Superman (2025) Reaction!
Added 2025-10-23 13:11:52 +0000 UTC
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Yeah, Gunn had the time of having the “HATE THIS MAN!!” writing for old Lexie, which does hamper some of the fun. It also doesn’t fully work as this variant of Lex is still not as hateful as Boy Kavalier, nor even the Zuckerberg fuckwit variant of Lex in the Snyderverse, so he’s got that going for him. Edi Gathegi was good in Gone, Baby, Gone. Saw him in the one Blacklist spin-off, where he was good in that. This is the big redemption for him after the waste of his talent in X-Men, also with Nicholas. Huh, irony abounds. We do sort of just spring Metamorpho on us with zero explanation, and that one, I didn’t bat an eye. The pocket universe helps the normals in the audience, I would imagine. Plus, Batman Returns never did explain how Catwoman’s survival worked, nor for that matter, did they ever explain exactly where Penguin got the rockets for his army of penguins, or the giant Duckmobile, yet we never questioned it as it was that grand and wonderful and spectacular. Here, it is the next logical step with the ambition, greater numbers of more hardcore nerds in the audience, that yeah, it works very well here. Anthony did deliver. You can see how he channeled his self-consciousness into this. Good comparison to Doomsday Machine. Heard about the #Release the Punch Cut campaign. And yeah, weird hypocrisy with the squirrel. Maybe they anticipated Jess on their asses if they kept the punch? The original plan does give the further weight to Krypto’s actions. The Engineer does sort of fade into the background, stuck with Johnny asking, “Where did you get that cgi, it’s AWFUL!! That stupid backflip, and the fake as all hell looking buzzsaws, JEEEZ!!” Still think the one scene is too similar to Loki being turned into the ragdoll, but that is about an appropriate punishment when one does not clean the leeks. The buffoon, as Jess called him in that one. I remember the big casting announcement for Supergirl. Good casting. I was under the impression that it leaked that she was going to be in this. (Which helped deduce the one reference you snuck into the one Sandman reaction, by the way.) There is the room for Gunn to do more or less what he wants to do with Supergirl. The change in age is a new wrinkle that sounds interesting. And there is now the question of whether she’s aware of the Kryptonian way as established in this film. And if she’s not aware, the question of is she going to be for or against it. Seeing as she never publicly disavowed Daemon getting the baby killed, not to mention when trying to get control of the dragons, she-Right, right, Supergirl, not Rhaenyra. Sorry. Curious how it would go. Say we did actually see the Targaryens meet this variant of the Kryptonians: They’d love each other, probably. Still interested in casting for Clayface. Nice about the different tones for each film. That was there for the early MCU, and still sort of is there in some stuff like Multiverse of Madness, though yeah, there has been something of the uniform look for the MCU, and hopefully this, DC Universe, I think is the name, won’t go down the same path. Fun bit of math trying to remember what came out each summer in the years from ‘95 onward. I got something similar of my aunt had an after Thanksgiving movie tradition for me, my brother, and my cousins, which then included my cousins’ kids, my cousins in-law, and my sister in-law. I know you said Sky High the one year, which holds up surprisingly well, at least in terms of being fun, plus that is the big introduction to Mary Elizabeth Winstead, so I’m forever grateful to the movie for that one. My mom still adores the Lynda Carter appearance in that movie. I do remember Inception coming out when it did. Saw that one with my brother and our cousin. Theater got MAD when they didn’t get the answer about the top, and we were fairly unbothered. And yes, my lukewarm response notwithstanding, much like Wicked, it is truly magical to see Jess just love this as she did. Good for her, and you. You guys hold onto that; you have that love. I’m just out of it with shit, though I guess Superman is worse about being out of the music loop than I am, so I can’t exactly judge on that one. I am aware of Flagg. Still not hugely enthused about the Suicide Squad movies, though the people that are in it, a few in particular will help get through it. And yes, we do have two upcoming films from that legendary song, and in between that, my pick for best live action comic book superhero film, or I should say that it’s tied with its sequel, which we already got Jess having the delightful reaction to last Christmas, for being my pick for best live action comic book superhero film. And honestly, just nice to read the love you have for Superman: Legacy. It may exacerbate the melancholy and loneliness on my end as I don’t exactly share it, but it is great to just see the response that you have, and Jess had.
Thomas Corp
2025-10-24 02:42:40 +0000 UTCAgain, the Justice Gang made me seriously think that I missed a few movies. Say there was more of the kind of writing like Gilroy had for Andor, that would help sell stuff that we just do not see. Sort of threw the towel some, and just ran with it as best I could. Missed the big cameo, though that is beautiful. Still do need to build up the emotional strength to see the documentary, and now the John Candy one. Need to pick a day where I’m just going to cry non-stop for both of them. Going back to the gang, it does have the feeling of the analogy that you used, and it does work. Gunn’s energy is too much for my brain, maybe. Fuck the idiots who didn’t get the Green Lantern of it all. I get that the movie sucked that bad, and people want to burn that from the brain, but his powers are fairly well known. And yeah, I’ve heard the pregnancy jokes with Isabela as Hawkgirl, good stuff. Anymore, I think it speaks to audiences all those years ago that has Lucas being too harsh on himself. Though I still love how even James thought Vader was lying, yet he still sold the line. Still think that John had to have been let in on the secret so as to score the scene properly, and he’s just more annoyed and amused that he was less thrown by that than Luke and Leia being siblings, after he already wrote the big grand love theme for them. Outrage over the twist was about as unavoidable as the Abby killed Joel outrage. Still think that more people should have expected something given the big point made about the recording being damaged. Even if one doesn’t anticipate the Viltrumite of it all, the dialogue screams some sort of surprise or twist of some kind. I admit that I’m not the biggest fan of the development, and even then, I’m more annoyed that more wasn’t done with it in this film, if that’s what Gunn was going to do. But even then, he very clearly had the lines that said it was real. Even Lex having dialogue similar to what I joke about the Emperor’s response to Barriss bombing the Jedi Temple, and framing Ahsoka for it. Shit like, “...This is NOT something I had anticipated, but it works perfectly for my plans. Who am I to look a gift horse in the mouth?” Frustrating that we still have the fans demanding that Gunn reverse course on the cockadoodie recording. Plus, like you’re saying, retconning it just undermines the big final scene. Again, maybe I’m not the biggest fan of it, but it’s what it is, and it’s better than some other shit in Superman films, so I applaud the ambition if nothing else. Never really heard about those complaints about Coco, though I can see the argument. Still cherish the memory of my aunt not anticipating the twist about Héctor; she had a Jess style reaction to that one, and it was sublimely fantastic. Pruitt Taylor-Vince does deliver in the big scene with Jonathan, which is probably the favorite scene of the film. And fitting that he would know a thing or two about identity, as I see you snuck in that reference. Still think of him in Mississippi Burning, also with Michael Rooker, and again, Gene Hackman. Weird six degrees of Superman separation game, isn’t it. See you went with Not Sean Hannity, and I went with calling him the Not Gutfeld asshole pig, though your pick does fit better, now I think about it. The cameo with that, I had to pull up the edit as I wondered if Jess missed it, or I missed her reaction to that. Turns out it was there but somewhat overshadowed by my focusing on her concern for Krypto which explained it.
Thomas Corp
2025-10-24 01:55:11 +0000 UTCIn the meantime, Gunn is clearly having a ball making Luthor the embodiment of everything he hates about the Boy Kavaliers of the world, most of all the rage monkeys which are a clear stand-in for the people who got him fired. Which also makes it pretty ironic that before Mr. Terrific, Edi Gathegi was best known for playing Legally Distinct Character From Elon Musk in For All Mankind. This is also where we get Anthony Carrigan, the source of my absolute favorite comment the movie got: “For years, comic book movies were obsessed with overexplaining everything. Now they can say ‘This is Metamorpho. He’s a Metamorpho.’” Carrigan’s always a joy to watch, and is especially moving here with how he’s been very open about channeling his extreme self-consciousness when his alopecia first became apparent to play a guy with such an odd appearance. And the whole escape sequence is a superb example of the kind of action sequence I liken back to the climax of Star Trek’s The Doomsday Machine, where you know the whole time there’s no way anyone will actually die, but there’s so many moving parts to the situation that have to line up perfectly that you’re still tense as hell watching it. So here’s the climax, where my one big issue with the movie comes in, and it wasn’t even originally there. In the version screened for test audiences, rather than the Engineer capturing Krypto, he was stopped by Ultraman punching him, which they were so outraged by that Gunn changed it (while totally ignoring that they also hated Superman saving the squirrel, so what the hell?). Because apparently it’s wrong to show one of your villains doing something really heinous to make the audience hate them and be eager to see their comeuppance. With all this in mind, it makes a lot more sense that Krypto comes to Superman’s aid against Ultraman, and then savages Lex due to him having ordered the punch, while the Engineer gets a weirdly quiet defeat where the last we hear is that she’s alive but unconscious, just like Gerald Ford. Speaking of, one of the things I hate most in movies is when they deliberately build up our hatred for a character only to wimp out with their punishment, so it’s great to see Gunn still knows exactly what to deliver for taking Luthor down, even while having to keep him alive because you kind of have to. Puny god. And you still forgot to clean the leeks. It had been announced that Milly would be playing Supergirl, but it was kept a total secret that we’d first be meeting her in this film. Definitely for the best rather than how Batman v. Superman made a big deal of so many characters appearing, and then it turned out most of that was literally just Wonder Woman watching trailers for the next few movies. I’m sorry, I’m sorry…BANANA BREAD, what the hell were you thinking? Over the years, Kara’s personality has been quite a bit more malleable than Clark’s so Gunn was pretty much free to do whatever he wanted with her, and this definitely has me looking forward to her movie next year. Rather more interesting is that unlike how it’s usually played out, she’s younger than Clark in this version (Milly is seven years younger than David), which raises the question of whether she’s also about to learn for the first time what her aunt and uncle were like despite her usually living on Krypton long enough to have solid memories of them. It also has the very promising casting of Jason Momoa as Lobo, also making clear that Gunn has no compunctions about reusing old DC actors in new roles if they’re right for it. He’s also said that unlike the MCU, he’ll be allowing each individual project to have the tone and style that’s best for its own story rather than forcing everything to feel unified, which more than anything else has me looking forward to where this goes. I’ve been selecting a movie to see with my extended family on my birthday since 1995, and this year I picked Superman, which a few of them say is their favorite of all the times we’ve done this. I’m still going with Inception for that, but I adored this movie so much and I’m so glad to see it worked this well for you too. Hopefully that movie group with the Suicide Squads wins sometime so you can have the full picture of what’s going on here (there’s WAY more to Rick Flagg than is apparent from just this film, though Gunn still writes it so you don’t feel like you’re missing anything without it). For now, bring on the set with not one but two entries from Science Fiction Double Feature.
Ryan
2025-10-23 23:44:39 +0000 UTCThis is where the Justice Gang comes in, and I got worried when I saw them in the trailers, thinking the movie was cramming way too much in just like the other recent DC movies tried. But as it is, we again get just enough to get a handle on who they are, aided by an introduction from none other than William Reeve, the son of Christopher in a beautiful gesture by Gunn. At worst, it gives the feeling of picking up a random comic from the rack and trying to make sense of the ongoing story elements while the main plot is plenty to pull you through, which you can make a good case is exactly what Gunn was going for. My favorite of all the obvious bad faith criticisms the film got is “I don’t understand Green Lantern’s power.” His power is what you see him doing in the movie, or did you think those giant green things that keep showing up when he’s around had nothing to do with him? And I imagine it was a big relief to Isabella that of the two major female superhero roles of this year, she got the one who ISN’T pregnant. I can see complaints that Hawkgirl gets too little focus compared to the others, but since the character has ALWAYS sucked in every single iteration (and yes, I’m including the DCAU), I’m fine with her just being in this small role. Next is the biggest controversy of the film, which makes me think Lucas has been way too hard on himself for not making clear enough in The Empire Strikes Back that Vader really was Luke’s father, because apparently no matter how much clarification you put in, there will be a ton of people refusing to hear it. It’s just been embarrassing seeing all these people saying to Gunn “Retcon this or I will tie you to a bed and smash your ankles with a hammer. PS, I am not a crackpot.” And most of all, I just find it bizarre to think that Gunn would put this in as a fakeout and then NOT reveal the truth within this same film, meaning that when it’s revealed later, the tone of this film’s final scene will be forever ruined as Clark now looks like a huge jerk for turning his back on his innocent parents while apparently making no effort to find the truth. This isn’t even the first time this particular twist on the canon has been done, and My Adventures with Superman has done some killer things with it (amazing show, by the way, with Michael Emerson’s Brainiac being maybe my favorite Superman villain ever). Because it turns out the real point of the movie is the power of free will and choosing your own identity, even if you come from someone evil. I’m reminded of how some people complained Coco would have been more interesting if there wasn’t any kind of twist, and Miguel just had to deal with his father being even worse than he’d been told. All perfectly delivered by Pruitt Taylor-Vince, a veteran character actor over decades who’s often been stuck in villain roles thanks to his intimidating appearance and eye condition where they’re eerily constantly moving (of all his roles, you’ll definitely know his guest spot in Justified), but shows he can do so much more here. Just try to look for an exit if he ever says he sees you in an orange grove. And even with all that, I find it pretty telling that apparently the only superhero Not Sean Hannity can find who’ll talk about this like he wants is the guy who’s regularly called “that racist superhero” to his face. Peacemaker, what a joke.
Ryan
2025-10-23 23:44:22 +0000 UTC
