Escape to the Movies: Man of Steel

[Jetsetneo]

I fucking despise Superman and everything he stands for, so I might just enjoy this movie.

You despise someone because his main goal is to protect the place he calls home from the people that would sooner turn it into a wasteland or slave pit? Huh.

Agreed. This a weird sentiment that some people seem to share when it comes to Superman and it flabbergasts me.Superman is no more 'OP' than any other protagonist for anything else ever. Its commonly refered to as 'plot armor' just about everybody who has a story written about them have it. Superman just shows it up front, and most of the time that just leaves him free to tell stories that arent about beating up bad guys.

On the movie itself, I saw it last night. The action scenes wreck the Avengers in terms of epic scale and punch outs. The story is all over the place imo, at sometimes its grand and heartfelt, other times its flat and im wondering how it made the cut. I 'get' the 50% love hate some critics are giving it, but as a summer blockbusters its way better than say...Transformers or the Expendibles.

 

[Galletea]

The word I would use if dull. I'm sure it was spectacular in 3D, but I was decidedly bored.

 

[PunkRex]

I swear, if there isn't a point in Pacific Rim with one of the characters screaming "I'M IN A GIANT ROBOT!" I might just cry blood.

 

[elvor0]

Lets be honest with ourselves... Dark & gritty are two words that should NEVER be used to describe Superman.

When I heard that Nolan was working on a Superman film, my immediate reaction was "Aw CRAP!" Until I heard that it was 52 universe Superman.

Again... Lets be honest; the 52 universe SUCKS!!!


-Power Girl is dressed all conservatively.

-and Green Lantern... is gay!
.

..How are these two things 'bad'? How do they relevantly affect the character in any way? What, power-girl revolves around her boobs? Really?
What makes the Green Lantern an interesting character is his sexuality? Really? It's not being an interplanetary space-police? Or kicking ass with the most powerful-weapon in the universe? No, it's about that he kisses dudes?
What..The..Actual..Fuck?
I sincerely hope I have misinterpreted your intentions.

Have you ever read a Power Girl comic? In the comics she's asked "Why don't you wear a mask?" She replies...

As for Green Lantern... Yes it is bad. Why? Because it doesn't REALLY add anything! One minute he's white, then black, then Latino, then an angry red head and now GAY; what's next the bipolar version?

Okay yeah, Powergirls outfit is pretty dodgy in the new 52, but that reason was so arbitrary for her showing off her cleavage, we all know it's so the artists can have fun drawing massive boobs. The fact that she still exists is literally a massive in-joke that we all accept.

Secondly, all those Lanterns are all different characters, who all co-exist. Same as all the /other/ Green Lanterns, y'know all the aliens and what not, as well as the Guardians. Are you gonna argue that they add nothing to the character too? Heck if you're going to complain about the Green Lantern having other versions Hal damn well isn't the first. Alan Scott is the original, as you well should know. The guy who actually gets his powers from a Genie, not The Guardians and a Power Battery, is weak to wood not yellow; the whole Green Lantern Core is a revision of the character from scratch, so I'm not entirely sure what your argument is supposed to be. Going with your line of thought Alan Scott should be the one Green Lantern that ever existed.

And you're right, Alan Scott being Gay does add nothing to the character. The way it should be. Him being gay doesn't add anything to the character because it shouldn't /have/ any bearing on things. Lets face it, there's loads of Superheroes, some of them /are/ going to be gay. The fact that you decide the next version would be the Bipolar version (which is a mental illness) just leads me to believe you don't like him being gay because you don't like gay people. Him being gay doesn't define his character, neither did him being straight, because it has no bearing on his character, it's just there because it's a nice bit of diversity. Also, taking into account the Justice League series, John Stewart is the best Human GL hands down.

 

[chozo_hybrid]

What did you do to Lois, Man of Steel? WHAT DID YOU.... If this is the general concensus, and I find it to be true when I watch it, I will personally kick the writer in the nuts.

Yeah it's a damn shame, I've always liked her character and the fact that she has guts all around to get shit done.

That said, I am looking forward to the film, it doesn't have to be perfect, it just needs to be stable enough to setup another and the whole Justice League stuff etc. I mean, origin movies always seem to lack a certain something because they have to establish a lot and can add a bit of tedium, I am glad to hear the action more then makes up for it.

 

[SideSmash]

The way you talked about Man of Steel reminds me a lot of how you talked about Tim Burton's Batman. The good stuff is REALLY good, but it ultimately fails to really work. I'm already hoping for a sequel.

 

[RedDeadFred]

Best fight scenes ever. That is what I came out of the movie thinking about. Seriously, my mouth was literally held open because I was in awe of the spectacle. I don't usually forgive movies for their story telling mistakes even if their visuals and action are great (see Avatar), but in this case, I will most definitely make an exception.

IMO, Bob is pretty much right in regards to the story although I thought it was a bit better. I liked the ideas and themes that the story presented (and sometimes you got a sense that it really was a great story) but for the most part, it was delivered fairly poorly. The entire sequence with the flash backs felt really odd. I'm not sure how to describe it but it just seemed off.

Once Zod arrived, the story got quite a bit better IMO. Ya there were still sloppy bits but I felt that it was more focused. I'm not sure why Bob thought the thing Zod was looking for was meaningless or pointless, it's Kryptons only fucking hope to be purely Kryptonian. That is was Zod was made to keep safe. I don't understand how he can like Zod but not like the entire premise of his quest... Also, maybe I'm a minority in this, but I thought Lois was actually very good. Although the scene where Zod wanted her on the ship didn't make much sense (I guess we have to imagine what his reasons for that were).

Anyway, I'll reiterate:

BEST FIGHT SCENES EVER!!!!!!!

 

[Seracen]

Having seen the movie, I enjoyed it. I agree that there was little of that "Americana" spark of optimism, that defines Supes, which was clearly b/c they wanted to make him "cool."

Still, the only thing I would have changed about the story is more setup for his character. Sure, we all know it by now, but it would have been nice to see Clark's reaction to his own heritage, which is an angle not really played with enough in the movies (though Smallville had 10 seasons to grapple with it).

All in all, a solid performance, here's hoping JLA turns out better. I'd really love it if Wonder Woman got her own outing! Also, as abysmal as GL was, I hope they include him in the JLA movie.

 

[RedDeadFred]

we really don't need another grim and gritty reboot.

Why not? All of the Marvel ones have the same, light-hearted, nothing bad is actually ever going to happen, tone. They're good at what they do but every one of them feels like the same movie to me. I like variety...

Granted the movie's story could have been much better but that doesn't mean that every super hero movie needs to do it exactly like Marvel.

 

[Stabby Joe]

This is a very interesting review for me personally since I'm in agreement with it in may ways except one. The action is great if drawn out, Shannon is a top form if scene chewy, supporting are fine but just kind of there etc, basically yes its good but clearly flawed.

But in regards to where the film's heart is. I actually think that its heart is in the right place with the many themes and character pieces working to an extent but the script seems to either be over thinking it or in some cases outright undercutting it. I think a film where Kevin Costner's characters raising a would be Superman has more than enough substance to stand as its own film. In fact by the time the action rolled around the best part was the final moment due to its emotion.

As a side note, Bob's final word is hilarious but true, great stuff!

 

[Sir Thomas Sean Connery]

I actually agreed with you far more than I thought I would.

I liked it a bit more, but I will admit the atmosphere was pretty joyless.
I don't especially enjoy the angstyness(shut up, it's totally a word), but I also don't mind it since I was never a huge fan of classic Superman.
It would have been nice to see them do it straight faced and still have it work perfectly like with Captain America.

I'm also glad we can agree that Zod was AMAZING. I seriously think the movie is worth seeing just for him and the action.

 

[Dangit2019]

This might sound weird, but I did want to throw it out there that if you still have 9/11 issues, I would skip this movie. Being someone who is around a lot of people with these issues still, mainly because I live near NYC, a lot of the scenes were uncomfortable even to me.

Are we going to just start putting trigger warnings every time New York gets attacked in a movie?

You don't see England losing their shit every time the tube gets fucked on screen.

 

[Tylord]

Oh yeah, another problem with the film. As someone from Kansas, NEVER EVER hide from a tornado in an overpass. That is one of the worst ways to avoid it. The overpass acts as a wind tunnel and magnifies the force.

Also because I'm from Kansas I could identify the two possibile "location" of Smallville. The school bus is from Marion county, the massive fight had at least a car from Douglas county. If anyone cares past this point.... Google it?

 

[Dangit2019]

Keep your eyes out for the Lex Corp tanker truck. I chuckled when Supes got smashed into it.

Oh yeah, also there was a blink-and-you'll-miss-it Lexcorp 18 wheeler right as Superman comes back and visits his mom after the graveyard scene.

Oh yeah, another problem with the film. As someone from Kansas, NEVER EVER hide from a tornado in an overpass. That is one of the worst ways to avoid it. The overpass acts as a wind tunnel and magnifies the force.

I'm from Texas (in a lower area that doesn't regularly get tornadoes) and even I got incredibly annoyed by that.

 

[Shdwrnr]

Was I the only one who found the heavy handed product placement jarring? The IHOP signs and Sears signs stood out to the point of absurdity IMO; really took me out of the scenes.

 

[Devin Barker]

MASSIVE SPOILER ALERT HERE: where i lost it with this movie is the point where the big gravity machine is... well being a big gravity machine and all of the fighter pilots are saying " we cant hit it with missiles because of the gravity" one assholes big idea is "lets fly closer and shoot more missiles"... and thats not the only time shit like this happens in this movie the whole movie treats humans like they are usles. there is even a Prometheus-esq scene where people are running from a falling building in a straight line... out of the group of 20 people running only 3 manage to figure out turning in any direction will save their lives... i know think of this nature are common in movies but this one rode the "talking is a free action" trope waaayyyyy to much

 

[Tylord]

Was I the only one who found the heavy handed product placement jarring? The IHOP signs and Sears signs stood out to the point of absurdity IMO; really took me out of the scenes.

Not at all. It really takes me out of a film, hopefully the ad money was used to make the film better.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

I'll have to see this then if I can find a free evening.

 

[daxterx2005]

Not going to lie, I was totally expecting a Cat Mario eye catch at the end.