Superman

Oh my goodness.  I have an overwhelming amount of feelings and thoughts going on right now in my head , there’s so much for me to say but I guess to get it out of the way, I just wanna say that I adore this movie. From beginning to end, I felt like a kid again with the biggest smile on my face. The magic of the Donner Superman flicks and the magic of the comics are so real and felt in this but it’s still very much so its own thing and man, it’s something special.  I’ve loved Superman my entire life basically. Since I was two years old, he was always the number one guy in my eyes. The cape, the costume, all of it. But eventually as I got older, I started to relate and love the more deeper sides of the character. The humanity, the need for doing good, all of that stuff that comes with Superman. And all of that is most certainly felt here. The best types of films are the ones that remind you why you do certain things, why you love this or that character, why you love this actor or director, or even just why you love movies, and truthfully this film gave me every single one of those feelings.  Like I said, this movie is truly so special. I do really believe that this is a film we all really need right now, and maybe to some that statement may be a bit dramatic but we all know that feeling of walking out of a movie and gaining this new love for life or whatever and this film is the clearest example of giving you just that. I walked out of the theater after this with the feeling of hope and just wanting to be a better person as that’s the journey we see Clark/superman go on in this. Whether it’s in the real world or within the pages of a comic or script, having this symbol and reminder of hope in such a dark time in the world is an extremely valuable thing to have and you’re given that along with the characters in the film itself to the fullest extent.  I’ve gone on too long now without mentioning any of the cast, and as someone who has seen just about every iteration of these characters that there is, I can personally and confidently say that David, Rachel, and Nicholas are all the most perfect and authentic castings of their respective characters. You don’t see David Corenswet playing Superman, you just see Superman. And in a day in age where superhero films have become more so products of a larger machine rather than it belonging to itself and living in its own little world (even tho yes this is the start of a new shared universe) and all of/or most of the actors kinda just phoning it in, having an actor not only command the screen with presence but legit just being the character and embodying every aspect of the character is a real treat to behold. Rachel Brosnahan is a perfect Lois Lane and her chemistry with David is legit some of the best that’ll ever be put to screen. Again, the highest compliment I can give to these actors are that they don’t even feel like performances, it literally feels the characters just jumped outta the pages of the comics and onto the big screen and that is all so clear with Rachel in this. And of course Nicholas Hoult as Lex,, another magnificent and commanding performance. You see and feel his hatred and envy towards this larger than life being, he is at times your typical mustache twirling villain but that is the furthest thing from a negative or nitpick, it’s actually quite fun and brilliant. He is just a pure evil villain and that’s something a lot of comic book films have been missing these days. The rest of the ensemble cast are also really great, there’s not a bad one in the bunch.  As you can tell by now, I’m an extremely happy camper with how this turned out. It almost feels like I was the one who made this movie. But in all seriousness, I’ve been following the development of this film since day freaking one and there wasn’t a moment in that time where I had much doubt. James Gunn is a fantastic director who makes you feel and care for each character on screen. Whether you’re the main man himself, in the supporting cast, or a background character for 2 seconds, James has this ability to make you fully invested in these characters as if they were really here with us in real time and life.  Now as for where this is placed for me within a comic book film ranking, I don’t know just yet but it is quite high I can say that. The few comic book films I consider to be perfect adaptations of their respective characters are, Spider-Man 2, Logan, The Batman, and now Superman ‘25. I think just about everything in the film is a huge win for me. I always thought it was an impossible task to make something better or at least on the same level as Superman 1978 but boy was I wrong, this is absolutely my new favorite Superman film and my new favorite Superman actor with David. (but I’ll always love Christopher Reeve for what he did) so many moments and little bits with different characters all feel so true and authentic to this world we’ve all known and loved for decades, it’s quite an impressive task that’s been pulled off here. James Gunn made a real comic book with this.  This was my most anticipated film of the year and maybe even my most anticipated film of the decade so far. I cannot express just how excited I was for this. Everything felt like it was tailor made for me and it fully delivered. It feels like I was waiting for this exact movie with this exact version of the character my entire life.  Overall , I love this movie, and I love Superman. I’ll be thinking and talking about this movie forever, so if you are a close friend of mine reading this just be prepared. Might be a bit cheesy to say but I am so thankful and privileged to be alive at the same time as this movie, it’s a real gift. I’m gonna be on cloud nine for the rest of the year. I’m happy to say that Superman is in fact real.