Superman 4K 2025

Superman is the most boring comic book character for me personally out of all the somewhat popular ones (let's leave out all the “Miss Marvels” and such). He is boring not only as a superhero, but also as a person. The former can be fought, entities of cosmic scale are quite capable of competing with him on equal terms, and they didn't forget to give him his Achilles' heel (kryptonite). The latter is much worse, because we're not just talking about a “good guy” or a “knight without fear or reproach,” but a certain template of “goodness.”
The very idea of such a character has been successfully reimagined many times (the best example is Doctor Manhattan, whom Ozymandias outplayed with pure intellect; we're talking about Alan Moore's Watchmen, if anything) and parodied (the undisputed leader here is Seven from The Boys), but it is the films about Superman himself that have always been, at best, yawn-inducing. Actually, this is not even my opinion—the best rating on Kinopoisk for “Superman” is for the series Superman & Lois, aimed at the CW audience, which is a very specific audience, ready to watch eight seasons of the series Arrow.

To be honest, I didn't believe James Gunn would succeed. Before watching this film, it seemed to me that it would be easier to bury the DC cinematic universe than to try to revive it, and that it would be impossible to make a decent film about Superman. James Gunn managed to do both. He is completely unfairly criticized for the lack of darkness, but Nolan's style, which is certainly appropriate for Batman stories, is not a canonical option (and, let's be objective, Nolan is not a director who can be perceived as a minimally acceptable level of quality). Zack Snyder, with his love of darkness, is not the benchmark either, with the difference that the success of his films is far from always obvious.
Superman doesn't have to be dramatic — James Gunn made a bright, entertaining film, but he did it well enough. Compared to the flagship Justice League, it has already grossed more on a smaller budget (significantly more in the US). To say that it is a masterpiece would be an exaggeration, but it is an excellent attraction for an evening, which does a good job of entertaining the viewer and introducing them to new characters. It is important to see how the other films in the DC universe reboot, which will be shot by other directors (the universe cannot exist solely on Gunn's efforts), will perform, as well as to see the new version of Batman before talking about success, but this film inspires cautious optimism.

I would like to note two points separately. Gunn introduces the viewer to new characters in a rather bold and unconventional way. Mr. Terrific appears on screen for the first time, and he is good. Guy Gardner is chosen from among all the Green Lanterns (and his character is by no means chivalrous). Hawkgirl is here too... but that would be a spoiler, but I liked her main scene. And, of course, Nicholas Hoult! This is not exactly Gunn's merit, he is flawless in the role of the main antagonist — this is the best Lex Luthor in history. Importantly, he is equally good in both positive and negative scenes. Overall, this is not a must-see movie, you won't miss anything if you skip it, but it is the main comic book movie right now.