Monthly Archives: July 2025

Reel Views, Review

Superman

After bringing his unique voice to the Guardians Of The Galaxy and Suicide Squad series, writer/director James Gunn now takes on one of the most iconic superheroes ever conceived. Superman is an exceptional comic book movie, clearly the product of someone who deeply respects the source material and truly understands what makes the central character special. Like the Spider-Verse films, it distills decades of on-page lore and storylines into one cohesive tale that is not only relentlessly entertaining but also artistically gratifying and a testament to the genre’s staying power. Gunn’s clearly studied Superman’s on-screen legacy — from Christopher Reeve’s outstanding portrayal in the 1978 original to Henry Cavill’s misbegotten cameo in the final seconds of Black Adam — and avoids every potential Man Of Steel-shaped pitfall along the way.

A brilliant set of title cards thrusts us right into the action, which finds Superman (David Corenswet) up against the ropes while fighting a new foe being instructed by maniacal billionaire Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult). All the while, he operates under a human alter ego as Clark Kent, an unassuming reporter working alongside Jimmy Olsen (Skyler Gisondo) and Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan) in the newsroom. While Superman is occupied in Metropolis, Luthor and his nanotech-fueled henchwoman The Engineer (María Gabriela de Faría) break into the Fortress Of Solitude and steal his superpowered dog Krypto. Aided by Justice Gang members Green Lantern (Nathan Fillion), Mister Terrific (Edi Gathegi) and Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced), Superman sets out to retrieve his canine companion and weave around Luthor’s insidious masterplan in the process.

Gunn knows what we’ve seen before when it comes to this character (and superhero movies in general) and instead generates countless comedic and dramatic beats that feel fresh and rewarding. Besides forgoing an origin story — who’s unfamiliar with Superman at this point, honestly? — he makes other bold creative choices that pay off with stunning consistency. Often the films lean into the dichotomy of Clark Kent and Superman, depicting him as perpetually switching between the two and desperate to keep his true identity a secret from others. In Superman, several characters know they’re both the same person and the narrative conflict is instead focused on how Superman actually thinks and feels. He works tirelessly to save everyone everywhere and takes it to heart when he can’t. To quote The Smiths, “it takes strength to be gentle and kind” and in that way, this Superman flexes different muscles than we typically see from cinematic heroes.

Given how many performers have played these roles before, Superman is a difficult film to cast but casting director John Papsidera has done a super job top to bottom here. As the man in red and blue, David Corenswet taps into an earnestness and altruism that we haven’t seen from this character in a very long time. Somehow, he makes Superman’s underlying corniness compelling and finds a unique sense of humor that works perfectly for this modern iteration. Nicholas Hoult is likewise excellent as the follically-challenged foil pulling all the strings around Supes, bringing proper intellectual menace to his portrayal. Rachel Brosnahan has a kind of romantic spark with Corenswet that is desperately needed in a genre that’s been considerably chaste the past 10 or 15 years. They have a breathtaking scene in front of the Metropolis skyline at the beginning of the second act that’s more heartfelt than what we typically get from most full-blown romantic dramas.

Superman, being a superhero film, is naturally an effects-heavy affair and the CG work here is as great as you’d expect it to be. Gunn particularly has fun with the abilities of the lesser-known Justice Gang and Superman fights a fun variety of enemies from kaiju to robots and everything in between. The action is terrific but it’s not what makes this movie soar so much higher than the majority of its cohorts. It’s how physically and emotionally vulnerable the film makes its protagonist, who is typically depicted as indestructible unless someone has Kryptonite in their pocket. The heroism on display here isn’t just a superhuman carrying out extraordinary feats; it’s conveying a worldview that is genuinely stirring and oddly radical. In a world that has so normalized hate and cynicism, empathy is the new counterculture.

Score – 4.5/5

New movies coming to theaters this weekend:
I Know What You Did Last Summer, starring Madelyn Cline and Chase Sui Wonders, is a slasher reboot about another hook-wielding killer who appears and begins targeting a group of friends one year after they covered up a car accident in which they supposedly killed someone.
Smurfs, starring Rihanna and James Corden, is a musical reboot which finds Papa Smurf mysteriously taken by evil wizards Gargamel and his brother Razamel, causing Smurfette to lead the Smurfs on a mission into the real world to save him.
Eddington, starring Joaquin Phoenix and Pedro Pascal, is a modern Western set during the COVID-19 pandemic where a standoff between a small-town sheriff and a mayor sparks a powder keg as neighbor is pitted against neighbor in small town New Mexico.

Reprinted by permission of Whatzup

Review

Jurassic World Rebirth

Jurassic World Rebirth is the follow-up to 2022’s Jurassic World Dominion, the film that normalized the absence of a colon to separate the name of this series and the respective subtitle, though that’s the least of this franchise’s problems. The movie’s tagline promises “A New Era Is Born” but aside from some new faces and a minor plot tweak here or there, what exactly is “new” about this “era”? This entry follows the same formula that every one of the 6 sequels to 1993’s still-superlative Jurassic Park has abided by, though the proceedings come across as markedly haphazard and clunky this time out. It’s unclear at this point if Rebirth is meant to set up a trilogy, as Jurassic World did in 2015, but my hope is that audiences will finally let these dinosaurs get some rest so we don’t have to keep waking them up every few years for a crummy cash-grab.

Following a ludicrous cold open, Jurassic World Rebirth picks up 5 years after the events of Dominion. The majority of the remaining dinosaur populations have shuffled off to equatorial islands for a more favorable tropical environment. Not content with leaving well enough alone, pharmaceutical rep Martin Krebs (Rupert Friend) comes to mercenary Zora Bennett (Scarlett Johansson) with an 8-figure offer to head up a high-stakes mission. Along with paleontologist Dr. Henry Loomis (Jonathan Bailey) and captain Duncan Kincaid (Mahershala Ali), she’s tasked with collecting blood from three de-extinct dinos to fuel an in-development drug that can prevent heart disease. Their journey sends them to Ile Saint-Hubert, an island home to a research facility where experiments in “engineered entertainments” led to mutated dinosaurs that have thrived in isolation.

While cruising through the Atlantic, the team receives an SOS signal from a group of 4 civilians whose boat is capsized by rogue seafaring prehistoric creatures. After the crew picks up the survivors, it makes zero sense that they would continue their covert operation without dropping them off for safety first, but then Jurassic World Rebirth wouldn’t be able to hamstring its narrative by dedicating time to this new faction. Director Gareth Edwards and scribe David Koepp, the latter of whom co-wrote Jurassic Park, are most likely attempting to recapture the family-in-peril aspect of the original. But once the two camps are inevitably split up when they land, their stories really have nothing to do with one another and there’s little narrative consequence for the group evading the dinosaurs compared to the one tracking them down.

Everyone simply looks lost here and it’s not just because they’re on an unfamiliar island. Scarlett Johansson is already the highest-grossing box office actress of all time, so why is she here? Is she collecting appearances in big-budget fare from every major studio like Infinity Stones? Mahershala Ali has two Oscars; in Jurassic World Rebirth, he’s mainly relegated to howling like a fool every time Zora lands a shot with blood-capturing darts. Jonathan Bailey made a splash on the silver screen in Wicked last year but he’s completely anonymous here in a role that jettisons his considerable musical talents. Together, their efforts to establish pathos are about as discreet as a T-Rex trying to maneuver around a glass of water without making waves. While we’re on the subject, these Jurassic World movies need to quit with these cutesy sidekick dinosaurs like the one in Rebirth nicknamed Dolores. The creatures in this franchise can be terrifying, they can be majestic, but they are prohibited from being adorable.

During Loomis’ introduction scene, he spouts meta-commentary about how paltry sales for his dinosaur exhibits are now compared to 5 years ago, when people would wait hours in line for tickets; “nobody cares about these animals anymore,” he laments. It’s hard not to read this as studio chatter about how difficult it is to get general audiences back to the theaters for tentpole movies. But, fundamentally, it’s not wrong of us to expect more from our blockbusters. Certainly not every big release has to measure up to the all-time classics but just because a film costs $200 million to produce doesn’t mean it’s automatically worthy of overwhelming box office success. Jurassic World Rebirth is a prime example of vacant, IP water treading that Hollywood needs to make an endangered species.

Score – 1.5/5

New movies coming next weekend:
Playing only in theaters is Superman, a superhero movie starring David Corenswet and Rachel Brosnahan, retelling the tale of a superpowered being raised by an adoptive human family in Kansas before moving to the city of Metropolis to work as a reporter.
Also coming only to theaters is Skillhouse, a horror film starring Bryce Hall and Hannah Stocking, following ten influencers who are lured into a sinister content house and forced to compete in potentially lethal social media challenges.
Streaming on Shudder is Push, a home invasion thriller starring Alicia Sanz and Raúl Castillo, involving a pregnant realtor who is attacked by a sadistic killer at her open house, sending her into premature labor and forcing her to escape before she gives birth.