A Brief History
On July 11, 2025, Superman was released in the United States by Warner Bros. Pictures.
Digging Deeper
The premier superhero in the DC cinematic universe, the alien from Krypton, and believe us, the “alien” part is prominently mentioned repeatedly in the film, is not the sure, confident, unflappable and invincible hero we have come to know from previous Superman movies! More emotional and sensitive than previous iterations, this Kal-El has been accused by some movie goers and critics of being “woke.” We disagree!
Just because the character, played by David Corenswet, is more sensitive and vulnerable than the iconic Christopher Reeve portrayal, does not mean there is anything insidious or wrong with such a depiction. Corenswet pulls it off rather well, we thought, and the movie moved right along to its 129 minute conclusion. In fact, this film gives Superman a quite human face.
The rest of the casting and the performances were quite good, with the exception of Nathan Fillion as a Green Lantern, making the character a less than serious “superhero” and more of a comic relief character you might expect in a Guardians of the Galaxy film. His ridiculous looking haircut alone makes our point! Another casting/portrayal factor we were less than satisfied by was the depiction of Ma and Pa Kent, Superman’s adoptive Earth parents, as kind of bumbling country oafs instead of the usual characters as salt of the Earth rock steady Midwesterners.
The $225 million budget was well spent, with lots of excellent special effects and nice bright eye candy to keep the audience paying attention. The soundtrack was certainly adequate, but lacked the iconic and majestic sound and feel of the 1978 Superman starring Christopher Reeve. We were actually glad this version did not seek to become a karaoke version of that 1978 film, and instead make its own mark on the Superman film franchise.
Another pair of notable aspects to the current film are the implications that Kal-El’s parents were not as altruistic as previously depicted, and the prominent part Superman’s dog, Krypto, plays in the film, played by the real life dog Jolene and CGI where needed. Some critics allegedly found Krypto to be a silly and distracting element, but in fact we found the Krypto character to add considerable charm to the film.
The bottom line is that we enjoyed the film and our only regret is not having seen it in 3D. Lots of action, including violence, so perhaps the youngest children should be carefully assessed by parents for the suitability of the movie for sensitive tykes. We applaud the effort to successfully reframe the character of Superman and the franchise in more modern terms. Enjoy!
Question for students (and subscribers) to ponder: Did you see this film? If so, did you enjoy this film?
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see the film’s official website.
The featured image in this article, a photograph of Dr. Zar, was taken by his mother and is used on this site with permission from Dr. Zar and his mother.
