One of 2025’s biggest movies gets blockbuster franchise firmly back on track

Our verdict on the much-anticipated superhero flick: a huge success.

While for many, he is the archetypal superhero - and a sort of 'American Jesus' - to others, his inherent goodness and nearly unlimited powers make him feel bland and less relatable, compared to the likes of Batman or Spider-Man.

Perhaps, it's this reason why there hasn't been a universally adored Superman movie since 1980. After all, director Zack Snyder's turbulent stewardship of the character from 2013's Man of Steel onwards - as part of the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) - proved to be fascinating for a variety of reasons, if not often wholly successful.

As such, a lot is riding on James Gunn, the writer and director of 2025's Superman and the co-creator of the new DC Universe (a soft reboot of the DCEU), in terms of getting the train back on the rails.

What a relief, then, that from the opening scene of Gunn's Superman, it's clear that the director - who previously helmed the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy for DC rivals Marvel - was the right man for the task.

He has delivered a crowd-pleasing, almost sure-to-be blockbuster that faithfully brings the character to the screen while placing him into exciting and dramatically rich new territory.

We will keep the plot details to a minimum. After a clever and concise opening crawl - which doubles as a great explainer of Superman's lore for newcomers and just great myth-making - we are introduced in media res to Clark Kent/Superman (David Corenswet, seemingly born to play the part), a seemingly nerdy journalist who is secretly an alien who protects humanity with his extraterrestrial powers.

The first time we see the hero, he has been severely beaten in a fight against a mysterious aggressor dubbed The Hammer of Boravia and left bloody and broken in an Arctic tundra away from the healing powers of the Sun.

We quickly learn that the country of Boravia was about to invade the smaller country of Jarhanpur, but that Man of Steel put a stop to this. This act, however, has divided the public back in the United States, where Superman lives. This is because Boravia and the US are allies.

It also soon becomes clear that the Boravian invasion is linked to evil tech genius Lex Luthor (Nicolas Hoult), who has made it his life's mission to take down Superman, for reasons which become clear throughout the narrative. Luthor set the Hammer of Boravia onto Superman and is working in the shadows to orchestrate the alien's downfall.

Can Superman - with the help of super-powered, if unpredictable pet dog Krypto, his investigative journalist girlfriend Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan) and some other noteworthy allies - heal up, uncover the conspiracy against him, restore his public reputation and save the world?

Right from the outset, the movie nails the classic tone of Superman. This can be seen in the film's hyper-bright pop aesthetic and its consistent humour, which never undercuts the stakes, but instead makes viewers feel more deeply for the characters.

It can also be identified in how Gunn creates scenes built around both the fun of seeing Corenswet shift effortlessly from his nervy Clark Kent persona to the more confident Superman, as well as the chemistry between the character and Lois Lane (unlike Amy Adams in the Synder Supermans, Brosnahan gets to have a ton of fun here).

It's also clear that, as a noted comic book super fan, Gunn just has an affinity for the source material. He knows how to introduce deep comic book lore, which could in lesser hands come across as alienating or like cynical teasers for future DC Universe projects, in a way that not only feels natural, but fun and surprising.

But the real masterstroke of the film is the way it humanises Superman, introducing viewers to him at a new low and consistently finding inventive ways to put him through the wringer, courtesy of Luthor's truly diabolical schemes. It's worth noting that Hoult is arguably the MVP in a movie full of VPs, projecting a cocktail of authority, egotism, patheticness and sociopathy in a way that makes him utterly hateful but always compelling.

What also makes this version of Superman so easy to root for is the way Gunn pits the character's love of and faith in humanity against a modern world, where the truth isn't always easy to identify and people often only act in their best interests.

In regard to this, it is clear that the writer-director was inspired heavily not only by comic books but also by life in the 2020s when crafting this new take on a classic character.

The film isn't without its flaws. While Gunn has his villains inflict some impressively visceral damage on Superman, the CGI-heavy action scenes have an artificial look to them, for the most part. Perhaps, this is hard to avoid when a movie has so many characters routinely doing things that no human could ever.

Two scenes also play out during and after the credits. Yet, none push the story forward, tease future films or are hugely funny, so we'd advise that people don't feel too obligated to spend several minutes waiting for them.

Yet, these are very minor issues in what is ultimately a huge success for the new DC Universe and superhero storytelling in general.

Superman is in cinemas now.

Also in theatres now is Jurassic World: Rebirth. Check out our review of the action-adventure below.

Another blockbuster that revitalises a franchise that was previously in a shaky spot is Jurassic World Rebirth, the seventh entry in the dinosaur-focused action-adventure series Jurassic Park.

Written by David Koepp (the original Jurassic Park) and directed by Gareth Edwards (Godzilla, Rogue One), the film sees Scarlett Johansson, Mahershala Ali and Jonathan Bailey play members of a team of mercenaries and scientists.

They are hired by a shady pharmaceutical company (represented by Rupert Friend) to venture into a zone near the Equator where humans are banned and dangerous dinosaurs live. Their goal: extract precious dino DNA from the large creatures.

During their travels, this team rescues an ordinary family (led by Manuel Garcia-Rulfo), who were inexplicably sailing in this no-human zone when they became shipwrecked.

As such, the mercenaries must protect the family from the killer dinosaurs while carrying out their dangerous, perhaps morally questionable mission.

Jurassic World Rebirth has basically the exact opposite problem to 2025's Superman. The action is stellar, while the story - though pleasingly more stripped-back than the three previous Jurassic Worlds - isn't particularly interesting.

That said, chances are that most people buying a ticket for Jurassic World Rebirth are less focused on themes, instead hoping to see exciting, stylish, visceral dinosaur-related action. And on that vital front, Edwards delivers.

Just like on Godzilla, Rogue One and his last directorial effort The Creator, Edwards shows again that he is a master at special effects and scale. This is to the extent that when Scarlett Johannson's merc nearly falls off a ship to her death while trying to shoot a sea dinosaur with a special gun that can extract its DNA, you actually somehow believe it.

Equally inspired by Aliens and Jaws as the original Jurassic Park in his creature feature set-pieces, it's Edwards' direction and his game cast that make Jurassic World Rebirth one of the better entries in the franchise and worth seeking out as well.

Jurassic World Rebirth is in cinemas now.