Until Dawn

Movie Name: Until Dawn
Year of Release: 2025
Director: David F. Sandberg
Starring: Ella Rubin, Michael Cimino, Odessa A'zion, Ji-young Yoo, Belmont Cameli, Maia Mitchell, Peter Stormare, Lotta Losten, Tibor Szauervein, Willem van der Vegt
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 4
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Synopsis and Review

After the fizzle of "Shazam! Fury of the Gods", and some of the noise surrounding David F. Sandberg's reaction to the reviews (he didn't take the less than stellar reviews well), the director has returned to the genre who made him originally a household name (or at least well known). "Until Dawn" is derived from a video game with the same name and its script is authored by the talented Gary Dauberman (who adapted and directed the recent "Salem's Lot", but also authored the "Annabelle" films and the first chapter of "The Nun" series) and Blair Butler (she wrote "The Invitation"). The narrative focuses on a group of friends who are trying to find out what happened to the sister of one of them who disappeared on her way to New York. The group is comprised of Clover, her ex-boyfriend Max, Megan, and the couple, Nina and Abe. The missing girl's name is Melanie and she is Clover's sister. The group stops at a gas station where Melanie sent a message to Clover, and she asks the attendant by the name of Hill, if he remembers her at all. He lets her know that people disappear in the area of Glore Valley, a mining town. The group continues on and they're hammered with heavy rains. They decide to take shelter at a visitor center, which oddly enough has no rain around it. As they look around the whole area is empty, but Abe eventually finds a wall with posters of missing persons, one of which is Melanie. As they continue to investigate the space, they discover another house underneath it. Things take a dark turn when a masked psycho kills Abe, and then proceeds to kill everyone else in the group. They all re-awake at the same place, with memories of being killed, only this time around, their photos are also on the missing persons panel that Abe checked before. They realize the night is repeating, something that an hourglass in the main room is clocking. They once again suffer gruesome deaths, and eventually realize they have to work together since these are going to continue repeating themselves, until they become trapped in that reality.

Most video game adaptations don't fare very well. And it's typically easy to pinpoint the issues, namely understanding who the characters are, where their motivations lie, and making them believable in whatever scenarios they find themselves in. Even the mildly successful adaptations such as Paul W. S. Anderson's "Resident Evil" series, never primed for a very developed central persona, particularly when it came to its heroine Alice, much less any of the supporting characters. "Until Dawn" has very similar issues, not to mention that it bypasses much of the context setting for whatever is indeed happening with these characters. There are of course the tropes of the horror genre, namely a group of young people seeking out someone who disappeared (there's always a group of people at the wrong place, which is the case for "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre", "The Hills Have Eyes", "Wrong Turn" series, and the list goes on), but this one takes a supernatural twist, with dashes of "Groundhog Day". Meaning, the deaths keep happening until these individuals can find out what's at the root of everything, otherwise they face being trapped in that reality forever. David F. Sandberg manages to create a very effective ominous scenario and the production design also plays a considerable part in it. However the storyline itself has some considerable gaps, something that extends to the characters themselves that are rather copycats from so many other horror films, meaning that the film fails to exhibit much originality when it comes to the horror genre. The cast tries their best with the material they have, and as usual Peter Stormare manages to be the most memorable performer of the ensemble. The production team is solid, including Maxime Alexandre's cinematography, Benjamin Wallfisch's score, Jennifer Spence's production design, and the entire prosthetics team. David F. Sandberg is a talented filmmaker and he deserves better material than this. 

The Woman in the Yard

Movie Name: The Woman in the Yard
Year of Release: 2025
Director: Jaume Collet-Serra
Starring: Danielle Deadwyler, Peyton Jackson, Estella Kahiha, Russell Hornsby, Okwui Okpokwasili
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 3
Watch it on Amazon

Synopsis and Review

The prolific Spanish director Jaume Collet-Serra is back, after the huge hit he had with "Carry-On" which he directed for Netflix (and that has become one of the most watched films ever on that platform). This time he goes back to the supernatural and horror genre, where he started, namely with the remake of "House of Wax" and "Orphan". "The Woman in the Yard" follows the story of a family reeling from a devastating car accident which caused the death of the father/husband in the family. Ramona, the mother, is disabled following the car crash, and is now the sole provider for the family, which includes her two kids, teenager Taylor and the child, Annie. Ramona still dreams of all the plans she and her husband had for their life, including finishing the renovation of the farm house where they live. As they go through their regular lives one day they realize there's a woman draped in back that appears in their front yard. She claims that "Today's the day", and she then just stays there. As the woman moves closer to the house, their dog disappears. Shortly after their electric power goes out. The tension in the house also escalates, with Ramona snapping at Taylor, until she eventually decides to confront the Woman, only to realize there's more to her than it seems. 

The script for "The Woman in the Yard" was on the Black List at some point (the list for the best un-produced scripts), and while the film starts with some momentum, Jaume Collet-Serra has some challenges in bringing these characters to life, particularly illustrating what made the connection between these individuals so meaningful (particularly the relationship between Ramona and her husband). The story wants to illustrate how someone's grief and depression can manifest itself in rather sinister outputs, but this film isn't like Andrzej Zulawski's "Possession", where Isabelle Adjani's character also manifests a creature she interacts with. "The Woman in the Yard" is less visceral and less believable, since the characters are rather bland, and Ramona in particular, never feels like a fully realized person, but someone who seems rather miffed by the turn her life has taken, as opposed to someone who is coming to terms with the direction she needs to embark on. This is a film that could have been that much more sinister and darker, since a real threat to a family unit would be at the core of what was happening.  However the central relationships between these characters, particularly the one between Ramona and her husband, is illustrated by vignettes that are elliptical in their scope and ultimately rather shallow in terms of their dynamics. It's a film that has some ambition, but that eventually goes nowhere, even if it weaves a rather ambiguous ending. Neither the cast nor the production team particularly elevate what is happening here. It's a forgettable endeavor. 

Final Destination: Bloodlines

Movie Name: Final Destination: Bloodlines
Year of Release: 2025
Director: Zach Lipovsky, Adam B. Stein
Starring: Kaitlyn Santa Juana, Teo Briones, Rya Kihlstedt, Richard Harmon, Owen Patrick Joyner, Anna Lore, Alex Zahara, April Telek, Tinpo Lee, Tony Todd, Brec Bassinger, Gabrielle Rose, Max Lloyd-Jones, Brenna Llewellyn, Natasha Burnett, Jayden Oniah, Mark Brandon, Yvette Ferguson
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 6
Watch it on Amazon

Synopsis and Review

Zach Lipovsky and Adam B. Stein made a name for themselves with the solid but sadly a bit sidelined "Freaks" which premiered in 2018. They have partnered on this most recent installment of the "Final Destination" franchise, with the writing team comprised of Guy Busick (who has been a writer on the most recent chapters of the "Scream" franchise, but also "Abigail" and the show "Castle Rock"), Lori Evans Taylor, and Jon Watts (who has been one of the creative forces behind the revitalizing of the most recent "Spider Man" series of films). This chapter of the franchise starts by introducing Iris Campbell and her boyfriend Paul, who in 1968 are going to the grand opening of the Sky View, a fancy high-rise restaurant tower. Iris has a premonition that all will collapse and there will be multiple fatalities. She warns people of the impending doom, and manages to save many. 57 years later Iris and Paul's maternal granddaughter, Stefani, is a college student, haunted by these recurring nightmares of the averted accident that Iris experienced. She decides to investigate more about what's happening to her, since these nightmares are also impacting her ability to stay focused in school, have good grades, and she's about ready to flunk. Upon returning home, Stefani is met with surprise from her father and brother, as she has rarely kept in touch. She decides to investigate more about Iris, asking her uncle about it, who confides in her that his mother had serious mental issues, which impacted his and his sister's upbringing (Stefani's mom who after giving birth to her and her brothers, one day decided to leave the family household and never returned). Stefani eventually discovers where Iris lives, an isolated and fortified space, and while initially Iris discourages her from coming in, she eventually agrees and tells Stefani what she thinks is happening. Iris has documented every aftermath of what has happened since the events of the Sky View, in the hopes of keeping her family safe. Stefani finds the story impossible, and Iris decides to come outside her safe space, sacrificing herself in the process, so Stefani believes what she just described. Stefani realizes that her family is all on the path for death to collect them all, and frantically goes after every one of them in the hopes of saving them.

The "Final Destination" series always abides to a consistent formula where a central character has a prediction about a fatal event, which he/she then avoids, alongside a few others who believe the prediction, only for all of them to become targets for a series of fatal accidents. This formula is on display once again with "Final Destination: Bloodlines", with a slight imaginative difference/departure. This narrative goes back in time to illustrate how Death haunts this generational enclave and how it crosses time in order to achieve its sinister intent. While the characters fail to have much dimension to them, the family dynamics are nonetheless fairly well established, in the sense that there's a certain amount of friction and tension between them all, something that this threat seems to change and eventually dissolve, nearly bringing them together, including the leading character's long lost mother. This attempt at stopping Death's sinister plan turns out to be the glue this fractured family needed to find a common ground. For all its shortcomings in terms of giving these characters something more substantial that makes them more authentic, the film moves surprisingly swiftly, and while its gory premise remains intact, the film isn't solely focused on this aspect, allowing for the narrative to feel fluid and sensical (something that the prior films at times battled with). It's a slick and polished B-movie at its best. The cast, particularly Brec Bassinger, Rya Kihlstedt, and Gabrielle Rose bring their characters to life with conviction, while the production team is solid, featuring some great production design work from Rachel O'Toole (the period elements at the beginning of the feature and the Mad Max inspired compound are inspired). It's an entertaining, even if at times gruesome, addition to the series. 

The Good House

Movie Name: The Good House
Year of Release: 2021
Director: Maya Forbes, Wallace Wolodarsky
Starring: Sigourney Weaver, Kevin Kline, Morena Baccarin, Rob Delaney, David Rasche, Rebecca Henderson, Molly Brown, Kathryn Erbe, Kelly AuCoin, Georgia Lyman, Beverly D'Angelo, Paul Guilfoyle, Jimmy LeBlanc, Holly Chou
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 7
Watch it on Amazon

Synopsis and Review

"The Good House" is the first credited release of the directing duo of Maya Forbes and Wallace Wolodarsky, though individually they've directed quite a few features of their own (Forbes directed "Infinitely Polar Bear" and Wolodarsky directed "Seeing Other People", and they have also written many other features including "The Rocker" and "Monster Vs. Aliens", to name but a few).  "The Good House" is an adaptation of the novel by Ann Leary and the directors/writers collaborated with Thomas Bezucha on the script. It focuses on the life of Hildy Good, a realtor in the beautiful area of Andover, who has been struggling to catch a break. She's gone through a divorce, and her former assistant Wendy, has stolen some of her clients while she was in rehab for alcoholism (at the insistence of her daughters). Hildy has been attempting to help a local family with an autistic child sell their home, and asks local handyman Frank, whom she has always been attracted to, if he can help them with some house renovations. Hildy also navigates the social ecosystem of the town, having befriended Rebecca, a recent addition to the community who is married to a well off man, but who is having an affair with Peter, the local psychiatrist, someone Hildy has known all her life. Hildy's life gets progressively more out of control, as her drinking escalates, and as she reminisces about her own mother, and what drove her to her sad ending. 

"The Good House" is an interesting film that experiences a rather darker tonal shift midway through it, but one that remains thoroughly engaging very much due to the impeccable central performance from Sigourney Weaver. As the narrative commences, Hildy's breaking the fourth wall and addressing the audience directly, feels very much like a series of snarky and very self aware comments about her own life and those in it. These comments are incisive and funny, and give Hildy this loose and relaxed vibe that instantly make her charismatic and relatable. However as the narrative progresses, and her issues with alcohol abuse become more pronounced and her ability to lead her life seem to evaporate further and further, that joyous tone also becomes less and less visible, revealing a woman who has been avoiding addressing certain issues and problems in her life. It's a very interesting narrative progression, since initially the film has some winks and nudges to the dark humor of Sam Mendes' "American Beauty", but then it shifts into something definitely more heartfelt and even more dramatic. This journey is one worth going through with Sigourney Weaver, who hasn't had a part this dynamic in years, and she has a great partner in Kevin Kline, whom she shares great chemistry with (they made a great couple in Ivan Reitman's "Dave", and also the illicit adulterers in Ang Lee's "The Ice Storm"). Sadly the supporting characters are rather thinly characterized and developed, including Morena Baccarin's Rebecca, Rob Delaney's Peter, and Kathryn Erbe's Wendy, all characters who could have benefited from a bit more attention. The production team on the film is solid, with highlights going to Andrei Bowden Schwartz's cinematography, Theodore Shapiro's score, and Carl Sprague's production design. It's a nicely crafted film with some fantastic performances worth watching. 

Weapons

Movie Name: Weapons
Year of Release: 2025
Director: Zach Cregger
Starring: Josh Brolin, Julia Garner, Alden Ehrenreich, Amy Madigan, Cary Christopher, Benedict Wong, Austin Abrams, June Diane Raphael, Whitmer Thomas, Callie Schuttera, Toby Huss, Sara Paxton, Justin Long, Clayton Farris, Aaron Quick Nelson, Scarlett Sher
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 8
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Synopsis and Review

Following the well received "Barbarian", writer/director Zach Cregger has returned with a more ambitious, and even more effective dark and original story. The film takes place in Maybrook, a town in Pennsylvania, where as the narrator lets us know, seventeen children get up in the middle of the night, and leave their houses. They're all students of Justine Gandy, a discrete and somewhat timid teacher. The police seek their whereabouts, and nothing is uncovered, no bodies are found, nothing is traceable. The principal of the school, Marcus Miller tries to bring parents and teachers together to collectively try to deal with the situation, but the situation quickly escalates as the angry parents hold Justine responsible for what happened, without any proof or reason for doing so. The narrative then focuses on different lead characters of the narrative, starting with Justine, whom we encounter having to resort to drinking to cope with the trauma of the situation. She also hooks up with a married prior boyfriend of hers, a local police officer by the name of Paul. She tries to understand what has happened to all the children by following the only boy who didn't disappear, the quiet and shy Alex. Alex was interviewed by the Police and everyone at school and has no idea where his colleagues are. As Justine continues her investigation, she's accosted by one of the parents of the missing children, Archer Graff. As he's questioning her at a gas station, she's viciously attacked by Marcus, who is intent on killing her (out of nowhere). As the narrative focuses on different characters, including Archer, Paul, James (a local drug addict), Marcus, and Alex, we begin to realize what took place in the days leading to the disappearance of the children, and all the ties that intersect these characters' lives. 

"Weapons" is one of those rare films that manages to hold one's attention, by asking a very simple question. What if a collective traumatic event happened in a small community, and there was absolutely no way to figure out what had caused that event? The massive trauma that occurs to these families jumpstarts this narrative, that then takes us on a journey of understanding these singled out characters, but also slowly starts uncovering the nefarious and darkness reasonings that lie beneath all the events that have and are  happening. The first two thirds of the film are truly a lesson in being able to create an environment that is primarily one of anguish, and anger, and as the third chapter comes along, and all the pieces start coming together, some additional questions do appear, but the overall darkness of what is taking place becomes both more apparent and disturbing. This is indeed Zach Cregger's version of Paul Thomas Anderson's "Magnolia", in the sense we all get to understand a bit of all these lead characters and why their lives intersect, but with a sinister and supernatural take on it, which eventually dictate their outcomes. Without spoiling what takes place in the narrative, the film is finely crafted in terms of illustrating the context in which these characters exist, and giving just enough dimension to all of them which allows us to understand their plight. The writer/director also provides just enough horrific moments which jolt the film with a certain energy, never gratuitously being overly grotesque. The cast is uniformly fantastic, with Josh Brolin, Julia Garner, Alden Ehrenreich, Austin Abrams, Cary Christopher, Benedict Wong, and Amy Madigan all excelling in their compositions. The production team is equally impeccable, in particular Larkin Seiple's cinematography, Ryan & Hays Holladay (with Zach Cregger)'s score, and Tom Hammock's production design. A very good film worth watching. 

The Naked Gun

Movie Name: The Naked Gun
Year of Release: 2025
Director: Akiva Schaffer
Starring: Liam Neeson, Pamela Anderson, Paul Walter Hauser, Danny Huston, CCH Pounder, Kevin Durand, Liza Koshy, Eddie Yu, Michael Beasley, Moses Jones, Chase Steven Anderson, Cody Rhodes, Busta Rhymes
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 6
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Synopsis and Review

Writer, producer, director Akiva Schaffer, has a long career in comedy, including long writing stints with Saturday Night Live, and with the occasional foray into feature films, including the Andy Samberg vehicle "Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping". Schaffer, alongside Doug Mand, and Dan Gregor have tackled the original concept from the ZAZ creative team in revisiting "The Naked Gun", which was originally an extension of the cancelled TV Show "Police Squad", which featured the now iconic duo of Leslie Nielsen and George Kennedy (with the support of Priscilla Presley in the feature films). This new version of "The Naked Gun" follows the story of Lieutenant Frank Drebin Jr. of the LAPD Police Squad, whom we first encounter tackling an armed robbery on a bank. However, this isn't your typical robbery - in reality the robbery is a decoy for the real goal of the assault: stealing a gadget named "PLOT Device" from a safe deposit box. Drebin's intervention gets him in trouble with his boss, who reassigns him to another case, a fatal car crash whose victim was a software engineer named Simon Davenport. The deceased's sister, Beth, a crime novelist, communicates with Drebin and indicates she thinks her brother was killed. As Drebin starts investigating, the leads start pointing in the direction of the billionaire Richard Cane, who has some nefarious plans he intends to set in motion with the "PLOT Device" gadget. 

What was always a staple for the ZAZ authored feature films and their sole TV series, was their ability to mine the seriousness of different genres, particularly the police story/thriller genres, and introduce the nonsense within the parameters/tropes of that genre, asking their actors to perform all events as if though they were indeed in a dramatic situation. They applied this concept to "Airplane", but also "Top Secret" (the WWII genre), "The Naked Gun", and as they went in separate directions, they leveraged different sources to reference in their output, namely military films of the 80s for inspiration on "Hot Shots" and in the early 2000s, horror/suspense films with their take on "Scary Movie". Akiva Schaffer and his creative team do quite well with the assignment, in this modernized take on "The Naked Gun". Gone are indeed the winks to films and TV shows of the 1970s and 1980s (while Danny Huston is a wondrous actor, one can't help but miss the stupendous Ricardo Montalban or Robert Goulet as the main villains), but the film introduces funny takes and jabs on modern cultural references, including the ever present coffee drink, electric cars, and the omnipresent technology. This creative team however doesn't quite know what to do with the supporting characters, something that the original films solved a lot better, placing George Kennedy and Priscilla Presley always in the right hilarious moments (and the romantic and sex scene montages between Leslie Nielsen and Priscilla Presley in the original films were themselves ridiculous and superlatively funny). There are aspects this film could have lived without, namely the bodily functions humor, but Liam Neeson fully commits to the role, at times bringing to mind his role in Sam Raimi's "Darkman", but his seriousness in the embodiment of Drebin Jr. and his easy rapport with Pamela Anderson, all entwined with the silliness of the situations themselves, keep the laughs coming. It's a nicely crafted successor to the original films, even if it doesn't reach the tone, including the lunacy, of the original. Worth watching. 

In the Lost Lands

Movie Name: In the Lost Lands
Year of Release: 2025
Director: Paul W. S. Anderson
Starring: Milla Jovovich, Dave Bautista, Arly Jover, Amara Okereke, Fraser James, Simon Loof, Deirdre Mullins, Sebastian Stankiewicz
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 4
Watch it on Amazon

Synopsis and Review

Writer, producer, director, Paul W. S. Anderson is back following his prior video game adaptation, "Monster Hunter" which premiered in 2020 during the pandemic (to anemic results, even if the film itself was actually somewhat entertaining). This time around, he and Constantin Werner are adapting a short story from George R. R. Martin. The narrative takes place on a dystopian wasteland called The Lost Lands. What is left of the civilized world is ruled by an Overlord, while policing and order is maintained by the Church. One of the targets of that church is Gray Alys a witch, whom we originally encounter being hanged by them. Leveraging her powers she manages to evade them. She is subsequently sought after by The Queen, wife of the Overlord, who wants the power of shapeshifting. Gray Alys states she can never deny someone's request/wish, and therefore she agrees to deliver the Queen's request. The Queen's long time friend, Jerais, also visits Gray Alys and also performs a request, aiming to stop the Queen's aspirations. Gray Alys knows that in order to get the powers of a shapeshifter she'll need some additional assistance, and she seeks out the help of man by the name of Boyce (who is coincidentally one of the Queen's lovers). While Boyce isn't thrilled by the prospect of going deeper into the Lost Lands, they eventually set their course, knowing they only have a few days to make it there. 

Paul W. S. Anderson is a director who has worked in genre films for so long that he has acquired a consistent following. While his output isn't as uniquely distinctive and "auteur" driven as say John Carpenter, some of his films do manage to be quite entertaining, even if the screenplays of his films always have some issues that are never fully well resolved. That seems to be the case with "In the Lost Lands", which starts really strongly, illustrating a new world in broad strokes, and placing one of the central characters in a dire situation, which she manages to escape thanks to her resourcefulness and powers. Sadly much of the information about that character, Gray Alys, or her sidekick Boyce, are largely eschewed in detriment of the mission in which they find themselves, and also of the buddying relationship emerging between them. These are some of the aspects of the film that feel a bit stunted, since both the relationship between Alys and Boyce could be more openly developed, the same going for their backstory, which feels remarkably shallow. Mr. Anderson is always quite good at staging action scenes, which is also the case on this film, but sadly this one also lacks a powerful enemy force, one that counterbalances Alys and Boyce, and ends up robbing the film from a satisfactory arc. All these aspects aside, there's quite a bit to enjoy from this film, starting with the easy chemistry between Milla Jovovich and Dave Bautista, and also the world building the director is able to illustrate. The cast is dominated by those actors, with the production team also doing a solid work of illustrating this dystopian universe, starting with Glen MacPherson's cinematography, Lukasz Trzcinski's production design, and Milena Jaroszek's costume design. It's a film with limitations, but watchable nonetheless. 

Superman

Movie Name: Superman
Year of Release: 2025
Director: James Gunn
Starring: David Corenswet, Nicholas Hoult, Rachel Brosnahan, Skyler Gisondo, Nathan Fillion, Edi Gathegi, Isabela Merced, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Sara Sampaio, Bradley Cooper, Angela Sarafyan, Alan Tudyk, Michael Ian Black, Wendell Pierce, Neva Howell, Zlatko Buric, Frank Grillo, James Hiroyuki Liao, Anthony Carrigan, Sean Gunn, Milly Alcock, John Cena
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 7
View the Trailer

Synopsis and Review

Following the successful wrap up of his trilogy for Marvel Studios of the "Guardians of the Galaxy" films, writer/producer/director James Gunn has turned his attention to the DC universe, and has started his creative overhaul for the properties/characters with what has turned out to be one of the best renditions of the Superman character. The narrative focuses on the adventures of Clark Kent/Superman, whom we initially witness being pummeled, and suffering a defeat at the hands of what seems to be an unstoppable villain (one named "Hammer of Boravia"). As Superman recovers in his fortress of solitude, we realize the mastermind behind his painful defeat is none other than the intense and focused Lex Luthor. Superman also finds himself in trouble after preventing a nation by the name of Boravia from invading a neighboring country by the name of Jarhanpur (he acted on his own, without consulting with any other nations). Luthor manages to infiltrate the Fortress, robbing personal items belonging to Superman, including his birth parents damaged final message, Krypto the dog, and destroying all the robots maintaining the facility. While Luthor is doing that, he has unleashed a kaiju on Metropolis, something that Superman with the help of Green Lantern, Mister Terrific, and Hawkgirl, has to tackle. As Luthor manages to manipulate public perception of Superman, eventually convincing the government that he is an alien threat, he's brought into for questioning. Luthor however captures Superman, dropping him on a parallel universe, with a super-powered being who can emulate Kryptonite. However, and as Superman looks at all the people Luthor has imprisoned, he realizes everything Lex has done has even more nefarious intents than just killing him.

One of the most amazing aspects about this film is how incredibly intelligent and relatable to our current times it actually is. It's an entertaining film that, much like the best art, is political, opinionated, while still being escapist, and impeccably well crafted. James Gunn has always been able to craft films that have a stylistic point of view, while balancing a well positioned sense of humor, while also never taking himself or the source material dramatically seriously. He understands that a film can be a fickle piece of entertainment, but he nonetheless makes a spectacle of his features, and does so by giving his characters an arc and actual complex situations to overcome. At his worst, James Gunn's films can be a bit self indulgent, which was the case of the weakest of his recent features, the second episode of "Guardians of the Galaxy". However when he manages to marry his B-movie appetites, with the larger canvas of a comic book universe, he manages to produce output as memorable as what he did with "Suicide Squad" (still one of the best recent adaptations of a comic book). With "Superman" he summarizes in the best way possible everything that has descended upon modern society, including villainous individuals who manipulate information to pursue their agendas, brutally silencing critical voices, bullying and invading other countries, viciously attacking and destroying others with no morals, no ethical considerations, literally everything we can witness just by watching every day news. And while one would be tempted to think the film is "preachy" and overtly political, Mr. Gunn smartly takes the film in directions of delight and humor, by always making us realize that Clark/Superman, is both human, but also a better version of that species, effectively saving the world from the problems it creates for itself. The film does have some character development issues, but for the most part, it successfully creates an engaging universe, and populates it with believable characters. The cast is solid, particularly David Corenswet, Nicholas Hoult, Nathan Fillion, Skyler Gisondo, Sara Sampaio, and Pruitt Taylor Vince, all of which manage to leave a solid mark and have great chemistry with each other. The production team also excels, particularly Henry Braham's cinematography, John Murphy and David Fleming's score, and Beth Mickle's production design. It's a very entertaining and well crafted film worth watching and rewatching.