While far from the best Superman movie ever made - Charles Merritt thinks Christian parents could use this latest film to help youth and children talk through the questions: who is good? and what does that even mean?
Film: Superman (2025)
Age rating: 12A
Runtime: 129 minutes
See this if you liked: Thor: Ragnorok, Superman (1978)
Synopsis:
Superman has been superhero-ing for three years but has just suffered his first defeat. As he comes to terms with this, he’s facing the consequences of interfering with world politics and simultaneously struggling to maintain his relationship with Lois Lane. All the while, Lex Luthor is plotting the Man of Steel’s downfall, and the Justice Gang are not helping matters. Oh, and he’s also dog sitting a hyperactive dog with superpowers…
Pre-review notes:
I am a big fan of DC – comics, movies, video games – but, like many people, have mixed feelings on the recent movie adaptations. I will admit though that I’m in the small minority of people who enjoyed Zack Snyder’s take on the characters – so you may want to take this review with a pinch of salt…
What I liked:
Krypto the superdog. I love dogs. And he absolutely steals the show for me. About an hour into the movie, I thought to myself, why didn’t they just make this movie about Superman looking after Krypto? I would have paid good money to have watched an hour and a half of Superman trying to take him for a walk or play fetch or tidy up after the chaos. My favourite line in the whole movie was after Krypto has been kidnapped and Superman tells Lois “He isn’t even a very good dog but he’s out there alone and scared. I have to find him.”
We might not have an ‘S’ on our chest, but we can still be a beacon of hope in a world that can often feel hopeless
I think, on the whole, everyone was very well cast and did a great job with the material they had been given to work with. David Corenswet was fine as Superman, although at times felt very immature which I’m not convinced fits the character well. Rachel Brosnahan was brilliant as Lois Lane and I wish she had more screentime with Superman. Edi Gathegi did a good job too as Mr Terrific (a relatively obscure character for those non-comic book readers) that I think general audiences will be intrigued by and will want to see more of in the future.
What I didn’t like:
I really didn’t want to not like this movie. I had lowered my expectations and prepared myself to be disappointed by it but, unfortunately, it ended up running into all the problems that I had feared it would.
James Gunn is a fantastic director. The Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy is my favourite Marvel content and up there in my favourite films of all time. So why did this not work for me? At Marvel, Gunn answered to Kevin Feige and had to tone down some of his crass comedy to meet the family friendly MCU. But at DC, not only is Gunn the writer and director, he is also the Head of the studio… This means he doesn’t really answer to anyone and as a result can do whatever he wants without anyone telling him maybe not all his ideas are good ones…
Silly isn’t always funny. I love comedy but comedy is more than just goofing around. Unfortunately, this film is just silly. A lot of the characters are just silly. And it’s eyerolling stuff. A lot of the jokes feel like they overstay their welcome or go too far. Even Krypto (and remember, I love this dog) went too far at points where it made me sigh, wishing for just one moment in the film that didn’t get undercut by a silly moment.
To one person, your opinion may put you in the ‘good’, to another it might cause you to fall in the ‘bad’. Cancel culture and social media make this a fine line to walk on
At no point did I really feel Superman was ‘super’ and maybe that was the point, and I’m just so used to seeing the epic version of Superman that anything else feels a disappointment. But, as I’ve read others saying, you could have replaced Superman with pretty much any superhero, and you wouldn’t have noticed.
The movie is also overstuffed with characters. For a launch of a new cinematic universe, there are far too many characters to build any sort of relationship with. The Daily Planet crew are used sparingly and yet are meant to have a big moment by the end of the film but you’re sat there thinking ‘who’s that guy again and why is here?’.
The action scenes feel generic and lack any sort of emotional stakes. Bash, crash, wallop, repeat. There’s one sequence that is so CGI heavy that I felt ill watching it, unsure of what was going on or why I should even care…
The movie isn’t dreadful. It’s just painfully average. It has its moments but ultimately, when asking the question whether I would watch it again, I doubt it.
Notes for parents:
There are a few swearwords, a coldblooded murder and a disgusting scene involving poking a giant monster’s eyeball which made me feel pretty sick…
Faith thoughts:
I think the film was trying to answer the question ‘can someone be just ‘good’ in today’s climate?’ I’m not sure how well the film explored that concept but let’s give it a go.
What does it mean to be good?
Well, you’d hope that as Christians, we would all be ‘good’ people. That if someone met us and was asked whether they thought we were a ‘good’ person, they would answer ‘yes’ immediately.
Read more:
Lilo and Stitch – Finding life after death
Thunderbolts* – Redemption in the face of darkness
It’s part of our belief that we were all made in the image of God and therefore reflect God’s character. We believe that God is all good and therefore, as followers of Jesus we should model His goodness in our everyday lives.
However, I don’t know whether I am always a good person, even though I am a child of God. Ultimately, God’s decision to allow us to have free will rather affects my ‘good’ levels on any given day. If life feels easy, fun and stress free, I think I would pass the test. On days when my anxiety, stress and loneliness get the better of me, I think there would be a case in which I might not make the ‘good’ grade. I hope I wouldn’t make the ‘bad’ grade but I certainly am not naïve enough to think I never fall into the ‘okay’ category.
The world today is certainly difficult to navigate and trying to appease to its ‘good’ and ‘bad’ labels might cause a headache or two. To one person, your opinion may put you in the ‘good’, to another it might cause you to fall in the ‘bad’. Cancel culture and social media make this a fine line to walk on.
But as Christians we are called to be more than just good. There are plenty of ‘good’ people who have no relationship with God at all and, if the entrance into heaven was depended on acts of kindness, would be sat close to Jesus in Heaven. However, our actions are not what we are judged on.
Fundamentally, it is our character that is important (1 Samuel 16:7) and, more importantly than that, it is our relationship with God. But truthfully, our relationship with God is what brings out our true character. The closer we are to God, the closer we imitate his goodness. We might not have an ‘S’ on our chest, but we can still be a beacon of hope in a world that can often feel hopeless.
