Superman (James Gunn, 2025) & Two Bonus Reviews

James Gunn’s Superman is not the second coming of comic book movies, but as a superhero movie it stands head and shoulders above most of the other entries in this franchise, except for perhaps the first one.

Mileage may very, but when I say ‘perhaps’it’s because I am the kind of European who has never really cared about Superman in the abstract.

I respect the original franchise with Christopher Reeve for its place in cinematic history, and while I will concede that the first movie is ‘good, actually’ it doesn’t really hold a special place in my heart (I did find the recent Christopher Reeve documentary incredibly moving - see below).

For me, as event movies go, it really began with Bryan Singer’s Superman Returns (2006), followed by Zach Snyder’s Man of Steel (2013). The first one an interesting failure, the second one, well, a failure.

So imagine my excitement when one of my favorite directors, James Gunn, announced that he and his producing partner Peter Safran were going to make a new Superman movie, to kick off the new DC Studios.

Finally, a Superman movie for me.

Cue to July 2025, and I say, well, close enough but I have some issues.

First off, Gunn hasn’t really solved the problem that lies at the heart of every Superman movie: that the Jesus-like title character isn’t simply a nice guy, but also a total dullard, who only wants to do the right thing and save the world, as the sincere face of American imperialism.

In this movie Gunn tries to make Supes more interesting by throwing him around, kicking him when he’s down and smashing him into the ground. Quite literally, I might add.

And to a certain extent it works. I did feel his pain from time to time. But not to the point that I was ever really afraid for his fate. This is not Batman vs. Superman. This is the first new DC movie and Superman simply has to live and see DC Studios become successful.

A little cynical, I know, but so is the movie business.

In interviews Gunn has admitted that it wasn’t his dream to make a Superman movie, it was Peter Safran’s. And when you watch the movie with that in mind, it makes sense.

Gunn’s approach to filmmaking, a massive, (what I like to call) Hammer of the Gods-style assault on the senses, isn’t particularly well suited to the more lighthearted lark that is Superman, no matter David Corenswet’s earnest performance as both Clark Kent and Superman.

It works better with Rachel Broshanan’s Lois Lane. In fact the movie perks up whenever she is in it.

She’s a punk rocker from Bakerline, who became a journalist to question authority and ask uncomfortable questions.

There is a great scene early on where Lois interviews Superman about a mission gone wrong, that eventually spins completely out of hand.

Clark is a nice guy who thinks that listening to pop punk is the same as being a punk rocker.

James Gunn is the Troma guy who would have loved to make a really hardcore Superman movie - I’m not a mind reader, I’m aware I’m interpreting here - but he knows that even he couldn’t get away with that and the end result is kinda stuck between a rock and a hard place.

It’s the best possible Superman movie that I know but for me it’s still not completely great.

It’s got its political heart in the right place, though, it’s absolutely pro immigrant and anti Trump and Musk (as Lex Luthor is a mix of those two, as energetically played by Nicholas Hoult). It’s also against fake news and the rise of authoritarian rule in America, in case that’s not clear from the previous sentence.

The story, you may wonder? Let’s just say: Gunn goes as big as possible and of course the universe absolutely needs saving. On a more personal level Clark has to reconcile his possibly explosive Kryptonian heritage with his morally sound upbringing in Smallville, Kansas.

There are some interesting and colorful supporting characters, played by the likes of Nathan Fillion, Alan Tudyk and Isabella Merced, and the special effects are mostly fine.

And if you like animals: Krypto the Dog is a hero!

I give it a 7 1/2 out of ten!

Note: Superman is released this week.

SUPER/MAN: THE CHRISTOPHER REEVE STORY (2024)

Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story is a moving documentary tribute to the legendary actor, who, after his near-fatal horse-riding accident, became an activist for other invalids.

This documentary by Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui doesn’t shy away from the accident, which happened in 1995, after he starred in four Superman films, and left him paralyzed from the neck down.

The movie puts the accident front and center for the first twenty minutes and then moves back and forth in time to create a complete picture of a remarkable man.

Christopher Reeve (1952 - 2004) was the son of an ambitious father, who was both a brilliant intellectual and an impressive outdoors type. The kind of guy who could do anything.

Young Chris felt he couldn’t live up to those impossible standards and went his own way instead. Studying acting at Juilliard at least gave him the opportunity to play everything and anything.

But when he was about to fly to London to audition for Super-Man, William Hurt told him not to go, cause it might hamper his desire to be seen as a serious actor. (Which in a way is what happened as Reeve would go on to star in good movies that nobody went to see).

So, as fate would have it, Reeve did fly to London on a Sunday, auditioned on Monday morning and after he had flown back to the States he could tell Hurt and his fellow actors, like Jeff Daniels, that he got the part that would forever change his life.

This is just one of the many anecdotes in a movie that covers a lot of ground. Like his friendship with Robin Williams, who considered him to be his brother, and who according to Susan Sarandon might still be alive today if he hadn’t lost Christopher.

Then, of course, there is Christopher’s family, first and foremost wife Dana, who supported him after his accident above and beyond the call of marital duty.

There’s also his youngest son Will, who celebrated his third birthday while his father was in the hospital. And his oldest son Matthew and daughter Alexandra, children from a previous relationship with longtime girlfriend Gae Exton.

They are shown in home videos, archive footage and in more recent interviews, while all sharing very intimate memories.

After the accident Reeve transformed from Superman into something else again: a quadriplegic who became a prominent activist for disability rights and spinal cord injury treatments through the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation.

He also starred as an invalid in a remake of Rear Window (1998), and even directed a number of films himself.

There are enough uplifting moments in this documentary, that could probably have done without the overbearing music, but in the end it can’t really hide the fact that it’s a proper tearjerker.

The saddest fact perhaps being that the wonderful Dana Reeve died from lung cancer only a year after Christopher passed away. Truly heartbreaking stuff.

I give it 8 1/2 out of ten!

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3 (James Gunn, 2023)

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is the highly satisfying end game of James Gunn’s well-regarded Marvel franchise.

The snarky humor and the needle drops are there. So is the action, mostly of the mind-blowing kind, the delightful set pieces and the striking visual palette with a master’s eye for detail.

And so, of course, are the characters: Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) leads them into the fray one last time. Drax (Dave Bautista), Mantis (Pom Klementieff), Nebula (Karen Gillan), Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel), and even a new version of Gamora (Zoe Saldana). They are all there. Except one.

This time the mission is not just to save earth, but even more importantly, to save Rocket Raccoon (voiced by Bradley Cooper). One for all, all for one. We know the drill.

This time around the Guardians have a formidable opponent in The High Evolutionary, who is played impressively by British actor Chukwudi Iwuji.

Some minor quibbles: the story is pretty generic, the movie feels (at about 150 minutes) a bit long in the tooth, and not all the special effects look great, even though on the whole they look much better than the effects in the recent Quantumania.

For the most part, however, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 sees Gunn firing on all cylinders. Which automatically means it’s the best comic book movie in a while.

So is Vol. 3 the movie that will put superhero movies back on top? I’m not quite sure. I think it will open big, based on the reputation of the first two movies, but it might prove to be more divisive in the long run, based on the darker tone and the go-for-broke mentality that Gunn employs this time around.

Though not quite as violent as last year’s The Suicide Squad, it is even more bonkers bananas than the first two Guardians movie.

I’m not saying Vol. 3 feels like a big budget Troma-movie, it’s definitely not dirty enough for that. But Gunn is still the guy who kicked off his career with writing Tromeo and Juliet and made his first feature as director with the enervating horror comedy Slither.

And Vol. 3 does contain both a punky raw power and a sense of the grotesque that you don’t normally associate with a Disney Marvel movie.

So more power to James Gunn, as far as I’m concerned, and I’m sure that a lot of the more hardcore Marvel-fans will agree. But it’s not quite the ‘fun for the whole family’ film that the trailers and internet clips were suggesting.

Now that Gunn is head of DC (together with Peter Safran) I’m really looking forward to his Superman movie, which is now slated for 11 July 2025.

I give it 8 1/2 out of ten!