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“Superman: The Movie” is one of the first superhero movies, to the point that the producers had to put “The Movie” at the end of it to clear confusion with comic books. Released in 1978, very few superhero movies had ever been made before, with the most recognizable predecessors being “The Mark of Zoro” (1920), and “The Adventures of Captain Marvel” (1941). After the release of “Superman: The Movie” over 45 superhero films would be released before the creation of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (the highest grossing movie franchise of all time) in 2008.
It’s easy to say, the film sparked the now raging flame that is the genre of “superhero movies,” partly accredited to its amazing cast. The late Christopher Reeves, known for films like “Rear Window (1998)” and “Somewhere in Time,” plays Clark Kent and his alter ego, Superman, as he battles the villain Lex Luthor, played by late actor Gene Hackman.
When watching the film, Lex Luthor is visibly absent for the first half of the movie, but so is Superman. In fact, neither appear until after an hour of backstory, starting with the destruction of Klark Kent’s home planet, Krypton, and the death of his adoptive father Jonathan Kent (Glenn Ford). Back when people only knew Superman from comics, this backstory was well needed. Now, after many new films skip backstories like this, such as the 2025 film “Superman” directed by James Gunn, it feels refreshing to see “country bumpkin” Klark Kent, even for just an hour.
Even though Superman beating up villains and rocking his singular hair curl is portrayed delightfully, watching Klark Kent gawk in the big city was astonishingly pleasant. Whenever the timid and kind journalist is attempting to socialize or create the ultimate one-sided relationship with fellow reporter Lois Lane (Margot Kidder), it feels like something never seen before. Stereotypically, a big bulky superhero always has the ultimate expression of “jockeyness” mixed with pure honorability, and this is seen with almost all Superman adaptations too, but the refreshing impact of a shy, anxious man when without his alter ego mask, is reminiscent of works done with Marvel’s Peter Parker/Spider-Man.
Even so, Superman has plenty of strong moments as well, mostly thanks to Luthor. Without the charismatic mastermind for the possibly unstoppable superhero (of which DC seems to have forgotten to give a limit), Superman would have nobody to truly challenge him. Thankfully, Luthor is up to the task, by forcing upon Superman the hardest challenge of all, the infamous trolley problem.
Luthor sets two missiles to fire in separate directions, forcing Superman to choose only one, as both are moving too fast to stop collectively. While Superman fails to stop both missiles, he does inevitably save the day, but not without some costly sacrifices, sacrifices he refuses to make. Sadly, the movie takes a turn for the worst and chooses to use DC’s gift of infinite power that Superman has been poorly bestowed, when Superman decides to fly around the world to make it spin backwards, turning back time.
Many problems arise from this, especially the fact that the whole point of the missiles was that he wasn’t fast enough, but then 10 minutes later, he is lapping the world five times in a second. While these flaws don’t outweigh the pros and quirky character moments this movie is so richly filled with, it does leave you with a sense of, “what in the world just happened?!” I would rate “Superman: The Movie” a 4.15📼 out of 5.00📼, and suggest it to anybody wishing for a refreshing look at an otherwise highly covered media persona.
