Superman (2025): A Stylized Reboot That Flies High — and Sometimes Crashes Hard
★★★½ (3.5/5)
James Gunn has always been a guy who swings for the fences — and with his much-hyped Superman reboot, he connects more often than not. Gunn’s Superman (2025) is a bright, heartfelt, and unapologetically comic book-y revival of the Man of Steel mythos, full of style, smarts, and just enough excess to remind you he’s still James Gunn. The movie doesn’t quite stick the landing — tonal whiplash and a few gratuitous bursts of violence keep it earthbound — but when it soars, it soars.
From the jump, Gunn makes it clear this isn’t your dad’s gritty, joyless Superman. Instead, he leans into the character’s Silver Age charm, with a Technicolor palette that collides 1950s Americana and gleaming futurism. The world feels lived-in but heightened — a pop-art Kansas with flying cars — and yes, Superman is once again rocking the classic red trunks. This is, finally, a Superman who looks like he belongs on a lunchbox and a movie screen.
David Corenswet steps into the cape with quiet confidence, delivering a Clark Kent/Superman who’s kind without being corny, powerful without being aloof. He nails the duality — you buy both the aw-shucks farm boy and the godlike hero. Rachel Brosnahan matches him beat-for-beat as Lois Lane, giving us a sharp, funny, utterly fearless journalist who feels ripped straight out of a 21st-century newsroom. Together, they’ve got real chemistry — sparring one minute, sharing quiet moments the next — and it anchors the whole movie.
Then there’s Nicholas Hoult, who might just walk away with the movie as Lex Luthor. His Luthor isn’t some cackling madman in a power suit — he’s a Silicon Valley shark, all charm and smarm, weaponizing media and tech to sinister ends. In an age of billionaire supervillains, it’s a pitch-perfect update.
But for all its strengths, Superman sometimes feels like two movies awkwardly stitched together. Gunn’s love of whimsy — Krypto the Superdog is a scene-stealer — collides with a darker, more violent streak that feels out of step with the hopeful tone. You can feel the movie straining to be both a family-friendly tentpole and a gritty reboot, and it doesn’t always pull it off.
Still, as the opening salvo in Gunn’s revamped DC Universe, Superman mostly succeeds. It remembers what too many modern superhero movies forget: these characters are supposed to inspire us, not just punch each other through buildings. It’s hopeful. It’s human. And it’s got a hell of a lot of heart.
Gunn’s Superman doesn’t quite hit the stratosphere, but it’s a damn good start — and proof that even after all these years, the Big Blue Boy Scout still matters.
Mitchell Peters