moviereview
MOVIE REVIEW: "THE BOYS IN THE BOAT" - BLU-RAY
If you can't get enough sports dramas, here's another solid offering.
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SUPERMAN 2025 REVIEW
Alright… a movie review that doesn't warrant a content warning. A first for me. Anyway.
I should say it up front that I was obssessed with Spiderman when I was a kid, and as far as superheroes go, that was about it. So I walked into this with strong feelings about no one and nothing adjacent to Superman, nor Superman. If it seems like I'm not comparing this to any prior interpretation, that's because I'm not, at least for the most part (see below).
This movie mostly worked for me, even in terms of the suspension of my disbelief, and I actually mean the rough opposite of what you probably think I mean by that. It pisses me off because I didn't figure it out until the third act. Superman's standing there giving a monologue that's so cliche it's borderline self-aware, and I'm just sitting there thinking, "Why is this so cliche, why is the good guy giving the monologue; why isn't the bad guy the one giving the monologue if they're being so cliche, and why does this still work?" Then it hit me. This is kayfabe. For those who don't know, kayfabe is the structure against which the script for professional is written.
From Wikipedia:
Faces, short for "babyfaces", are hero-type characters whose personalities are crafted to elicit the support of the audience through traits such as humility, patriotism, a hard-working nature, determination, and reciprocal love of the crowd. Faces usually win their matches on the basis of their technical skills and are sometimes portrayed as underdogs to enhance the story.
Heels are villainous or antagonistic characters, whose personalities are crafted to elicit a negative response from the audience. They often embrace traditionally negative traits such as narcissism, egomania, unprompted rage, sadism, and general bitterness.
Here's the thing, though: everyone knows professional wrestling is fake and no one cares, and the face is not who sells the tickets; the heel is. The stadium is never packed because of how much everyone likes the good guy; it's packed because of how much everyone hates the bad guy, and how much they want to see the good guy wear a completely absurd costume while kicking his ass in some hilariously unrealistic fashion. The parralels are obvious now, certainly. Here's the other thing: this movie leans into it, correctly. The problem I've had with movies in the past that were based on DC Comics' IP was always that they were trying to be the MCU and they couldn't figure out how to do it right. Unlike this time around, when they finally nailed it if you're asking me, they've always given me the impression that they were dead serious, somehow. So, is the heel in this movie any good? Hell yes, Nicholas Hoult's performance as Lex Luther is outstanding. To put it simply, my ass wasn't in the seat to watch Superman win, but to watch a fellow bald man lose. I mean, the plot revolves around Lex Luther running a smear campaign against Superman, and then other things that also paint him horribly but I'm not spoiling anything.
Krypto a.k.a. Super Dog is hilarious, and endearing throughout, and he's introduced immediately in the opening scene for reasons that pay off later, and I already said I'm not spoiling anything.
This interpretation of Green Lantern is… something. Like I've already said, I don't have much if anything, especially off the cuff, for comparison. I don't know what Green Lantern is usually like in the comics. He has in this version a really stupid haircut which Lois Lane calls him out on directly, appears to be experiencing a midlife crisis, and literally refers to himself as an "upgrade"… from Superman… his words, not mine. I'm really curious to see where they end up going with his character in the future, because I could see it being either really good or really bad, easily.
I thought David Corenswet and Rachel Brosnahan as Superman and Lois Lane respectively, were both great independently, and I thought they worked very well against each other.
I had a few issues as well.
First off, and I do realize this is minor: I liked Mister Terrific's character overall, but I had a slight problem with him, too, and that was some of the exposition he gave about Lex Luther's tech. How does he know all this, from nothing? Also, I'm sorry, but most of it's just a bunch of random words randomly ordered, and I had a really hard time buying it, even though it was already established that the movie regarded as a whole is by no means taking itself to seriously. I also felt like nothing would've been lost if none of that had even been explained, ever, by him or by anyone else.
Also, it is simply impossible that a huge amount of CGI wasn't used, and I can't fault anyone for that, especially in a movie like this; however, there are scenes where it's blatant, and where I honestly feel like they could've done at least some of it in camera and it would've been all the better for it. According to Wikipedia as of the most recent edit at the time of writing, this movie had a budget of $225 million and it's already done $416.2 million at the box office so far. The outside of the glorified helicopter thing could've been built, and by that I mean a "real" one, just for the one shot. We never see the inside of it—that I can remember, at least, so that part must not have mattered, which is fine—and how many people work in the film industry who could've built the outer shell of a glorified helicopter thing in no time flat, and actually made it look convincing? How much more would that have actually, really added to the budget, in reference to the damned-near-quarter-billion they'd already spent by the time they were finally done spending? Or would that have been cheaper, even? I don't honestly know the answers to any of those questions, and I spent money to watch this thing, and so I don't really care, frankly. The Force Awakens had a "real" Millennium Falcon, that was ten years ago, it did huge numbers at the box office, and most people didn't even like that movie. So it's not too much to ask.
Anyway: I recommend seeing it. Oh, and see it with Dolby Atmos if you can. It's worth it.