Latest news with #Boravia-Jarhanpur
The Sun
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Sun
Superman soars, DC reboots
THERE has not been a film that DC Studios and Warner Bros Pictures desperately need to succeed more than James Gunn's Superman. It has to fly faster than a bullet, hit harder than a train and more importantly, be more human than its colder predecessors. Despite the relatively low bar thanks to the previous decade of middling DC Comics films, Superman surpasses expectations. Hovering right across the pitfall of subjecting the audience to another origin story, Gunn's film drops viewers into the third year of Clark Kent (David Corenswet) already donning the red underwear and blue suit. In a world full of metahumans, Superman is firmly established as being the strongest among his costumed super-peers, which draws questions from pundits, politicians and defense agencies on the alien immigrant's beliefs, politics and agenda on earth. After stopping the invasion of the fictional country of Jarhanpur by the more powerful Boravia, an ally to the US, Superman finds himself in the crosshairs of not only the US, but also Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult) and his girlfriend Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan). This geopolitical intervention by Superman serves as the catalyst for the events in the film. Humanity in focus amid cosmic chaos The very on-the-nose Israel-Palestine parallels with Boravia-Jarhanpur aside, Superman has a strong story, at least in terms of comic book films that serve the role as a jumping-off point role in a potential 'cinematic universe', but it does come at a cost. By dropping the audience into an already developed world with existing superheroes, supervillains, aliens, pocket dimensions, nanotechnology and cloning, this can be exhausting for those more accustomed to standard superhero origin films, because from the opening sequence, Superman 's pacing is all gas, no brakes at Mach 10 speed. Having said that, everything the film introduces at breakneck speed is entertaining, particularly due to the focus Gunn puts on the individual in the centre of Superman, which is Kent and his humanity. Bright, colourful, sometimes goofy, most times charming, Gunn's writing, aided by a solid performance by Corenswet, nails what makes Superman who he is: a boy scout raised in rural America that sees only the good in everyone and will not hesitate to save them. From sequences such as the interview Superman has with Lois over his interference in the Boravia-Jarhanpur conflict being due to simply how 'people were going to die', to how Superman repeatedly goes out of his way to rescue and protect innocent bystanders, Superman proudly wears Clark's heart and love for humankind on its sleeves. Hoult's Lex Luthor is another standout in the film, being the most comic-accurate version of the character ever put to live action film. Long past the quirkiness and silly wigs worn by Gene Hackman and Jesse Eisenberg in their iterations of the character, this screen incarnation of Luthor is an actual menace and danger, not just to Superman, but the entire world. An extremely smart technocrat, calculative deceitful, viciously petty and narcissistic, Hoult brings his A-game to carry out Gunn's script to perfection. The same extends to Lois, who spends the entire film being a journalist rather than Superman's girlfriend, along with the other supporting characters, such as the Justice Gang's Guy Gardner/Green Lantern (Nathan Fillion), Mister Terrific (Edi Gathegi), Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced), and even Jimmy Olsen (Skyler Gisondo). Second shot at legacy Criticising the now-dead DC Extended Universe and the mostly maligned films under that umbrella is a low-hanging fruit at this point, but it has to be done, as Gunn's Superman is Warner Bros's second, latest attempt to kickstart their own cinematic universe, similar to what Zack Snyder did in 2013 with Man of Steel. Developed by the new DC Studios – led by Gunn and Peter Safran – Superman comes across as a more natural superhero film, with a plan already in place for the new DC Universe (DCU), a goal in mind and what would come next. However, chronologically, the DCU started with Creature Commandos last year, but that was an animated series and as great as it was, it did not firmly establish what Superman does in terms of world-building or in introducing the bigger universe that Gunn and Safran are bringing to the table. Based on the certain appearance of another popular character in the Superman family towards the end of the film, there is certainly expectation on how the next films in the DCU will carry not only the momentum, but also the hope of something better that has been started by Superman.
Hindustan Times
11-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Hindustan Times
James Gunn's Superman is an uplifting reboot, defined by quiet power and a hero who leads with hope over strength
The superhero genre has been limping along ever since Avengers: Endgame gave audiences a dopamine overdose and then quietly ghosted them. Meanwhile, the DCEU has largely spent the past few years tripping over its own cape—with Wonder Woman being the rare exception to an otherwise awkward cinematic stumble. So, when Superman, the inaugural film under James Gunn and Peter Safran's new DC regime, finally arrived, the big question loomed: Would it soar or crash faster than a Zack Snyder edit? Fortunately, James delivers. Superman isn't just good—it's the kind of good that reminds you why superhero movies used to matter before they became bloated, brooding PowerPoint presentations in spandex. David Corenswet in a still from Superman (2025) In a plot that sounds like it was created by spinning a globe and then making up countries, Superman (David Corenswet) intervenes in a fictional war between Boravia (your standard authoritarian regime) and Jarhanpur (your standard peaceful victims). This puts him squarely in the crosshairs of Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult), a tech billionaire with fascist tendencies and a haircut that screams 'trust me, I'm definitely not evil.' As if that weren't enough, Superman also has to deal with a public relations nightmare, a potential identity crisis, and his own feelings for Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan), who treats their relationship like an unpaid internship at the Daily Planet. Helping (and occasionally heckling) him along the way is a ragtag trio of misfit heroes known as the Justice Gang—Green Lantern (Nathan Fillion, very much aware he's in a comic book), Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced, very much not amused), and Mister Terrific (Edi Gathegi, deadpan excellence). Also, there's a genetically confused monster, a conspiracy-laden social media backlash, and a dog named Krypto who's doing his best. The good James Gunn understands that superhero films don't have to choose between sincerity and silliness. So he gives us both. David Corenswet's Superman is a refreshing blend of earnestness and visible confusion, like a substitute teacher handed the wrong syllabus. He's not the most charismatic Man of Steel we've seen, but he leans into the humanity of Clark Kent with enough wide-eyed warmth to make it work. Rachel Brosnahan's Lois Lane manages to channel peak Monica Geller energy without feeling like a sitcom character lost in the wrong franchise. Their scenes crackle—part romantic drama, part HR dispute. And Nicholas Hoult's Lex Luthor? Delightfully slimy, with just enough smugness to make you want to punch the screen in a good way. The Justice Gang is a chaotic delight. Nathan's Green Lantern is a glorified space cop who seems mildly irritated by everything, including his own teammates. The banter is sharp, the action vibrant, and for once, the humour feels earned rather than shoved in between explosions. James also dabbles in real-world parallels with the Boravia-Jarhanpur conflict, offering geopolitical commentary thinly veiled enough to keep angry YouTubers at bay. One particular monologue where Superman confronts LuthorLex about being called an alien is both moving and pointed—a rare moment of nuance in a genre that often settles for punching the bad guy really hard. The bad For a film so eager to break new ground, Superman still can't resist dragging us through yet another retelling of his backstory. We've seen Krypton explode more times than we've seen the Bat-Signal, and this version adds layers of exposition that feel more obligatory than enlightening. The opening act, bogged down with intertitles and holograms, delays the actual story from kicking in. The supporting cast is full of potential, some characters barely get a look-in. Perry White (Wendell Pierce) appears just long enough to confirm that, yes, the Daily Planet still exists. Jimmy Olsen is here too, involved in a romantic subplot so bizarre it might deserve its own spinoff—or maybe, therapy. The invented conflict between Boravia and Jarhanpur, clearly meant to echo real-world geopolitics, doesn't carry much emotional weight because the stakes feel so manufactured. It's hard to care about countries that exist purely to serve the plot. Also, while the film is visually dynamic, the final act tips into the familiar CGI-heavy chaos we've seen countless times—crumbling cities, gravity-defying fights, and lots of glowy things exploding. By the time the dust settles, the emotional beats have to fight for air amid all the noise. The verdict Superman is a sharp, self-aware, and surprisingly hopeful reboot that doesn't try to reinvent the wheel—it just bothers to inflate the tires. James Gunn understands that audiences aren't asking for gritty reinventions or endless multiverse charts—we just want a superhero who cares, cracks a smile, and occasionally throws a monster into the sun. It's not perfect. It's overstuffed, sometimes too fast for its own good, and it ends with the kind of visual mayhem that now feels like superhero movie punctuation. But for all its chaos, Superman delivers something rare: joy. The good kind. The 'maybe humanity isn't doomed after all' kind. And in 2025? That's a superpower.
