Superman (2025 | USA | 129 minutes | James Gunn)

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’re probably aware that there’s a new Superman movie heading to theaters this summer. If you are living under a rock, the Man of Steel will cheerfully use his super-human strength to hold up said rock long enough to move yourself, your family, and your worldly possessions to much more stable housing.

Before I show my work, I’ll give my verdict: the movie is very entertaining and pretty good, as it was DC Studios’ obligation to deliver. By obligation, I don’t mean to its fans, as comic book movie fans are the most oft-rewarded fandom in popular culture. What I mean is that DC was obligated to its (super)hero for redemption for whatever CGI-enabled monstrosity was done to the Last Son of Krypton’s face in the “Whedon Cut” of the Justice League movie. I know it’s something I keep harping on because it’s so funny.

James Gunn is the co-chairman and CEO of DC Studios, and he’s also the director here. He looks like a cross between Johnny Knoxville and Col. Sanders and has the energy of a child en route to meeting Willy Wonka (all of which I mean in the most lovingly way possible). He loves comic books and that passion translates to the screen. I really admire that he finds the most obscure DC Comics characters and rehabilitates them from obscurity to the big screen. There’s a lot of gags and Easter eggs for the fans. I particularly laughed at a joke made about how glasses are the reason no one can make the connection that Superman and Clark Kent are the same. Spoiler alert, sorry. The nerdy love Gunn has for comic books and the storytelling is what propels the film.

In one sense, Superman is the antithesis of the other big DC property, Batman. James Gunn has no interest in giving Superman the darkness and grittiness we’ve seen in Gotham City, for better or worse. The bightness here is one of the strengths as the technicolors pop on screen. It’s one of the most brightly-lit action movies I’ve seen in a long time.

The level of optimism here is admirable, though I found the political moralizing a bit ham-handed, particularly the allusions to disappearing people to “pocket universes” and the subplot based loosely on the Ukraine/Russian conflict. I don’t like what the Trump presidency is doing any more than any other Seattle liberal in good standing, but I would’ve enjoyed Superman a bit more if the politics were a little less overt than an afterschool special. On a side note, am I the only one that noticed Nicholas Hoult’s turn as Lex Luthor kinda resembles Matt Taibbi?

That’s minor quibbling, though, because Gunn’s Superman movie does a lot right. The action sequences are universally awesome. David Corenswet does an admirable job as the Man of Steel in his first real major, starring role. Rachel Brosnahan is lovely as Lois Lane, and is an excellent casting choice. She and Corenswet have good chemistry and I really liked the scene where Clark Kent and Lois Lane are first alone and he’s making breakfast for dinner. It’s the one scene that’s a bit understated and a welcome relief from the constant action (which, again, is universally awesome).

Nathan Fillion brings a lot of laughs as the Green Lantern, one of the easiest DC characters to roast, even by Green Lanterns. Here he has more bravado than Superman, which seems awfully boastful for someone who is vulnerable to a Butterfinger wrapper. Moreover, Kryptonite is much, much harder to come across than a box of Cheerios. He also seems to share the same barber as Moe from “The Three Stooges.” He’s teamed up with Mr. Terrific (Edi Gathegi) and Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced) as Superman’s sometimes-allies. They’re tentatively called “the Justice Gang,” but that’s not set in stone.

No one made me laugh harder than Sara Sampaio as Eve Teschmacher, the selfie-loving girlfriend of Lex Luthor who not-so-secretly pines for Jimmy Olsen. She’s always seen snapping photos of herself against backdrops that show Luthor’s malevolent ambitions.

Superman does what it needs to do. It delivers a good moviegoing experience. It has a lot going on and throws a lot of spaghetti at the wall, but a lot of it sticks.

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Superman is in theaters everywhere. Literally everywhere.