SUPERMAN : Tuesday 15th July 2025.

I saw the long awaited, eagerly anticipated and much hyped M Rated 'SUPERMAN' earlier this week, and this American Superhero film is based on the much loved DC Comics character of Superman/Clark Kent, and is Written, Co-Produced and Directed by James Gunn, who in October 2022 became the new Co-CEO of DC Studios with Peter Safran. This is the second reboot of the 'Superman' film series following on from the DC Extended Universe which kicked off with 'Man of Steel' in 2013, then 'Batman v. Superman : Dawn of Justice' in 2016 and 'Justice League' in 2017 with Henry Cavill playing the titular role in all three outings. This film is set to be the first film of the DCU's Chapter One : Gods and Monsters, cost US$225M to produce, was released internationally from last week, has so far grossed US$262M at the global Box Office and has generated positive critical reviews. 

The film opens telling us that three thousand years ago the first metahumans arrived on Earth. Then thirty years ago, Jor-El and Lara Lor-Van sent their infant son Kal-El to Earth to escape the destruction of their home planet, Krypton. Raised as Clark Kent by adoptive human parents Jonathan (Pruitt Taylor Vince) and Martha Kent (Neva Howell) in Smallville, Kansas, the Kryptonian gains incredible powers from the Earth's yellow Sun. Inspired to heroism by Jor-El and Lara's farewell message, the latter half of which was badly damaged on the journey, Clark introduced himself as Superman (David Corenswet), the most powerful metahuman on Earth, to the world three years ago. Clark maintains his secret identity and a job as a reporter for the Daily Planet newspaper in Metropolis, where he works with Jimmy Olsen (Skyler Gisondo), Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan) who is in a relationship with Clark and aware of his secret identity, and Perry White (Wendell Pierce) the Editor-in-Chief of the Daily Planet.

Three weeks earlier, Superman had prevented an invasion by Boravia, an ally of the USA, of its neighbouring country, Jarhanpur. Billionaire Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult) assures General Rick Flag Sr. (Frank Grillo) and others in the US government, who begin to wonder if Superman might in fact be a threat, that he can kill Superman if necessary, but the government officials stave off that threat . . . for now. Then, three minutes ago Superman loses his first fight against the mysterious 'Hammer of Boravia', who states Superman's involvement in the war as the reason for his attack. However, unbeknownst to the world, the Hammer is actually Ultraman, who is controlled by Luthor using a series of drones. 

Krypto, a superpowered dog being looked after by Superman, takes the badly injured Superman who landed with a thud badly beaten, bruised, and with a few broken bones and ruptured internal organs in the frozen depth of Antarctica. Krypto drags Superman back to his Fortress of Solitude in Antarctica, where he is healed almost back to full strength by his trusted team of robots with concentrated solar radiation. Luthor later secretly invades the fortress alongside Ultraman and the Engineer (Maria Gabriela de Faria), steals the farewell message from Jor-El and Lara and decodes it in its entirety, before abducting Krypto.

As Superman and the 'Justice Gang' - a team of metahuman heroes consisting Green Lantern (Nathan Fillion), Mister Terrific (Edi Gathegi), and Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced), take on a giant fire breathing kaiju trampling through Metropolis that was created by Luthor as a diversion. At the same time Luthor broadcasts the entire decoded Kryptonian message to the world. 

To Superman's horror, in the second half of the message, his parents urge him to conquer Earth, take as many wives as needed to restore the Kryptonian race, and to stamp out those who stand in his way. Needless to say, public opinion very quickly turns on Superman. Lois Lane even begins having doubts, and so he voluntarily surrenders to the government for questioning, and because of Superman's power, Flag gives custody of the hero to Luthor. 

Luthor imprisons Superman in his artificial pocket universe where he incarcerates his enemies, including Krypto and the metahuman Metamorpho (Anthony Carrigan, as a man made of four elements who could change himself, or part of himself, into any chemical compound in the universe). Using Metamorpho's baby son Joey as a hostage, Luthor forces him to create Kryptonite to render Superman powerless, which he does. Luthor's brainless blonde bimbo girlfriend Eve Teschmacher (Sara Sampaio), who is also infatuated with Jimmy, reveals that Luthor secretly backs Boravia in return for half of Jarhanpur's territory, providing photographic evidence of the plot before being imprisoned herself, also within the pocket universe.

Luthor interrogates Superman at his lowest ebb using Malik Ali (Dinesh Thyagarajan), a felafel cart vendor and one of Superman's supporters, as a hostage and playing Russian Roulette with him, before shooting his brains out on the second spin of his revolver.  This prompts a horrified Metamorpho to help Superman escape, and the two free Joey and Krypto. 

Lois convinces Mister Terrific to help find Superman, and they enter the pocket universe, ultimately rescuing the heroes and taking Superman to the Kent farm in rural Kansas to recover. Furious at Superman's escape, Luthor has his team increase the pocket universe reactor's power to coax Superman out, creating a rift that begins to tear across the city, destroying everything in its path and dividing the city in two.

Meanwhile Green Lantern, Metamorpho, and Hawkgirl arrive at the Boravian and Jarhanpur border and prevent a second invasion from happening by taking out a seemingly far superior and heavily armed Boravian army. Superman and Mister Terrific battle the Engineer and Ultraman as the growing rift rapidly approaches Metropolis. Hawkgirl fatally drops Vasil Ghurkos (Zlatko Buric), the President of Boravia who is in cahoots with Luthor, from a great height, killing him outright. After defeating the Engineer, Superman unmasks Ultraman (David Corenswet), revealing him to be a clone of himself. Luthor is so intent on defeating Superman that he refuses to close the rift, which further splits the city in half. Superman and Ultraman engage in a long standoff within the depths of the rift, with Superman overcoming Ultraman (aided by Krypto who takes out all of the drones that allows Luthor to control him) by trapping him inside a bus being pulled into a black hole below the rift. Superman and Mister Terrific go to the LuthorCorp headquarters to shut down the reactor, so closing the rift. The Justice Gang is celebrated as heroes alongside their newest member Metamorpho. In the meantime Lois and Jimmy type up an exclusive editorial piece with White's blessing, revealing Luthor's real intentions to the global media, so clearing Superman's name.

Luthor and his cohorts are all arrested, but not before Krypto has had a very long overdue go at Luthor leaving him bashed, bruised and with a few scrapes, and everyone trapped in his pocket universe are freed, including Eve, who runs and jumps into Jimmy's arms. Later, as Superman recovers from his injuries at the Fortress of Solitude, his cousin Kara Zor-El aka 'Supergirl' (Milly Alcock) drunkenly returns to pick up Krypto. To relax during the healing process, he watches footage of his childhood memories in Smallville growing up with Jonathan and Martha as his parents on their farm in Kansas. 

Remain in your seat for the very unconvincing mid-credits sequence single shot of Superman and Krypto sat side by side on the Moon looking back at Earth, which looks as though they are sat on a soccer ball (such that you can see the complete curvature of the Moon), with the Earth only about 5,000 miles away! And there's also an end credits scene, which the die hard fans may want to hold out for. 

Since James Gunn took the helm of the DC Studios with Co-CEO Peter Safran, expectations have been very high for this first instalment in the new DC Universe, and it must be said that Writer and Director Gunn does not disappoint. Here he has crafted a very engaging and entertaining film that at once has something to say about the political climate of today, has an emotional heartbeat at its core, is a welcome nod back to the comic books upon which this character is based, does not take itself too seriously, has some real moments of levity and humour, and is greater than the sum of its parts. The action set pieces which come thick and fast are well rendered, albeit do tend to drag on just a tad too long. The performances from David Corenswet and Nicholas Hoult are top notch, with the former harking back to the days when Christopher Reeve first burst onto our screens way back in 1978, and the latter portraying the megalomaniacal domineering and relentless scientific genius who has designs on ruling over a country taken by force for his own political gain (sound familiar in 2025 anyone?), with such conviction to make him relatable and believable. If 'Superman' as the first film in the new DCU sets the standard by which all future DCU films follow, then the folks at the MCU had better think seriously about lifting their game.

'Superman' warrants four claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a potential five claps. 

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

TWISTERS : Tuesday 16th July 2024.

I saw the M Rated 'TWISTERS' at my local multiplex this week, and this American action adventure disaster film is Directed by Lee Isaac Chung who rose to fame and recognition with 'Minari' in 2020 which went on to collect 122 award wins and a further 245 nominations from around the awards and festival circuit. This film is a stand alone sequel to the 1996 film 'Twister' which starred Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton, was Directed Jan de Bont and grossed US$495M against a production budget of US$90M. This film had a production budget of about US$180M and was released stateside this week on 19th July, has so far grossed US$31M and has received positive critical acclaim.

The films opens up with a team of storm chasers in Oklahoma, led by Kate Copper (Daisy Edgar-Jones), her love interest Jeb (Daryl McCormack), Javi (Anthony Ramos), Addy (Kiernan Shipka) and Praveen (Nik Dodani) as they battle against all odds to suck the energy out of a category EF5 tornado armed with barrels of a compound akin to what they make disposable nappies from. Initially expecting the said tornado to be a category EF1 or EF2 it quickly spirals into a category EF5 leaving the gang of five to attempt to take shelter under a road bridge, only for Praveen to be sucked into the vortex followed quickly by Addy and then Jeb while he is trying to protect Kate who is clinging onto a railing for dear life. In the heat of the moment Kates leg is badly slashed by a piece of flying debris. She emerges sometime later to a countryside laid to waste.

We then fast forward five years and Kate is seen working at a New York meteorology office and has seemingly settled into her new life and far away from chasing down twisters in Oklahoma's Tornado Alley. Into the office that same day sidles Javi who is now a well meaning entrepreneur with a plan to lure Kate back to Oklahoma by using some of the latest 3D image capturing devices to gain a far better understanding of what makes tornado's tick. Javi meanwhile seems to be on the payroll of a morally corrupt real estate agent wanting to purchase the land for a song from the victims of the tornado's devastating impacts and when they are at their most vulnerable. Kate is initially dismissive of Javi's suggestion, but soon comes round and takes a week off work to study tornado's up close and personal as storm season ramps up across Oklahoma. 

Arriving in Oklahoma at a meeting point with a rag tag bunch of other amateur storm chasers, Kate meets Tyler Owens (Glen Powell) who goes by the moniker of 'Tornado Wrangler' - a seemingly charming but often reckless social media superstar who thrives on posting to his own YouTube channel his storm chasing exploits and has had over one million views. On Tyler's team there is also Boone (Brandon Perea) the videographer, Lilly (Sasha Lane) the drone operator, Dexter (Tunde Adebimpe) and Dani (Katy O'Brian) a mechanic, as well as Ben (Harry Hadden-Paton) a south London journalist who is profiling Tyler. We are also introduced to Scott (David Corenswet) - Javi's business partner. 

What follows is a series of twisters that both Javi and Tyler compete for to get there first before said tornado's slice a swathe of destruction through central Oklahoma leaving levelled towns and villages in their wake. In the meantime, we have Javi and Scott coming to blows over Javi's steadfast belief in Kate's ability to locate the next twister just by looking at the cloud formations, the direction the wind is blowing and how much precipitation there is in the air; plus Javi's belief that they should stop and help the clean up efforts at the devastated towns they pass through rather that Scott's POV that they should call in their unscrupulous real estate business partner.

And then there is the interest that Kate and Tyler are developing for each other. Kate decides to look up her Mum, Cathy (Maura Tierney) whom she hasn't seen or spoken to in a long while and who lives on a farm a couple of hours drive away. The pair reconnect and the next day Tyler rocks up unexpectedly and is invited to stay overnight by Cathy. In the shed on the farm property lies Kate's mock up of small town with a large fan placed underneath with which she used to create her own indoor tornado's as part of her scientific experiments, plus all of her note books journalling her theories, successes and failures. All of this leads Tyler and Kate to contact Javi and ask him for the hard-drive of the 3D images that they had so far captured from targeting a twister. This data in turn enables them to determine with greater accuracy the validity of Kate's earlier hypothesis. Armed with this data, and about a dozen barrels of sodium polyacrylate (the super absorbent compound found in those disposable nappies), the pair venture out to locate the next twister and release the stuff. 

The pair arrive in El Reno, Oklahoma and can see that a twister is already forming and making its presence felt on the outskirts of the town. The local townsfolk all begin to scatter and panic as the tornado forms into an EF5 and so begins its destructive force on the town. Javi and Scott are in hot pursuit and observing that a desperate situation is about to unfold on El Reno, Javi says that they need to go and help while Scott is adamant that they need to give their real estate contact the heads-up, and to forget about the people of the soon to be flattened town. Javi wins the day and leaves Scott abandoned on the side of the road out of town. 

With a tornado bearing down Tyler, Kate and Javi corral as many of the townsfolk as they can into a local movie theatre for protection from the storm, however, the roof gets ripped off as does the outer wall in front of which is the cinema screen, with Tyler barely clinging on to Lilly from being sucked out into the vortex. In the meantime, Kate has driven Tyler's truck into the base of the tornado and has successfully launched the sodium polyacrylate into the heart of the twister, with it having the desired effect and effectively drying out the tornado from within. Within a couple of minutes the storm has eased, and so Tyler and Javi run across the field to Kate's aid.

In the closing scene Javi drops Kate off at the airport to catch her return flight home to New York. Tyler pulls up in his truck and the two men bid an uneasy farewell to Kate, with Kate's closing words to Tyler being his own credo 'if you feel it, chase it!' Standing at the departure gate Kate hears a message that her flight has been delayed due to a severe weather warning at which point Tyler emerges by her side and the pair leave the airport together.

'Twisters' is certainly worth the price of your cinema ticket, and for all the expertly rendered CGI effects this film makes for compelling viewing on a big screen as the cloud formations, the swirling violent vortex of the twisters themselves, the flying debris and the destruction on the ground in the aftermath are writ large on a grand scale. Both Powell and Edgar-Jones give convincing performances which helps in carrying the storyline forward in a grounded and realistic manner, although a little bit of a romantic relationship between the pair would not have gone amiss either. Whilst it is more than likely to cement its place as one of this season's blockbuster offerings, I couldn't help feel that the plot was a little predictable, and just a rehash of the 1996 original brought up to date with modern day effects and lots of scientific mumbo jumbo that you have to take with a handful of salt. That said, Director Lee Isaac Chung has crafted a film that is sure to please fans of the disaster genre, and offer up something new to those fans unfamiliar with its predecessor.

'Twisters' merits four claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a possible five claps.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-