Superman (2025)

Comic book films continue to dominate the theatrical Marketplace in these times. We've already had two MCU films this year, Captain America Brave New World and the Thunderbolts / the New Avengers. This week it is the DCEU that gets an opportunity to reassert itself at the box office. The new phase of DCEU films, supervised by James Gunn, kicks off with a reboot of DC's Premier superhero Superman.

This newest version of Superman is different from both the 1978 Richard Donner film and the Zack Snyder films of a decade ago. The Christopher Reeve film was optimistic with a strong sense of humor based on characters, and the relationship between Superman and Lois Lane was at the center of the story. In the Zack Snyder version Superman and Lois finally get together, and it seems to make both of their lives miserable rather than fulfilled. There was almost no levity in these early DCEU stories.

This Superman is a true comic book version. There are heroes and villains from other worlds and dimensions. Lex Luthor continues to be the main antagonist, but he is operating in a world of science Foods the concept of a pocket universe, where you can store all kinds of things, like your enemy is for instance. There is a more typical story in the film, where Luther is going to benefit from a war that he is encouraging. To get to that objective however requires that his character utilize resources that seem far more valuable than any real estate he would acquire from his deal with one of the warring Nations.

Meanwhile, beast from other dimensions show up to threaten Metropolis, and give Superman and the other Heroes of the poorly named Justice gang, something to do when they are not fighting off Luther's plans. One of the Green Lanterns is part of this group, he's played by Nathan Fillion, and it appears to be an iteration that people who love comic books hate. I thought the character was repulsively Charming. Not someone you would want to spend time with, but someone who is perfectly capable of making good decisions and carrying them out. Two other Heroes appear in the Justice gang, Hawkgirl, has next to nothing to do in the film, so it's not quite clear why she has been made a part of the story. The super intelligent Mr. Terrific on the other hand, practically steals the movie with his clever approaches to problem solving, and sarcastically detached attitude.

Lois Lane, he's a big part of the story, in fact becoming an active player in attempting to Fort Luther and rescue Superman. Rachel Brosnahan," The Fabulous Mrs. Maisel", plays Louis as a resourceful reporter, who considers it her obligation to challenge Superman on his decisions, in spite of her relationship with him. Ma and Pa Kent also appear in the film, but unlike previous versions of the story, their presence is not meant to evoke Maudlin sympathy, but rather to illustrate the differences in nurturing parents and the role they play in creating the ethos of a person. So you can feel safe and watching the film, and being aware that there is no eminent death scene Superman's adopted father.

Frankly for me the main attraction in this film is a secondary character with no dialogue, who exists only in CGI, but still had more personality and humor than any of the human actors. Krypto, is Superman's dog, and he has powers very similar to the Man of Steel. Of course he is a dog and so his doggy personality largely dictates how those Powers get used. When Krypto gets the Zoomies, you can expect chaos to ensue. David Corn sweat who plays Superman / Clark Kent displays the perfectly correct attitude when his dog is taken. Is temper tantum is completely Justified, and Luther should know in the long run that he's going to pay for screwing around with someone's beloved pet.

There is a plot twist concerning Superman's Kryptonian parents, it really seems that odds with the mythology of the comic books and previous films. It Doesn't Kill the movie, but it does undermine our willingness to embrace this version of Superman the way we did when Christopher Reeves and Marlon Brando we're on the screen.

This is definitely a comic book movie, featuring cartoonish monsters, and science fiction premises that defy reality. The movie looks very good however, and I had fun for the 2 hours that I was watching it. I guess the easiest way to express my opinion about the movie is to say that I enjoyed it, but I was not enamored by it. 

Superman 40th Anniversary

It was 40 years ago this month that I trooped down to the Chinese Theater in Hollywood with my band of friends and my girl, to see this comic book movie. More than a decade before the launch of "Batman", the D.C. Universe started with their most iconic hero. This was a highly anticipated film and we knew before we even saw it that there was going to be a sequel. This was the beginning of a comic book franchise that ends up setting a high standard with the opening two films and then trailed off with subsequent efforts. Regardless of how you feel about the revived D.C. films, the first two Christopher Reeve Superman films stand the test of time.

Unlike forty years ago, this trip to the theater was solo and on a Monday night of all times. The Fathom Event included an opening cartoon from Max Fleischer Studios, featuring an animated version of the Man of Steel. This efficient ten minute adventure looks like it was the template for the TV series to come. It certainly had all the tropes we expected including the opening narration. As it turns out it is available on YouTube so if you want to see it, gaze below.



With the appetizer out of the way, we are ready to begin our adventure. I have never made a secret of the fact that I am a nostalgia fan. Classic movies are one of my passions and one of the reasons is the period setting. "Superman" opens not with a pre-title adventure sequence like a James Bond film, but rather a simple curtain in black and white, being pulled open to reveal a movie screen, just like they used to do. The picture scrolls up like an old newsreel to the narration of a child reading the opening of what might be a comic book. Our viewpoint sweeps past a neoclassical skyscraper housing the Daily Planet, with a rotating globe on it's peak. We zoom out into space and we finally see color, and the John Williams Theme that may be one of the greatest movie themes ever. It is synced with titles that were hugely innovative at the time.


http://www.artofthetitle.com/title/superman/


You can read about the titles and look at them at the above link.

Most of you I'm sure have seen the film, so this is not really intended as a full review. I just want to highlight a few of the pleasures of this 40 year old treasure. The whole sequence on Krypton is imaginative and futuristic in the way movies have always been. The budget and effects are certainly bigger than the serials of the past, but the aesthetic is very much the same. The sentencing of the three Kryptonian criminals serves as an Easter egg for the second film and we get to the earth story with just enough background to see how Kal-El ends up with his powers.  Glen Ford is only in two scenes but he is terrific in both of them. The Norman Rockwell Kansas grounds our strange visitor from another world, and his adopted father gives him the values that will guide him with as much influence as his biological father's teachings will in the Fortress of Solitude section.

When Christopher Reeve finally emerges as the adult version of Superman, we get our first taste of flight in these movies. One of the advance tag lines was "You will believe a man can fly!", well I did, and it was thrilling. The long action sequence where Clark turns into Superman, saves Lois and the President as well as a neighborhood cat is just nicely paced fun. The real treat starts however an hour into the film, when Gene Hackman shows up and proceeds to steal every bit of every scene he is in. Hackman walks off with the movie in an out sized portrayal of Lex Luthor. The fact that he is surrounded by a band of idiots adds some comedy fun without diminishing the threat that the villain presents.

The special effects in the climax are dated and modern audiences might laugh a bit, but if you are in the grip of the movie you will hardly notice those little things. The models, rear projection and practical effects work just fine at giving Superman a task that makes some demands on his abilities. Forget how implausible the reversal of time is and just enjoy the moments when Lois looks at Superman when she has been rescued and doesn't even know it. This is another thread that leads us to the sequel. At the end of the credits, we are promised Superman II next year, boy do I hope that Fathom follows up on that forty year old promise.