We are in 2025 and I just looked at Superman from 1978 for the first time – these are my honest thoughts

According to all the accounts, I should be a superman superman. I love a good pure guy, a hero with a moral code. I also like a protagonist who fights but is not a fighter in their hearts. But alas, I was born in 1996, and the characterographic heritage of the character since then, we will say, disorderly. I missed the beloved caricatured of “Justice League” for any reason. Maybe I was too obsessed with what Sam Raimi and Hugh Jackman did in the early 2000s. But with “Superman” by James Gunn who hits theaters, I’m ready for my Superman moment. I am ready to fall in love with Krypton’s son.

First of all, however, I had to do homework.

“Superman: The Movie” from 1978 is largely considered as a cinematographic classic – a bridge between the ancient series of superheroes from previous decades and the industrial complex of modern comic film. But how does he resist the fresh eyes in 2025? Better than you think.

I looked at “Superman: The Movie” for the first time, and although yes, it’s too long, uneven in places, a little dated and quite strange, I had a good time. Christopher Reeve and Margot Kidder are exceptional and have a fantastic chemistry as Clark Kent and Lois Lane, and Gene Hackman brings his usual excellence to a certainly ridiculous interpretation of Lex Luthor. “Superman” is carried by his actors, his charm and a knowingly camped tone. It’s also pretty weird. Let’s go.

I should recognize at the top here that I am a big fan of “Star Wars” and that it was difficult not to constantly think of the original film by George Lucas in 1977 watching “Superman”. The two are stylized science fiction adventure stories that pay tribute to the genre series of the “1930s”, and the 1950s. And I must say that this comparison does not make “Superman: The Movie” Any Favors in the first act.

We open on a black and white scene and an introduction to Superman comic strips from the 1930s before embarking on a sequence of interstellar opening credits which becomes extremely difficult during the first minute, then hangs up, much too long. Never before I have understood why Lucas desperately wanted to avoid opening credits in his own film. The momentum at the start of “Superman” is uneven, and I must say that the stoic presence of Marlon Brando as Zor-El is more a distraction than an improvement.

“Superman” also winds the difficult decision to make several scenes of original back to back – one on Krypton, another when Kal -El landed on earth, and even more with him as a young adult. How does he know how to throw a mysterious green crystal in the Arctic Sea to create the fortress of loneliness? Where did he get his costume? It doesn’t matter. The first 45 minutes approximately unfortunately under their own weight, but things pick up considerably once we arrive in Metropolis and the daily planet.

As soon as Margot Kidder appears on the screen as Lois Lane, “Superman: The film” Gettly Get Good. Reeve is a real star who also jumped between the roles of Clark and Kal-El. The script is always funny with songs on his alter ego and a handful of laughter lines, although I could have done without the multiple Cases of kisses and non -consensual saints that have been played for laughter. Alas, such was the moment.

Superman is a film that does not take itself seriously, generally to its advantage. The old series were clearly close to the mind during production, and the film can be read more like a series of vignettes, with very little real character development. This made sense to me given the cultural place of comics at the time, but I occasionally felt as if the film was too convinced that he could only be a Campy game.

There are brips that cut the storm in the classification of wild colors (these reds are Really Red) and silly conspiracy. Superman’s meeting with laws at the end of the film is deeply touching thanks to a discreet performance by Reeve, and Zor-El obtains good equipment at the start. (“Has it become a crime to cherish life?”) I also love that Superman always says the truth and that it is a repeated plot. And me especially I love the fact that his publisher describes him as having a “lively and impactful prose style”. The virtues of Clark Kent’s writing skills are not sufficiently discussed, I think.

Whatever the greatness and magic of the film could have been there in the late 1970s, unfortunately disappeared over time. All Filwork and heavy composits are always fun, of course, but the effects simply do not hold like other gender classics of the time. (The costume looks great, however.) That said, I had a good time, and Reeve completely bought me on the character of Superman. I don’t know what more than I could have asked.

James Gunn’s “Superman” sinks into the rooms on July 11, 2025.