Superman

At it's core their is a conceptually astounding achievement in Super-Hero story-telling, that in it's stride for greatness stumbles one to many times in it's pursuit of glory. Superman 2025 at it's core is a story surrounding the concept that maybe the new cool thing is to be kind, courageous and human. But several missteps lead to this point only really being hammered in around the end of the first act and the end of the third. Where the first act is intimate, experiencing this world with Superman and Lois, the second comes swinging out the gate with portals and pocket dimensions and baby joey's that just.. Don't work for me. I'm a fan of going big with these movies, with directors respecting the origins of their craft, but the second act was almost over-doing it. Mr. Terrific and Lois Lane have a wonderful chance to shine and really become more than just set dressing, but man does it suck to have a chunk of the Superman film, Superman-less. Furthermore, I feel that it take's away from the theme's that as previously stated the film is trying to instill. We go from "Be good, be human." head first into "I gotta save baby Joey from the Minecraft dimension", back into a soft, intimate, and gentle "Be good, be human.".. HUH? Now, I'll also be the first to admit that the third act still struggled in some areas. Such as the Jarhanpur conflict's continuation. Now, this is of course just my opinion, and in fairness who am I comparatively? HOWEVER - I feel like, as tears welled in my eye's at the beautiful moment between Clark and his father, and we returned to the Conflict of Jarhanpur, with the kid's rallying a makeshift flag for Superman, their hope, the light in the dark; To come arrive and save them once more, that it would make MORE sense for him to attend to that issue first, and send the Justice Gang to assess the whole tear thing instead. Again, just my opinion, but you're building on this emotional moment, and in my opinion hope truly coming in the most dire of moment's would have hit just right, instead of pretty much saying "I can't be there, here's the leftovers.". Why? Why have the emotional climax of this conflict, something many can relate to as it's mirroring a conflict that's happening NOW, why have that emotional climax occur with Guy Gardner? That left me a bit baffled, but at least we got Superman's speech about Humanity to soothe it over. All in all, the film still has surprisingly strong legs (Yes, even with the second act being majorly inadequate compared to the rest of the film, and my gripes with the Jarhanpur Conflict), the soundtrack is good, the cinematography won't be everyone's favorite thing, but I didn't mind. The dog was funny, side character's were good, not much to comment on there. I liked the different take on the Kent's, though I feel like they were a little underhanded at time's. Lois is a great second to Clark, and Mr. Terrific was a show stealer. Don't quite know why Metamorpho was even in this film, or Baby Joey for that matter but, they're fine. And to the film's credit, James Gunn understands Superman fundamentally, but misses on some aspects that make the impossible man truly feel impossible without sacrificing his humanity. TL;DR - Superman 2025 is conceptually powerful, aiming to make kindness, courage, and humanity "cool" again. The first act nails that tone with an intimate portrayal of Clark and Lois, and the third act lands an emotional payoff. But the second act, full of portals, pocket dimensions, and Baby Joey, feels bloated and off-theme. Superman’s absence during key portions drags the film down, especially when the Jarhanpur conflict is resolved by Guy Gardner and the Justice Gang instead of Clark, undermining its emotional weight. Still, strong performances from Lois and Mr. Terrific, a solid score, decent side characters, and Gunn’s mostly-accurate understanding of Superman give the film sturdy legs, even if it stumbles on the way to greatness.