Superman (2025): You’ll believe a man can fly… because all movies are just cartoons now.
The 1978 Superman movie told audiences that “You'll believe a man can fly.” It was a way of talking up what was then-groundbreaking special effects and a more mature storytelling than audiences knew from shows like the 50s-era Adventures of Superman show.
The new 2025 Superman film has, perhaps, a more difficult task. Nobody is really impressed by what special effects can do now - we’ve seen a lot as viewers, especially in the tights and fights category of spectacle cinema. What the new film is asking us is: “You’ll believe a man can be good of heart.”
And that’s a far more difficult on-screen special effect to pull off. But, I’d suggest that the new film does a great job at pulling it off.
I have a few thoughts on the new Superman movie, which I saw last night at the Sydney premiere.
Superman is my guy. I’ve been a life long Superman fan. I grew up with the Christopher Reeve movies as a kid, the Ruby Spears Superman cartoon show, the old Fleischer shorts on cheap public domain VHS tapes, episodes of Super Friends, and, crucially, the Superman comics.
The comics I never quit and still read with regularity. I’ll admit that some of the TV shows weren’t really my bag. Lois & Clark I loved, but Smallville was pretty trashy and I never quite found my way into the recent Superman & Lois show.
My daughter’s middle name is Lois.
Superman has had a rough trot in the public consciousness the past 20 or so years. His earnestness as a character hasn’t really spoken to the moment for some time. DC’s characters have traditionally been a bit more mythic, with little less grit and texture than the Marvel comics, so the DC films (post Batman 1988) shrouded their characters with more darkness over the years. This obviously works very well for Batman, with Wonder Woman making the transition well too. But Superman struggled - it’s a character that exists in the sunlight.
Ironically, the Marvel films found cinematic success by removing a lot of the grit and texture of the books.
So, how does this new Superman film fare?
Superman is the exact hero we need for this moment and James Gunn has leant into that in a big way. Superman, since the earliest years of publication, has been a Jewish immigrant story (he’s basically a ripped Moses who is finding a life for himself in a new land). By not incorporating his origin story in the film, a lot of the Jewish subtext has been removed. And considering the current cultural climate, that’s probably a good thing. But the immigrant story remains.
And is there a more relevant conversation in the US right now than telling the story of an immigrant, where they fit into the culture, and the values they are bringing to the community? It makes Superman the most American movie we’ll see in 2025, yet, it’s probably going to be one of the most accessible Superman films for international audiences.
Star David Corenswet makes for an excellent Superman. He’s handsome, wholesome, and earnest as hell. He balances that out with a contemporary charm - his Clark Kent is not a bumbling guy in the same way that Christopher Reeve presented on screen. Instead, he sort of just disappears into the background until he puts on the flashy cape and hot pants.
Rachel Brosnahan is an outstanding Lois Lane - tough, professionally focused, and cute as hell. I was in love with her within minutes on screen, which is important. Superman as a character is always best seen through the eyes of Lois - she is the disbeliever who falls for the spirit of Superman. The films and TV shows where Lois is miscast or under-utilised are always the worst Superman films and TV shows.
The broader supporting cast are also a lot of fun. Writer-director James Gunn has loaded the cast with other superhero characters, most of which mainstream audiences will have little to no familiarity with. But by the end of the film, I would expect audiences will be very open to seeing more of Metamorpho, Hawkgirl, and even Guy Gardner in other DC movies and shows.
The real breakout is Mister Terrific, a character that has always balanced the line between ridiculous and cool-as-hell. Supposedly the smartest man in the world, he gets around in a racing jacket with the word “Fair Play” emblazoned along both arms.
The characters that fare less well are the reporters at The Daily Planet. Jimmy Olsen is fantastic in this as a beta male p-hound (it’s probably my all-time favourite on-screen Jimmy), but by mid-film he and the other Daily Planet reporters are mostly just given busy work on-screen to no real pay-off. They all go on a mission for no real reason, when what they are doing could just as easily be accomplished by staying in the newsroom.
It’s ultimately a pretty fun superhero romp. I’d have loved to have taken my kid along to it, but at not-quite four years-old, she’s maybe a year or two too young to get away with it. But, this is a broad-audience crowd pleaser that will inspire young and old alike to cheer along with it.
The film suffers a bit in the second half as the film gets more focused on the super heroics and the execution of what plays out as more of a rote plot than one expects from the first half of the film. The movie falls into the difficulty of Superman as action hero as he faces off against a bad guy where all there is is a lot of punching and kicking as they slam into buildings. But it never becomes dull, finding redemption once Superman finally gets to face off against Lex Luthor (played villainously handsomely by Nicholas Hoult) in a verbal stoush.
By the end, I believed a man can be good of heart.
News Desk
Slow Horses is coming back for a 7th season at Apple TV+. Read: thefutoncritic
ABritish version of Dutch format Let's Play Ball is in development - the format sees two rival teams of comedians go head-to-head in a race to move a huge ball across various landscapes from narrow city streets to countryside meadows. I’m laughing already. Read: Radio Times
Rick Porter at THR goes deep on the failings of Dr Phil’s Merit Street media company. Read: THR
Marcia Gay Harden makes the ‘Trinity’ of the title of Netflix’s new Jed Mecurio drama co-starring Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Richard Madden. Read: Variety
ITV drama Grantchester will end with it’s 11th season. Read: THR
OnlyFans star Sophie Rain has reportedly bought a private jet after making over $73m on the platform. Read: Complex
Trailer Park
Untamed debuts on Netflix July 17.
Eric Bana stars as a special agent for the National Parks Service whose murder investigation sends him on a collision course with the dark secrets within the park, and in his own past.
Acapulco returns to Apple TV+ for a 4th and final season July 23.
The Monster of Florence debuts Oct 22 on Netflix
This crime drama follows the case of "Il Mostro di Firenze," Italy's first serial killer, who eluded justice while terrorizing the nation for decades.
That’s the newsletter for today.
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