Jennifer Lindsey

As a lifelong Superman fan, I walked into the theater hoping for a fresh take on the Man of Steel. Instead, what I got was a film overloaded with half-baked characters, glaring plot holes, and a protagonist who acts more like an angsty teen than the iconic adult hero he’s meant to be. The film suffers immensely from introducing multiple major characters—Green Lantern, Krypto, and others—without giving the audience any meaningful context or development. We’re expected to care about people we know nothing about, and their motivations are either nonexistent or laughably vague. Superman’s behavior is another low point. He might look the part, but his impulsive decisions and immature demeanor feel more like a CW side character than the moral compass of the DC Universe. His emotional arc is thin at best, and the film completely fails to explore the depth that should come with a character of his stature. Worse, the story is riddled with plot holes that completely break immersion. For instance, we’re somehow expected to believe that Superman has access to technology advanced enough to make his Fortress of Solitude rise from and vanish into the Arctic ice without a trace—yet the best representation of his parents is a static hologram? It’s a baffling downgrade. In Man of Steel, Jor-El appears as a fully interactive AI capable of guiding and conversing with Kal-El as if he were still alive. Here, we get a lifeless projection. It’s inconsistent world-building at its worst. And don’t get me started on Krypto or Green Lantern. Krypto’s presence was expected—he’s featured in the trailer and teased as a fun addition—but once the film starts, there’s no explanation of his origin, almost no context for his relationship with Superman, and absolutely no development of Krypto as a character. He’s just there—a super-powered dog with no backstory or emotional weight, despite being one of the most charming parts of the film. As for Green Lantern, the casting was a complete misfire. Rather than bringing depth or presence to the role, Nathan Fillion delivers a performance so off-tone it feels like he wandered in from a spoof. I came in expecting a serious story about one of the most iconic superheroes of all time, and instead, I felt like I was watching a parody. Ultimately, this new Superman film feels rushed, confused, and emotionally hollow. Also, they should’ve kept one of the original supergirls because this lady acts of dump blonde! Not one of my favorite superhero movies glad I was able to stream before buying because it will not be going in my collection unless they do a remarkable redo down the line.