Superman (2025)

[busaikuknee]

Originally Posted by MovinRightAlong

Aaannndddd......are they discussing the FILM, big guy? Are they staying.....on topic??? Whew, look at you. You thought you were having your moment in the sun, when instead you were wearing a Kryptonite necklace. Ah well, at least you tried! Enjoy your Participation trophies for taking a swing. Cheers!

[spanky87]

Thankfully James Gunn didn’t listen to the plebs at the test screenings that didn’t like the squirrel scene. Peak Superman moment. The opening night crowd ate it up.

Via Rolling Stone:

"We showed it to test audiences and some people did not like the squirrel. They're like, 'Why the **** is he saving a squirrel? Why is he taking time out, saving a squirrel?' There was a cut where I cut it out and I'm like, 'I really miss the squirrel. He's gotta save the squirrel."

[Kylo_Ren]

It's Superman.

Of course he would save the squirrel.

I liked that scene.

[DThompson]

The squirrel moment was so out of nowhere in a good way and really showed just how every life matters to him. Even wanting to save the

[Show spoiler]Kaiju.

Next time I demand a cat in a tree.

[starmike]

Originally Posted by DThompson

The squirrel moment was so out of nowhere in a good way and really showed just how every life matters to him. Even wanting to save the

[Show spoiler]Kaiju.

Next time I demand a cat in a tree.

Without the girl getting hit. Cringe '70s.

[DThompson]

Originally Posted by starmike

Without the girl getting hit. Cringe '70s.

Wonder how the mom felt when she saw Superman on the news. Better have apologized to the daughter.

[Zivouhr]

Originally Posted by Kylo_Ren

It's Superman.

Of course he would save the squirrel.

I liked that scene.

Originally Posted by DThompson

The squirrel moment was so out of nowhere in a good way and really showed just how every life matters to him. Even wanting to save the

[Show spoiler]Kaiju.

Next time I demand a cat in a tree.

Originally Posted by spanky87

Thankfully James Gunn didn’t listen to the plebs at the test screenings that didn’t like the squirrel scene. Peak Superman moment. The opening night crowd ate it up.

Via Rolling Stone:

I also thought Superman caring enough about a squirrel of all creatures, really showed his depth that he's not just about saving our own people, but cares even for the animals. What a great super hero. The fact that Gunn wrote that in his story, reveals a lot about how much he appreciates animals, along with one of his interviews about it.

Rocket Raccoon was one of the main reasons he agreed to writing Guardians of the Galaxy. To tell that story of Rocket from 1 to 3.

[aladdin123]

James Gunn is fantastic at casting, that's for sure. Everyone feels perfect in their roles, and he understands the characters very well. I enjoyed the film a lot. The problems I have with it are the tonal inconsistencies and the convoluted narrative structure. On one hand, Gunn is a true comic book fan, he isn't ashamed of how over-the-top, fantastical and silly the world of comics can be and often is. Camp is not a dirty word to him. That's to be commended. He understands the wonder, fun and escapism of super-heroes, and he also gets how you can have all those things and still be earnest and sincere with the emotions and struggles of the characters. The drama still matters. On the other hand, he often struggles to balance all those elements well. I wish we had seen more of the Boravia plot, about a fictional middle-east country which Superman stops from invading other (paralells with the Israel vs. Palestine conflict are hard to miss, with the invading nation being explicitly stated to be an ally of the United States) and less of the pocket universe, which is the main responsible for the muddy storytelling. And the action scenes often feel like more of the same from modern Hollywood blockbusters, and I'm not a fan of the action in modern Hollywood blockbusters.

Clark and Lois have such amazing chemistry, and they are both cast and written so well, that I wish the two of them together had been more of a focal point in the film, especially in how she challenges his views. I don't think that got fully developed as it should throughout the film. She asks the tough hard and morally grey questions, such as regarding his handling of the Boravia conflict. But none of those interesting questions gets much further developed after the amazing interview scene, which happens very early in the film, and the whole conflict gets very simplified, with us being clearly meant to be on the side of the nation getting invaded. That said, I understand Gunn not being able to get too political in a mainstream super-hero film, with so much money riding on it (can't afford to piss off half of americans), and I'm still sympathetic to the film's stance.

In comparison to the classic western, what holds back the super-hero genre in cinema is that because the films are so expensive, they have to play it much safer thematically, narratively and stylistically, while westerns could be made for dirt-cheap in comparison. I also think super-heroes are generally better fit to long-form storytelling because those actually allow us to see the heroes in much more average scenarios instead of always needing to have some generic fights and action to save the world, or something like that, from being literally destroyed.

I understand the controversy with what was done to Jor-El and Lara, but I understand the reasoning for the change: to say that Superman is good because he is good and wants to help others, regardless of anything else. Gunn understands the point of Superman's character: Superman is a subversion of the idea that power corrupts. That's what makes Superman inspiring. The idea is that Superman is good because he chooses to be and is so regardless of his biological parents. That's a major theme in Gunn's filmography overall, and I think he might also have been inspired by Smallville.

I'm looking forward to the Supergirl film. Milly Alcock was great and charming in her cameo here, and the film will be an adaptation of the great Woman of Tomorrow comic!

[Zivouhr]

Originally Posted by aladdin123

James Gunn is fantastic at casting, that's for sure. Everyone feels perfect in their roles, and he understands the characters very well. I enjoyed the film a lot. The problems I have with it are the tonal inconsistencies and the convoluted narrative structure. On one hand, Gunn is a true comic book fan, he isn't ashamed of how over-the-top, fantastical and silly the world of comics can be and often is. Camp is not a dirty word to him. That's to be commended. He understands the wonder, fun and escapism of super-heroes, and he also gets how you can have all those things and still be earnest and sincere with the emotions and struggles of the characters. The drama still matters. On the other hand, he often struggles to balance all those elements well.

[Show spoiler]I wish we had seen more of the Boravia plot, about a fictional middle-east country which Superman stops from invading other (paralells with the Israel vs. Palestine conflict are hard to miss, with the invading nation being explicitly stated to be an ally of the United States) and less of the pocket universe, which is the main responsible for the muddy storytelling. And the action scenes often feel like more of the same from modern Hollywood blockbusters, and I'm not a fan of the action in modern Hollywood blockbusters.

Clark and Lois have such amazing chemistry, and they are both cast and written so well, that I wish the two of them together had been more of a focal point in the film, especially in how she challenges his views. I don't think that got fully developed as it should throughout the film. She asks the tough hard and morally grey questions, such as regarding his handling of the Boravia conflict. But none of those interesting questions gets much further developed after the amazing interview scene, which happens very early in the film, and the whole conflict gets very simplified, with us being clearly meant to be on the side of the nation getting invaded. That said, I understand Gunn not being able to get too political in a mainstream super-hero film, with so much money riding on it (can't afford to piss off half of americans), and I'm still sympathetic to the film's stance.

In comparison to the classic western, what holds back the super-hero genre in cinema is that because the films are so expensive, they have to play it much safer thematically, narratively and stylistically, while westerns could be made for dirt-cheap in comparison. I also think super-heroes are generally better fit to long-form storytelling because those actually allow us to see the heroes in much more average scenarios instead of always needing to have some generic fights and action to save the world, or something like that, from being literally destroyed.

I understand the controversy with what was done to Jor-El and Lara, but I understand the reasoning for the change: to say that Superman is good because he is good and wants to help others, regardless of anything else. Gunn understands the point of Superman's character: Superman is a subversion of the idea that power corrupts. That's what makes Superman inspiring. The idea is that Superman is good because he chooses to be and is so regardless of his biological parents.

That's a major theme in Gunn's filmography overall, and I think he might also have been inspired by Smallville.

I'm looking forward to the Supergirl film. Milly Alcock was great and charming in her cameo here, and the film will be an adaptation of the great Woman of Tomorrow comic!

Interesting and good points too. I agree about the parents too, how that reflects directly on Superman's goodness.
I liked how that interview scene put their relationship in question, and they had to decide how to move forward from there or not.

[moreorless]

Originally Posted by MuffinMcFluffin

He said that?

Fool, every man, woman, and child on the planet knows Superman, as much as they know Mickey Mouse, Sherlock Holmes, Robin Hood, and Tarzan. They may not know his lore or find him to be a cinematic bore, but he is the poster child of the phrase "household name." Now, that doesn't mean that his reach should extend well beyond the domestic box office, but to call him lesser known is just objectively false.

However, he is not worried about a thing. This movie is restoring faith in audiences to potentially return to the DCU. The final films of the DCEU showed that they had been abandoned (Black Adam, Shazam 2, The Flash, Blue Beetle, and Aquaman 2). Hell, Superman is already on its way to passing all five films in less than two weeks time, and that includes its lackluster international earnings.

But he has nothing to fret. This movie even propelled F4 presales numbers. This is a win for this universe's future. And I'm saying this as somebody who is very lukewarm on this movie serving as the DCU's launchpad.

I would say though that Superman outside the US whist "known" doesnt have the level of attachment of Batman and Spiderman, maybe also a bit more bound up with US nationalism in audiences eyes? Generally I think superhero films outside the US tend to need to sell themselves more and in this case I think your dealing with a film having to recover from the negative legacy of the DCEU.

I feel like its probably a smart thing not to rush this new shared universe, for one thing of course actually give it time for the scripts to be good but also I think give it time for this film to help win people around.

[birdztudio]

remember to put spoiler tag please....

[Gacivory]

I didn’t see any Superman toys in the clearance section at Walmart but in the toy section I did see some pretty sweet Biker Mice From Mars toys!

[DR Herbert West]

Originally Posted by Gacivory

I didn’t see any Superman toys in the clearance section at Walmart but in the toy section I did see some pretty sweet Biker Mice From Mars toys!

I hope the show doesn't get cancelled.

[RossyG]

In the UK it's doing well and not much short of Jurassic 7 in terms of tickets sold, but I think in general kids in Europe are more interested in videogames and Manga/anime than American comics.

There are comic shops in most towns and they'll sell Marvel and DC stuff but more to older dedicated fans. To kids they'll sell One Piece, Attack on Titan etc.

Comic book films have done really well over here, but there have been too many bad ones and the brand loyalty isn't really there to stick with the genre. They can be lured back but it might take more than one good film to do that.

No big stars might have been a problem too with the older demographic.

[NuXiaolin]

Originally Posted by RossyG

No big stars might have been a problem too with the older demographic.

That's the interesting thing - I didn't recognise a single name in the cast list and I'm only 38!

[Socko]

Originally Posted by RossyG

In the UK it's doing well and not much short of Jurassic 7 in terms of tickets sold, but I think in general kids in Europe are more interested in videogames and Manga/anime than American comics.

In the US it seems Superman is gaining on the dinosaurs.
It will cross 250 million for the Tuesday numbers after 12 days.
It took JWR 16 days to reach that number.

I'd say it's on par with The Batman.
Let's see what kind of damage The Fantastic Four is going to do this weekend.

I'll be seeing that tonight.

[Jay Mammoth]

I think Marvel and DC will be celebrating their July movie releases next month.

[DR Herbert West]

Originally Posted by Jay Mammoth

I think Marvel and DC will be celebrating their July movie releases next month.

It definitely looks that way.

[Mattgreenbean]

The 3D version has reinvigorated my wanting to see everything in 3D.

So many familiar faces. I had fun spotting them all.

Great monsters. Great Christopher Reeves era Superman Vibes. Ready for more Superman.

[levcore]

Yes, shame it won't get a 3D blu ray.