Superman (2025)

User Review

• 

  Barneyonmovies

  7 / 10

  WHAT I LIKED: James Gunn's 'Superman,' is an unusually good-natured, political superhero film because it has its hero directly fight the biggest evils and injustices of the real world.
  
  The film starts out in the aftermath of him (David Corenswet) stopping the invasion of Jahranpur by Boravia; an attempted military occupation which draws clear parallels to all kinds of Western interventionism (not least Israel's genocide in Gaza). He receives criticism from various angles in the media, including from billionaire Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult) who believes Superman represents a threat to American influence around the globe, then it's not long before we learn he's the one supplying the weapons to Bovaria, see him lobbying the government to let him take Superman down, and witness him devising a plot to imprison Superman and turn the world against him.
  
  Of course, the unrealistic part of the story is that Superman inevitably takes all of the corruption down by exposing Luthor to the world. But regardless of that, watching the scenario play out is especially cathartic given the parallels to our real-world. It helps too that this version of Superman is so likeable with his humble charm and dogged focus on saving every civilian life, and that Lex Luthor is so hateful. Plus there are bags of James Gunn's typical fish-out-of-water humour and playful action to keep things ticking along nicely.
  
  WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE: It's hardly a great film to look at, but the most fundamental issue is its treatment of its female characters. Truly it feels like stepping back in time, as all we get is a couple of ridiculous blonde bimbos, and a fairly one-dimensional version of Louis Lane.
  
  VERDICT: 'Superman,' is a surprisingly good-natured and political Superhero film, albeit one that treats its female characters very poorly indeed.

  Like?

  0 member like this review.