James Gunn’s Superman Doesn’t Fly—It
Falls Flat
American Greatness,
by
Stephen Soukup
Original Article
Posted By: Hazymac,
7/12/2025 6:17:55 AM
The good news for Warner Bros./DC Studios is that its new Superman movie is quickly becoming a cultural touchstone, the standard by which all future superhero movies will be judged. The bad news is that it’s the low-end benchmark, representing the absolute worst that a superhero movie can be while not going straight to streaming. Director James Gunn is suddenly the Mario Mendoza of action filmmaking, and his Superman denotes the Mendoza Line, the trough of superhero futility. Or, as political commentator Ben Domenech put it, “This movie absolutely, totally sucks. The CGI sucks. The writing sucks. The cast, which is, for the most part,
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Reply 1 - Posted by:
singermom9 7/12/2025 6:35:33 AM (No. 1976307)
He told us if we don't like it "Screw us". Well, BACK AT YA JERK.
26 people like this.
Reply 2 - Posted by:
mifla 7/12/2025 6:58:33 AM (No. 1976313)
Somewhere out there in liberal land, there are people with lots of money who love to waste it on liberal nonsense. These are the same people who will contribute big bucks to AOC's presidential campaign.
33 people like this.
Reply 3 - Posted by:
Californian 7/12/2025 7:06:28 AM (No. 1976320)
From the pre-opening and comparing this to how similar movies have done and its estimated cost to make, they probably won't lose money on it but won't make much more than breakeven, which is pretty terrible for such an iconic character and story.
Maybe I'll see it on my next flight. I wouldn't pay for it.
14 people like this.
Reply 4 - Posted by:
Msquared112 7/12/2025 7:17:06 AM (No. 1976324)
I thoroughly disagree that movies "are supposed to teach us" things. I don't watch movies to be taught anything. I just want good entertainment, which these days is in short supply.
39 people like this.
Reply 5 - Posted by:
minuteman 7/12/2025 7:23:28 AM (No. 1976331)
I believe that the movie sucks but so did this article and for much the same reason.
11 people like this.
Reply 6 - Posted by:
PChristopher 7/12/2025 8:05:25 AM (No. 1976350)
It will be interesting to see if it falls as flat as Snow White.
13 people like this.
Reply 7 - Posted by:
ladydawgfan 7/12/2025 8:21:54 AM (No. 1976358)
“We’ll make the pictures; let Western Union deliver the messages."
-- Harry Warner
16 people like this.
Reply 8 - Posted by:
felixcat 7/12/2025 8:30:25 AM (No. 1976360)
Even if the movie was good, I still wouldn't see it. How many Superman movies have been made over the past three decades plus? How many television series? I haven't seen the Mission Impossible movies ( in the theaters) for the same reason I won't see another derivative Superman movie. We know how the movie will end. The hero, be it Superman or Ethan Hunt will save the day.
10 people like this.
Reply 9 - Posted by:
Namma 7/12/2025 9:10:59 AM (No. 1976372)
Just because a guy can fly around the place, it does not make him a hero. this "superman" is a whimp.
My hero is a guy like Joey Jone. Has two (2) prosthetic legs, and rescued 20 dogs from flood waters. And he did this without a cape! He deserves a CROWN! Joey Jones is a SUPERMAN!
23 people like this.
Marketing 101: Keep your politics, political correctness, wokeness and virtue signalling to yourselves, and you can sell to everyone.
13 people like this.
Reply 11 - Posted by:
clayusmcret 7/12/2025 9:35:19 AM (No. 1976381)
That's what happens when you (1) "woke" an icon and (2) tell your expected audience they can take it or leave it. They'll leave it.
15 people like this.
Reply 12 - Posted by:
mc squared 7/12/2025 10:10:12 AM (No. 1976401)
Hollywood is so thoroughly woke and bereft of ideas, it can't make a good entertaining film and hasn't for years.
9 people like this.
Reply 13 - Posted by:
chumley 7/12/2025 10:32:15 AM (No. 1976412)
Even if it was good I wouldn't go see it. Too many Supermans. Too many Batmans. Too many Star Wars. Too much Marvel stuff. Hollywood gets a success and runs it into the ground. I cant think of a sequel that was any better than the original, except maybe Independence Day. Without Will Smith the second one was much better.
6 people like this.
Reply 14 - Posted by:
Quigley 7/12/2025 10:34:56 AM (No. 1976415)
Gunn looks like Biden in a certain way- stupid. What a stupid look the guy has, like a Karin.
7 people like this.
Reply 15 - Posted by:
Highlander 7/12/2025 10:56:34 AM (No. 1976432)
Moralism in the movies is what kept me away for thirty years. Plus the stories no longer interest me, since originality left Hollywood eons ago.
9 people like this.
Reply 16 - Posted by:
Bixter 7/12/2025 11:09:32 AM (No. 1976441)
#13..Maybe "Godfather II" could be considered better, or as good as, the original?
3 people like this.
Reply 17 - Posted by:
DaBigGuy 7/12/2025 11:44:29 AM (No. 1976456)
Look! Down in red ink!
"It's absurd!"
"It's insane!"
"It's a super flop!"
11 people like this.
Reply 18 - Posted by:
DVC 7/12/2025 11:46:48 AM (No. 1976457)
The first thing that I noticed about this version is that the red of his costume is a dull color, sort of a maroon rather than the bright, happy crimson of the normal Superman.
Dems destroy everything with their hate and warped world view.
12 people like this.
Reply 19 - Posted by:
Kate318 7/12/2025 11:59:55 AM (No. 1976464)
Seeing as this article is the closest I will ever get to this movie, I appreciate the post.
11 people like this.
Reply 20 - Posted by:
jalo1951 7/12/2025 12:10:12 PM (No. 1976468)
No thanks. If I want to be abused I'll go downtown and stand by the men's restroom. And it won't cost me a thing. My sister and her husband owned two video stores back in the day. Big money makers and an enjoyable place to visit. Her favorite thing was to go to the movies to see if they should invest in them for the stores. I think it was just a cheap ass reason to go to the movies and eat popcorn. She hauled me with her for my opinion. Her favorite movies were super hero/Marvel kind of crap. I hated those movies and would not go with her to see them. Hated them then and still hate them now. Superman, no way.
5 people like this.
Reply 21 - Posted by:
NessunDorma 7/12/2025 12:12:46 PM (No. 1976469)
I disagree with Mr. Soukup on one important point. The primary purpose of movies is not to teach me, but to entertain me and that's what filmmakers should focus on. Apparently Gunn's Superman fails on that count as well.
6 people like this.
Reply 22 - Posted by:
JrSample 7/12/2025 12:56:23 PM (No. 1976485)
It seems that hollyweird has destroyed their brains with drugs and cannot come up with any new ideas. How many stupid comic book story take-offs full of CGI garbage can they possibly think are going to be enough?
5 people like this.
Reply 23 - Posted by:
MickTurn 7/12/2025 1:20:34 PM (No. 1976499)
Leftists taking massive doses of Viagra, Testosterone and Stink Weed Juice NEVER WORKS but they keep doing it!
6 people like this.
Reply 24 - Posted by:
crashnburn 7/12/2025 3:14:13 PM (No. 1976575)
I wish Steven would tell us how he really feels. Excellent review of Superman and how stories can influence us and help us grow.
3
2 people like this.
Reply 25 - Posted by:
Sunhan65 7/12/2025 3:42:43 PM (No. 1976595)
Political bias reviewing movies is a mug's game both ways. The film has been getting good reviews. It's doing very well on Rotten Tomatoes and will likely make a great deal of money. And this troubles me not at all.
Based on what I've seen, Richard Donner was a man of leftist political incarnations. I've also seen his Superman the Movie (1978). It is a brilliant movie about an American cultural icon and a love letter to an America well worth loving.
Weirdly, I just drove through some of the locations where the Kansas sequences in Superman the Movie were shot. The fact that they are just outside Calgary, Alberta, makes absolutely no difference. It is the same heartland that Kansas represents in the film. Just the opening credit sequence in Superman the Movie with John Williams' score is better than most of the movies I've seen. I never get tired of watching it.
So, I don't care what Richard Donner's politics were, just as I don't care what James Gunn's politics are. They are filmmakers. If they make good movies about things I care about, I will go and enjoy them.
I hope this Superman is one of them.
1 person likes this.
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