4 min read
Superman (2025) Review – Empire
Introduction
Superman 2025 was probably one of the greatest DC movies I’ve ever seen, in all honesty, and I felt like bringing up the most important lesson it taught me. Yet, I don’t think it beats Joker 2019 featuring Joaquin Phoenix. And I haven’t seen the Dark Night either, so I can’t say it’s the best. But, it’s absolutely top 5 no questions asked.
Besides that, the energy I felt when watching it just a few days ago was incredible. It felt like all concerns were erased.
SPOILER WARNING (only at the end)
Later in this post, I have a specific section with “SPOILER” in its heading, so you’ll know which one it is. If you haven’t seen the movie yet, please watch out for that. You don’t want to be spoiled this masterpiece if you haven’t seen it yet.
Superman 2025 vs Man of Steel (feel free to skip)
I’ve seen comparisons and comments regarding James Gunn’s superman (2025) and Snyder’s superman (man of steel); with most being in favor of superman 2025.
My opinions on DC (unrelated)
Don’t get me wrong. I don’t read the comics, and never really liked DC. I watched Man of Steel when it came out, as well as the Justice League and Suicide Squad movies. They just never met my standards. I was too young to really enjoy man of steel, and justice league alongside suicide squad just weren’t enjoyable to me.
On the other hand, I absolutely loved marvel. I would watch practically every marvel movie there was once it arrived in theaters, and enjoy it. It all came crumbling down after Endgame really. I’ve seen people say that Endgame wasn’t as good as Infinity War, and I understand why. Nonetheless however, both movies were amazing.
Again, I never really liked DC. It all really changed once I saw the Joker 2019 film. I didn’t watch it in theaters of course, and only saw it 4 years after (2 years ago today).
I never knew Joker could be so emotionally impactful. It was probably the most heartbreaking and emotionally intense movie I had ever seen. The most surprising thing for me above all was that it came from DC.
Today…
With the release of Superman, and comments I heard online about the movie, I feel like I could respectfully give this movie a chance.
And the movie was absolutely incredible. It was emotional, enlightening, motivating, uplifting, and practically a million other happy emotions all in one. And I’m not saying that just because I like superman. No, it’s actually the opposite if anything.
I was, as I mentioned before, a person that never liked DC. Therefore, its most recognized character, being Superman (or Batman, either one really) wasn’t someone that I admired unlike heroes like Spider-Man. Heroes that resemble anything about Peter Parker is what truly makes a hero heroic. They are determined to move forward, persevere, and endure challenges that no one else will.
Even if they know that no one else will understand them, or endure what they do, they do it anyways.
Supes like Spider-Man and Iron Man are loved because of their sacrifices. Tony sacrifices himself so that he can save everyone he loves and beat Thanos and his army. Peter realizes that the only way to keep everyone he loves safe and not disrupt time and space is to make everyone forget he ever existed.
Superman gave me, and many others, that same kind of hope.
What I Learned (Life Lesson)
I feel like I’ve been kind of brainwashed to think independently, not get in other people’s business, and just stay alone. I don’t mean this in a negative sense but instead in a typical sense. Think for yourself. Be respectful, but don’t do things for others. We’re supposed to be kind, but not too kind because that makes us look weak.
Social media makes us believe that being kind is for the weak. If we’re too respectful, it makes us look vulnerable and open to hate and rejection. It makes us look like we’re not ready for the real world. Doing this in casual environments makes it seem like we’ve never lived in the real outside world before. There, it’s full of hatred, monotone lifestyles, and ordinary people just trying to get by. The world isn’t sunshine and rainbows, but rather a black and white canvas that’s poorly painted. If you’re someone who’s too nice, too clean for the world, you’re someone who’s about to be unfathomably disappointed.
What Superman Teaches
Superman, back in Man of Steel in 2013, was asked by reporter Lois Lane in an interrogation room what the “S” stood for. In reality, it was never actually an “S”. Rather, it was a symbol back on Krypton that stood for “hope”.
Superman is the embodiment of hope in a world of cruelty and fake faces. We make promises, but not everyone can go through with them. Superman teaches that even when everything goes wrong, and when things just don’t go your way, you can always take the upper hand to make it better. You can be the shining light in a pitch black space, and guide others with you too.
The truth is…
Being kind is being cool. Being kind and respectful for everyone around you, doesn’t make you weak, it makes you honorable.
If you walk in a room, with just a bad mood, and filled with hatred for others, it makes you dishonorable. That makes you weaker. If you’re someone who walks into a room and believes that you deserve to be respected, you are far from honorable. Each one of us has to work for high levels of respect; just like how each one of us has to work for a better and happier life. Superman does the right thing, stopping war, saving lives, and protecting the interests of those around him, not because he cares about politics or what “highly respected” figures pursue, but because of what he believes.
Clark is just a regular guy. Yet, behind the glasses and formal haircut, he’s a man that saves lives not because he has to, but because he knows it’s the right thing to do. He saves lives because that’s what he was sent to do, and because he knows that’s what his entire purpose is.
Be Like Clark Kent
The best thing I can tell you here at the end of this post is to be like Clark. Be like Superman.
You don’t need superpowers, you don’t need the ability to fly, you don’t need super strength, you just need to be considerate. You need to be a good person.
Good people keep us from losing all hope in society, and especially in the modern world.
Never fall into the falsified truth that kindness makes you weak. Because, it doesn’t.
Zack Snyder’s Superman was a decently good man, but would sometimes choose to just sit and watch as others evaporated rather than saving them. By no means was he a superMAN. He was just super.
This new Superman changes things however. He shows that just doing something small, and prioritizing the little things, you can be just a “super” as him. Superman shows us that the world is actually incredibly beautiful, and it’s in our hands to do the right thing and make the world a better place. It’s our choice if we choose to make that the case. Do good not because someone else tells you to, but because you know it’s the right thing to do. Being kind is the “new cool”, being kind was always cool, and it always will be. Don’t ever forget that.
Superman 2025 Summarized (lesson-wise) – SPOILERS!
By the end of the movie, Superman finds himself in front of Lex Luthor. This was the man behind everything. He’s the man that’s been behind the entire move of trying to take out Superman for good (as in permanently).
His entire goal was to paint Superman out to be the bad guy just because he never really liked him. To Lex Luthor, Superman was not a being, he was not a human, he was not a man, he was an alien (an “it”).
Even when he tries to destroy the entire of Manhattan (and potentially even the world) to end Superman for good, and even after starting an entire regional war just to create a distraction for the public eye, Superman doesn’t “end” Lex Luthor in his final confrontation with him. Despite everything he’s done to try and take him out, Superman is not a bad man. He remembers that we was sent to earth in order to protect it. He will never let that leave him.
Superman, even when placed in front of an easy opportunity to take Lex out right then and there, he doesn’t do it. Instead, he tells him how he’s just like every other human. He feels pain, he has emotions, and he is just as human as anyone else is. He might not have been born on the same planet, but he’s just like everyone else around him.
Superman still stands for the right ideals even when he’s not respected. He does the right thing although very few see him as a good man. He stands for justice, for freedom, for equality, and especially for hope. Even if no one sees him that way, he will always represent those ideals. A good man, a SuperMAN.
Concluding Thoughts
Man I loved Superman. I don’t mean to overhype it for anyone who hasn’t seen it yet, but it’s just so peak. It’s a great piece of film that I haven’t seen anything on par with since potentially the first season of Squid Game. That’s how good it is. Everyone that worked on it did a phenomenal job and executed everything perfectly, down to the last minute detail.
I meant to release this post about 2 weeks ago when the movie was a lot newer, but delays happened and so here I am now. If you haven’t seen it yet, and ever have the chance to, please watch it. Seriously, it gives you hope and a sense of happiness that I feel a majority of us only get when we were children watching movies that came out years ago. I have much higher hopes for DC now, and I hope they take the right direction with their movies now.
Again, I’m not someone that was ever really a fan of DC. I only watched DC movies when my family wanted to watch some random movie together. That’s fine I guess. Now I think I can confidently say that I’m a superman fan, but not a DC fan just yet. That might have to wait a few more movies.
