Superman (2025) Review: A Solid Beginning Undermined by a Chaotic IMAX Screening

DC Studios’ first live-action movie Superman is going to release inside theatres, and what chaos happened with me while watching it, I was literally feeling like – no way, no way this is happening. That sentence alone could have been the headline of my entire weekend. Because when a film holds the responsibility of launching a brand-new cinematic universe, when a fandom – bruised, passionate, confused, hopeful – waits with two years of built-up energy, you don’t expect your first viewing to turn into one of the most bizarre experiences of your moviegoing life.

Those of you who are not very familiar, in short – whatever DC movies you’ve seen till now: Batman, Superman, Flash, Aquaman, Wonder Woman – forget all of them. From today, with this Superman movie, DC is starting a brand-new cinematic universe. The old timeline, the Snyder vision, the fragmented WB approach to storytelling – it is all closed. What we have here is James Gunn’s reset button, and a studio that has one goal: rebuild.

Naturally, people like me – and DC fans in general, and even people who simply like superheroes – were curious about what they made and how they made it. Even if you’re not a hardcore Marvel fan, you would still want to know what kind of start this has, because a lot of the future depends on this movie. James Gunn, who is the director, there’s separate drama about him, as always. So you can imagine the excitement.

And my excitement was so high that I did something borderline insane: to watch this movie first-day first-show in IMAX, I travelled to Mumbai, which takes 9–10 hours from my home. Woke up at 5 AM, left for the 6:15 show. It started raining on the way. I was going by bike. My hair got wet. Reached the theatre on time, no problem.

You already know these rituals – the pre-film rush, the smell of popcorn, the hush of the auditorium before the trailer reel – this time it felt electric. They gave 3D glasses. Big screen – yo ho – now it’s going to be fun. Four or five times they flashed that green calibration screen. I was like, maybe they are calibrating. And then the film began… or at least, it tried to.

A Live Action Movie and a Living Nightmare: My IMAX Disaster

Let me narrate this properly, because this part of the story is so absurd that it deserves its own chapter.

The first scene they showed – I went to watch in IMAX 3D – and if you watch without glasses, you know exactly how the 3D effect looks: two separate overlapped images. But even after wearing the glasses it was still looking the same. Meaning you understand, right? Both left and right eye perspectives should align perfectly to give you the 3D effect. Even after putting on the glasses it wasn’t happening. For ten seconds I thought I was malfunctioning.

It got fixed in 5–10 seconds. The movie started fine.

Then the interval came – and they cut at the wrong point again, which I won’t even complain about now because I’ve gotten used to it in Indian theatres. Fine?

But this wasn’t the problem – the true chaos I’m talking about came later.

Have you ever seen a movie pausing by itself? Like the picture is running and suddenly freezes. Superman is about to punch and it freezes right there. I felt like I was inside a glitching video game. I recorded footage of all of this but I can’t show it here because they will take the review down completely.

The nightmare: the movie’s final climax battle had begun. I think around half an hour of runtime was still left. And suddenly my hand touched my glasses. And I was like – one second, something feels weird. I started seeing straight lines in the movie frames. I said – bro, did the glasses get damaged from just touching? Then the person next to me also said it. Then another person said it. People started shouting – what are you doing?

In an action movie when action is going on and the camera is shaking from here to there, seeing lines is not good. It kept going for 5 minutes, in the hope that it would get fixed – it didn’t. So people started saying – bro, what is this?

So they paused the movie.

Then chaos broke loose.

For 3–4 minutes there was noise and shouting. They started again. This time they put it in 2D. So we removed the glasses and watched. For a moment it felt like peace returned… only for them to switch to 3D again. We put on the glasses. But the moment it turned 3D, those same lines came back. Again the movie was paused, second time.

And yeah people are saying – bro what is happening?

Then after trying for 5–10 minutes, they started it the third time. Again the line issue. The theatre was 60–70% full. People started saying – brother, we fold our hands, please put it in 2D.

So they put the movie in 2D but from almost the halfway point, meaning we went backwards.

I watched the same Superman movie one and a half times in one sitting – half in 3D and half in 2D.

This is easily the worst IMAX experience ever.

After the picture ended they said they would refund the ticket. I said – no, I don’t want the money. I’ll earn it somewhere else.

Look, forgive me – I’m telling such a long sad story in a review. But I felt really bad, man. After doing so much, two years of anticipation, two years of build-up – how the picture will be, how I will watch it – not ideal at all.

And all this chaos happened right during the fight scene – the big hero vs villain important one – because the movie takes a little time in the beginning to get going, to build up, and when the build-up reached a good point – they put the interval. Then after it restarted from a good point, again build-up build-up, a peak moment was coming—and chaos.

What Is Superman (2025) Really About?

After all this, if you ask me, tell me how the picture is – then I want to give you just one piece of advice, one tip: Don’t go with expectations. Don’t go with the hype.

Because look – it’s not that the picture is bad. To say clearly – the movie is not bad. It’s not a bad movie. Maybe I had too many expectations. I can feel some people reading this review must have dropped their jaws. But hear me out. Listen to everything. Don’t judge on one statement.

Expecting the Superman movie to be an epic mind-blowing experience – or saying, expecting that DC’s entire future rests on this movie – then you understand what you’re expecting? Instead, if you think this is the first movie of a universe – definitely not an Endgame – and they’re trying to take their step with this movie. Then after the picture ends, if someone asks you – bro how was it? – you won’t need to take a four-second pause before saying “good.”

Where the Movie Fails: The Spoon-Fed Script

Okay, I’ll do one thing – first talk about the negative points, the things I didn’t find right or didn’t work well.

So first – James Gunn’s movies I really like. All three Guardians of the Galaxy films are in my heart. But for me, the biggest turn-off in Superman was when they literally tell you its history, its past, its situation, its bullet points by telling you outright. The term is spoon-feeding – inserting information directly into the audience’s mouth.

Majority of it happens with Lex Luthor’s character. Whenever he is on screen, he is explaining something. There was one scene – I held my head – the goons who work with him, walking, enter somewhere, and before entering Lex Luthor explains everything: this is like this, that is like that. And the guy next to him says “I know.” He literally said yes I know, and still Luthor keeps speaking.

Then in another location the same Lex Luthor explains everything to Superman: this is that, that is this, this is like that, I did this, I did that. So in terms of giving information to the audience, the movie is not very smart.

Not very smart – actually extremely basic.

Where the Movie Works: Hope, Humanity, and Heart

The rest of the story felt right. Quite moving. Doesn’t stop at all. From the start itself they throw you in the middle of action. Superman has done something because of which he is about to get into trouble. And from there things unfold.

It’s a story about an alien from another planet, but among humans he is the most human. His goodness, doing good for people, symbol of hope. Even if he has to cross half the world to stop a war between two countries. But the humans who have created such a world will still question him – why did you stop it?

Many things like that.

Superman gets beaten brutally. His beliefs are challenged. He gets support. Watching all this was fun. The movie’s overall aesthetic suits its theme very well – that hope and goodness vibe.

If you are a fan of the previous Superman from Snyder’s vision – dark frames, obsessing over visuals – stay away, brother.

Editing and Strange Cuts

If you are going to watch, tell me one thing – did they cut the kissing scenes between Superman and Lois Lane, or Clark Kent and Lois Lane in your screening too? Not that they removed it completely, but when the moment comes, they cut it and jump forward. Speaking of jumping forward – there’s a great moment in the movie where Superman’s theme plays, which is so good – ta da da da da – really fun.

Action: Brutal, Balanced, and Refreshingly Non-One-Sided

Now from that fun part, let’s go to the action, which was good, really good. Beings with such high superpowers fighting each other – but it never becomes one-sided or completely dominated. Because your Superman is getting beaten.

This is the key thing: Superman bleeding, struggling, falling – makes the punches land emotionally, not just physically.

Performances: David’s Superman, Lois’ Fire, and Krypton’s True Hero

Speaking of Superman, the new actor – David Corenswet, did really well. Very different from Henry Cavill, stands out. Although as Clark Kent, he gets very little runtime, but even then, in one scene when he switches – talking in a deep heavy voice – that was good.

Lois Lane – as a reporter – was nice. Her writing was good. Very hardcore reporter – who would turn one thing into four, and inside you – Superman cannot win.

But the scene-stealer of the whole picture is the dog, Krypto man. Whenever he came on screen, people were happy – like yes, good. Mr. Dogesh beat everyone.

The Villain: Nicholas Hoult’s Lex Luthor and the Art of Rage

Among all these good people, the main villain is Lex Luthor, played by Nicholas Hoult – totally mad with obsession and revenge. His life’s only purpose is to kill Superman – physically and in the eyes of people. Played it really well – there was one scene where he drops a pen – he played it really well.

Pacing, Runtime, and Structure: A Film Afraid of Silence

The runtime is 2 hours 10 minutes. There are many characters to note in the picture; because of that some get time, some don’t. In fact Superman’s alter-Clark Kent – like I said – not much there, barely 2–3 scenes, maybe 4–5. In fact they could have shown a little action of a team, but they didn’t.

And from this the movie’s intentions are clear – they didn’t want to waste any time, any frame, just laser-focus on one story. The Superman movie has good scenes. You will definitely feel emotion. Definitely.

But if they had relaxed a bit, built some scenes, made it 2 hours 20 minutes, 2.5 hours – it could have been better. Yeah maybe.

Theme and Message: Superman Needs Help

And that’s why, the movie has many good things. The story overall is right. It puts Superman in different situations and he has to deal with everything. Its message is also right – that even if Superman is super, he will need help. He can’t do everything alone.

That’s why DC Studios’ new universe has started on a good note.

Good, Not Amazing – and That’s Okay

But two major problems definitely remain. First, as I told you – spoon-feeding. Second – when you watch a really good picture, your heart wants to say loudly – bro what an amazing movie I saw. Superman is not quite there.

Now if you bring my own words in front of me – that, you said don’t keep high expectations – then that’s a different matter. The first movie of a cinematic universe can be amazing – look at Iron Man. Superman is good but not amazing.

At the end – if you are staying for mid-credits or post-credits scenes – no, not worth it. You can watch later.

So till now friends – if I sound a little negative, I’m not. Overall, about the movie – I’m positive and I feel good. If you were excited for this movie, you can go watch it. Definitely go. You will get to see good action. Good superhero fights. A good story built around that superhero to challenge him. The only thing I said is – if you were going with hype till now – don’t.

And after watching the movie, definitely tell me how you liked it. For me, Superman released in 2025 is a go for it.

Rating: 3.5/5

Good foundation, flawed execution, entertaining core – but not the jaw-dropping rebirth DC desperately wanted.