{"id":31625,"date":"2025-07-10T18:29:35","date_gmt":"2025-07-11T01:29:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=31625"},"modified":"2025-07-10T18:29:35","modified_gmt":"2025-07-11T01:29:35","slug":"superman-doesnt-quite-soar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=31625","title":{"rendered":"SUPERMAN Doesn\u2019t Quite Soar"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Running Time: 129 minutes<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This feature from Warner Bros. opens exclusively at\ncinemas and on IMAX screens July 11th<\/sup>, 2025.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back in 1978, long before theatergoers were given a new superhero\nmovie every few months, Hollywood took a huge gamble on Superman<\/em>, the\nlive-action adaptation of a famous comic book. It became a cultural phenomenon,\neven earning awards. Simply put, it\u2019s an impossible act to follow. In the\nfollowing years, we\u2019ve gotten sequels and reboots of varying quality. The\nlatest is, well, Superman<\/em>, a film that reintroduces the character in a\nmodern world dominated by social media. Written and directed by James Gunn (the\nGuardians of the Galaxy<\/em> series, Suicide Squad<\/em>), the end result\nincludes a few alterations on the story\u2019s classic elements, but the final film\nis a hodgepodge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The film does not spend any time setting up its lead, Metropolis, or the world around him. After a few title cards, we learn it has been some years since Superman\/Clark Kent (David Corenswet) has taken up the mantle of being a superhero, and that has just been defeated for the first time by the \u201cmetahuman\u201d goons of nemesis Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult). Luthor is determined to wipe Superman out, even creating more of these super-figures to do so (which does result in some questions about his endgame, but oh well). Struggling to rebound and recover, Superman finds that the public have stopped supporting or appreciating him, believing he may be hiding sinister motives for his altruistic actions. Even girlfriend Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan), who knows his true identity, questions his decision. Luthor soon unveils his elaborate plan, teaming with a dictator, while the protagonist struggles to stay alive.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While I have seen most films involving this character, I am\nnot any sort of authority on him or the comic- book world. For me, the opening\nact is remarkably confusing, with Superman struggling in the Antarctic and\nrandom characters racing around various locales. In fact, if the title cards\nhadn\u2019t appeared, I might have thought that the cinema had neglected to show\nviewers the first 20 minutes of the film. It is a chaotic jumble and, yes, the\ntension is high, but the opening act jumps between a lot of familiar and\nunfamiliar characters, fighting, arguing and shouting at each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The flying scenes, with the camera keeping pace as he darts\nthrough the air, are impressive to behold. Star Corenswet is likable as the\ntitular character, who tries to maintain a positive attitude amidst the\nnegativity from all around him. But even then, many of his interactions with\nLane result in bickering. Admittedly, the film is attempting to create drama\nand tension between the pair, but despite their later declarations of true\nlove, at times you do wonder if they really are well-suited to each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Truth be told, the overall tone is actually darker than\nanticipated, filled with nasty beatdowns. The filmmakers seem concerned that\nSuperman might come across as infallible, but they appear to overcompensate for\nit in this film and it all feels glum. As the story moves forward, it does try\nto insert quirky jokes from strange, sideline characters. A couple of them are\ninteresting, including the gruff Mister Terrific (Edi Gathegi) whose bluntness\nearns some chuckles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But just as many are problematic. Since the title character always takes the moral high ground, a few supporting heroes seem to be there to kill villains and dole out violent justice. While a particular foe is horrendous and was about to commit heinous crimes, they didn\u2019t succeed in ending anyone\u2019s life, so the vengeance comes across as odd. There are brief explanations for some of the many inconsistencies, but they aren\u2019t great arguments. Another issue is the badly-behaved, computer-generated pooch Krypto. It simply doesn\u2019t look convincing and isn\u2019t as engaging as hoped for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Thankfully, there is one character-based element that works\nwell. Despite the fact that his adopted Earth parents Jonathan and Martha Kent\n(Pruitt Taylor Vince and Neva Howell) don\u2019t seem to be trying as hard as they\nshould to make contact when their adopted is in grave danger, the they do come\ntogether there is a very sweet and affecting conversation between father and\nson that marks the movie\u2019s emotional high point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Corenswet is a charismatic lead who embodies the role well and one hopes that he can take on the part again. One should give some props for a couple of unique approaches to storytelling in this superhero universe. However, the latest take on the hero doesn\u2019t even measure up to other recent films of its ilk. It is hyperactive and jumbled, many of the characters aren\u2019t well-developed, and the editing will ultimately leave you confused about the story. In the end, Superman<\/em> fails to soar.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Running Time: 129 minutes This feature from Warner Bros. opens exclusively at cinemas and on IMAX screens July 11th, 2025. Back in 1978, long before theatergoers were given a new superhero movie every few months, Hollywood took a huge gamble on Superman, the live-action adaptation of a famous comic book. It became a cultural phenomenon, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":31629,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[216,697,4668,4669,5288,5376,10234,14792,16562,19362,19368,19369,19370,19371,19373,23989],"class_list":["post-31625","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movie-reviews","tag-216","tag-action","tag-comic-book","tag-comic-book-adaptation","tag-david-corenswet","tag-dc","tag-james-gunn","tag-nicholas-hoult","tag-rachel-brosnahan","tag-superhero","tag-superman","tag-superman-film","tag-superman-film-review","tag-superman-movie-review","tag-superman-review","tag-warner-bros"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31625","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=31625"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31625\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=31625"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=31625"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=31625"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}