrific (an intense Edi Gathegi) already established as the Justice Gang (they’re still work-shopping the group’s name). David Corenswet is excellent as a young, naive Clark Kent/Superman who’s still trying to find his way in both of his identities.

And Rachel Brosnahan is also very good as a more studied Lois Lane who turns out to be pretty reserved in matters of the heart. She maintains the feisty nature of Lois while still making her sympathetic. María Gabriela de Faría is another standout for me as The Engineer, a Luthor lackey whose own powers make her tough enough to take on the Man of Steel in battle. The superhero fights between Supes and the villains are all exciting and very well done.

The only real problem is that Superman ‘25 has a derivative feel, because a lot of the storylines in this flick have been seen and done before, such as discovering that Superman’s Kryptonian parents were actually fascists. But my nitpicks are the result of a famous character having almost 90 years worth of stories told about him, so can you really blame the teamm behind Superman '25? Nope. James Gunn makes it all work very nicely. Gunn’s offbeat humor is here, along with his great music choices (the Teddybears & Iggy Pop’s Punkrocker, which is used in the final scene and closing credits, has become one of my favorite newly discovered songs). It’s mainly thanks to James Gunn’s writing and directing talents that Superman ’25 is such an entertaining film. Now bring on Supergirl!--SF

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