New “Superman” Movie Review

On Friday, July 11, 2025, Cindy and I took our two youngest grandchildren, Jade and Maxwell, to see the opening day showing of the new Superman movie from James Gunn and the DC Universe while we were visiting their home in Redmond, Washington. This is my review.

Lifelong Fan

If you know me, you know what a huge Superman fan I have been all of my life. I grew up on Superman comic books, The Adventures of Superman TV show in the late 50’s and early 60’s, and was thrilled when the first Superman: The Movie motion picture was released in 1978. And those just scratch the surface of my experiences with The Man of Steel.

Here’s the bottom line of my review; I haven’t walked out of a theater at the conclusion of a Superman movie feeling this good since the 1978 Superman: The Movie film starring Christopher Reeve.

And I’ve seen them all.

Spoiler Alert – If you haven’t seen the film yet, you might not want to read any further.

Gunn’s Superman

Gunn brings us a Superman who is as good and kind and helpful as Reeve was in that original movie. No creepy stalker like Routh’s portrayal by Singer, no dark and brooding murderer like Cavill’s by Snyder.

James Gunn’s Superman is a bold redefinition of the character from those portrayals–less mythic (yet still the “Big Blue Boy Scout” we’ve known and loved for years) and more human than Kryptonian, more helpful, more kind, more colorful and more earnest. This movie soars on performance and emotion and introduces a new DC Universe that feels like it will be much more optimistic than recent films.

Gunn frames kindness and goodness, not cynicism, as the hero’s real power in a polarized age .

The official movie description reads; “Superman follows the titular superhero as he reconciles his Kryptonian heritage with his human upbringing. He is the embodiment of truth, justice and the American way in a world that views this as old-fashioned.”

Those last 8 words might be truer in our real world than they are in the fictional world of Superman.

An Immigrant Story

Because when James Gunn told a British newspaper that Superman is “an immigrant that came from other places and populated the country.” And that “Superman IS the story of America.” Well, the right-wing conservatives (and some people who SHOULD know better) jumped all over him.

For instance; Dean Cain. Cain portrayed Superman/Clark Kent on the “Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman” TV series in the mid-90’s. In recent years Cain has expressed his right-wing, Trumpian views to all who would listen. It’s one reason I didn’t even try to schedule our visit to the Superman Celebration in Metropolis, Illinois this year, since he was going to be a guest of honor. And it’s why I have no interest in re-watching this particular Superman TV show.

Cain blasted Gunn’s comments calling it “a mistake to politicize” the iconic superhero and, “For James Gunn to say it’s an immigrant thing…I think it’s going to hurt the numbers on the movie.”

News alert to Mr. Cain: as of today, the movie has already brought in $426 million in box office receipts! After less than two weeks in theaters!

Another news alert for those ignorant of the hero’s origin: Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, who created Superman, were both born to Jewish immigrants! And they portrayed Superman as an immigrant that came to Earth from another planet. Mr. Cain played the character and yet doesn’t even know or accept his history.

All I can do is shake my head at these kinds of comments.

So yes, those last 8 words might be truer in our real world than they are in the fictional world of Superman.

Krypto!

For the very first time in a film, Superman is joined by Krypto, the superdog. Comic book readers have known and loved Krypto since he first appeared in 1955’s Adventure Comics #210. Krypto was originally Kal-El’s (Superman) childhood pet on Krypton. Sent into space in a test rocketship by Kal-El’s father Jor-El before Kal-El’s own escape, Krypto eventually reunites with his then teenage master on Earth as a full-blown superdog, complete with cape and all the powers that Kal-El possessed.

Now, filmgoers get to enjoy Krypto as well. Except this time it turns out he’s Supergirl’s (yes, she’s here too) pet, not Superman’s.

By the way, as we were having lunch later, I asked Jade who her favorite character in the movie was and she said, “Krypto!” I asked Maxwell the same question and he said, “Krypto!” I think that was the case for a lot of people.

Other Points

One other big change is that we DON’T get an origin story of Superman. In this film he’s already been around for years and, at this point, Lois Lane even knows that Clark Kent and Superman are one and the same. AND they’re involved romantically. Their chemistry is electric and may be the best romance in a Superman movie yet .

The performances in this film are awesome. I took it as a bit of hyperbole when Gunn gushed in pre-release interviews about how true to the character David Corenswet was as Superman and Rachel Brosnahan was as Lois Lane and Nicholas Hoult was as Lex Luthor, but he wasn’t exaggerating! They, and the rest of the cast gave excellent performances as their characters.

It was almost like watching a Superman comic book come to life.

The Fortress of Solitude scenes are awesome, mostly because we also get to see Superman’s robots. And we get to see how his heart is broken when Luthor invades the Fortress and destroys the robots.

Speaking of Luthor; he’s a modern-day villain using modern-day technology to try and defeat the man of steel. As a tech tycoon using misinformation and fear to undermine trust…well it feels eerily timely and compelling. Did I detect a hint of Elon Musk in Hoult’s portrayal? Maybe not. But despite all that he does to try and kill Superman, the Last Son of Krypton STILL tries to talk Luthor into being a better person.

I mean, how woke can you be?

Two Complaints

Is this a perfect movie? No, but it’s a far sight better than what we’ve been offered in the past 20 years as far as Superman is concerned.

I had two complaints, but they are small ones in the whole scheme of things.

1. Very disappointed that in this version Jor-El and Lara sent their baby Kal-El to Earth in order to subjugate its people. We’re told multiple times in the movie that there was no mistranslation and no doctoring of the message. I had hoped that there might be a clarification in whatever upcoming sequel there may be, but James Gunn made it clear in a recent interview that there was no mistake and no misunderstanding of what Kal-El’s parents said to their son in the message.
2. I would have liked for there to have been more than one scene with Clark Kent in it. I know, I know, he’s Clark in the scenes in Lois’ apartment, but come on, no glasses no nebbish hair, it was like Superman in street clothes, and that was great. However, it would have been fun to see at least one more bumbling Clark or changing from Clark to Superman scene, just for laughs.

The movie stars David Corenswet as Clark Kent/Superman, Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor, Nathan Fillion as Green Lantern, Isabela Merced as Hawkgirl, Edi Gathegi as Mr. Terrific and many others.

I highly recommend this movie to Superman fans and non-fans alike.