Superman

This was such an enjoyable movie! I rarely ever watch superhero films because Marvel really ruined the experience for me, but I’m glad I gave the Superman (2025) a shot! There were so many details in the film that showed just how much the writers and producers cared about the story. 

First of all, the soundtrack. Most generic blockbusters nowadays have equally generic soundtracks. They don’t really sound bad, but it adds nothing to the film either. But in the case of the new Superman, there was something so unique about the music that I couldn’t place my finger on. Whatever it was, I could immediately tell it was composed with care and made specifically to enhance the visuals of the scene. For example, in the beginning when Superman flies across the ice, the music swells in a way that makes the moment truly feel epic. I can’t remember a time when I was this awed by a hero flying of all things!

Also, every single character was amazingly written. SPOILERS AHEAD! Superman is written as such an honest and sincere character, very distant from the icy version by Henry Cavill. It was easy to feel empathy towards him when his name was slandered and he was villainized by the humans he swore to protect. Also, Superman’s secret harem is probably the funniest lore drop I’ve ever seen in a movie, period. In the film, Lois was charming and Mister Terrific was hilariously done with everyone’s nonsense.

Sooo… Let’s talk about Lex Luther. He was an absolutely great villain. This xenophobe tech bro and his obsession with Superman was crazy; he codes each of the tech attacks on Superman with a letter-number combo, and near the end of the film, the kill shot was titled ‘A1’. You can really tell just how long Lex Luther was plotting his opponent’s death. Little details like these definitely don’t go unnoticed, and add so much characterization! But the initial portrayal of Lex being a sillier villain really makes his later actions an actual punch in the gut. Stealing Superman’s dog was already a crazy level of evil. And then he kills Falafel man.

Even though we only met Falafel man in one scene, it was absolutely heartbreaking when he died. Even more so than the entirety of the deaths in Avengers: Infinity War. This moment turns Lex Luther into a truly despicable villain, and I was shocked by how affected I was in Superman’s goal to bring him down. In the end, Lex Luther’s girlfriend, Eve, taking well placed selfies to incriminate her boyfriend was a genius plot twist that I loved so much! There was just something so honest and sincere about these characters and their relationships that made me so emotionally attached to the plot. 

There was one question I had while watching: what in tarnation is an ‘antimatter river’? Some of the physics here are not physics-ing. When regular matter and antimatter collide, it should annihilate and release a massive burst of energy. When Superman falls into the antimatter river, shouldn’t he have died instantly? Unless he was made of antimatter… but he seems to be just fine touching regular matter on Earth. The antimatter being pixelated and colorful is also a peculiar detail. It doesn’t seem to completely be in a liquid phase, so what are the physics behind its physical properties? Antimatter was tested and found to be experimentally the same as regular matter, so it is theorized that it would look and act the same as regular matter. But I guess it would be boring if Superman was flowing down a regular river!

One thing that didn’t really work for me in the movie was the reveal about Lex Luthor’s killing machine. This robot thing spent the entire movie trying to kill Superman, and it’s movements were remotely controlled by Lex Luthor (A1!! A1!! A1!!). But when the robot’s mask comes off, it’s revealed to be… a clone of Superman? I just felt like this twist didn’t really relate with Superman’s internal conflict in the story. Superman knows that he isn’t a monster that would hurt others, so what purpose does is there for a villain clone of himself? Anyways, that’s a really minor detail, and didn’t change my overall perception of the film. 

Usually, my gut reactions to superhero films are somewhere along the lines of ‘bleghhhhhhh’.

But for the first time after watching one of these movies, I really wanted a sequel! I hope this Superman continues to fight other bad guys and go on crazy adventures in the future.