DCU: Man of Steel

[Chaplin]

Disagree, thought it was great and easily Snyder's best film to date.

Great action sequences and the structure was interesting (flashbacks). Great casting choices--Russell Crowe was spectacular and Kevin Costner was horribly underused. Only questionable thing about it was Amy Adams as Lois -- good actress, but she wasn't Lois in the strictest sense. Michael Shannon did a great job overacting, but what else would you expect from General Zod? If he underplayed it, he'd be too much like Terence Stamp. A lot of references to Superman II, and they hit you over the head with who the villain will be in the next film.

Spoiler

During the Superman/Zod battle, Superman gets thrown into a tanker truck. The company that truck is from? Lexcorp.

Best of the summer? Probably not, although with Iron Man 3, Star Trek and this movie, the blockbuster season is shaping up to be pretty good. Now for the letdown that is The Lone Ranger...

 

[Stout]

Disagree, thought it was great and easily Snyder's best film to date.

Great action sequences and the structure was interesting (flashbacks). Great casting choices--Russell Crowe was spectacular and Kevin Costner was horribly underused. Only questionable thing about it was Amy Adams as Lois -- good actress, but she wasn't Lois in the strictest sense. Michael Shannon did a great job overacting, but what else would you expect from General Zod? If he underplayed it, he'd be too much like Terence Stamp. A lot of references to Superman II, and they hit you over the head with who the villain will be in the next film.

Spoiler

During the Superman/Zod battle, Superman gets thrown into a tanker truck. The company that truck is from? Lexcorp.

Best of the summer? Probably not, although with Iron Man 3, Star Trek and this movie, the blockbuster season is shaping up to be pretty good. Now for the letdown that is The Lone Ranger...

What kept this from being a great movie instead of a really good one were the plot holes.

Spoiler

He runs into a tornado for a dog--a DOG--instead of oh, I don't know, a baby or something. Superman proves he can use his laser eyes to hurt the bad guys, then doesn't use it again. A small black hole that won't suck in so much of the planet it won't destroy it? I don't think so. The ship shows up, shoots Superman, and then they just grab the girl and leave instead of oh, I don't know, a followup attack. These are a few of the problems I had with the plot.

 

[Covert Rain]

What kept this from being a great movie instead of a really good one were the plot holes.

Spoiler

He runs into a tornado for a dog--a DOG--instead of oh, I don't know, a baby or something. Superman proves he can use his laser eyes to hurt the bad guys, then doesn't use it again. A small black hole that won't suck in so much of the planet it won't destroy it? I don't think so. The ship shows up, shoots Superman, and then they just grab the girl and leave instead of oh, I don't know, a followup attack. These are a few of the problems I had with the plot.

Yep, plot holes and ridiculous situations the military kept putting Lois in. Again, if you care more about eye candy and action I could see you thinking this movie was better than it was. What kept this movie from being completely average were the flashback scenes with Clark and his family. However, I also think this was a cheap ploy to mask the obvious holes in the script.

This might be Snyder's biggest blockbuster but that does not mean the movie was great. Comparing this to the great Avengers or Dark Knight is simply ludicrous. It's not even better than Iron Man 3. Loved the special FX and the actions sequences were a spectacle to say the least. I also appreciate the re-imagining of Krypton. Although at times I almost forgot I was watching a movie about Superman. I thought I was watching a cross between a mesh of sci-fi movies and sprinkle of Avatar.

Again, good movie but not great. I really hope that because the subject matter will be more grounded in the next film that Snyder doesn't sacrifice story for spectacle again.

Spoiler

The other thing that bugged me is it seemed like ZOD and company sure did retreat much. It took some of the "bad ass" away from them. Also, Superman flying away from the black hole with Lois in his hands......right. What about when he pulled her out of the escape pod? Pod burning up on re-entry yet Supes pulls her out of the pod during re-entry.....no problem. She should have at the very least been wearing a wig the rest of the movie to mask the singed off hair. LOL. Why not use his heat vision to blast Zod to the ground or aside? Why couldn't he throw ZOD versus snap his neck? Clearly in previous scenes, despite their equal strength, they could clearly throw each other around. It was predictable something was going to happen when the black hole closed without ZOD. My first thought was they were either going to kill him or trap him somehow which would have been lame.

There were other ridiculous plot points but I don't want to give you the impression any of them were a big deal. It's just that when you look at the movie in totality, it ads up for a good but not great movie.

 

[Gee!]

Superman destruction in real life..

http://www.buzzfeed.com/jordanzakarin/man-of-steel-destruction-death-analysis

 

[NJCardFan]

Disagree, thought it was great and easily Snyder's best film to date.

Great action sequences and the structure was interesting (flashbacks). Great casting choices--Russell Crowe was spectacular and Kevin Costner was horribly underused. Only questionable thing about it was Amy Adams as Lois -- good actress, but she wasn't Lois in the strictest sense. Michael Shannon did a great job overacting, but what else would you expect from General Zod? If he underplayed it, he'd be too much like Terence Stamp. A lot of references to Superman II, and they hit you over the head with who the villain will be in the next film.

Spoiler

During the Superman/Zod battle, Superman gets thrown into a tanker truck. The company that truck is from? Lexcorp.

Best of the summer? Probably not, although with Iron Man 3, Star Trek and this movie, the blockbuster season is shaping up to be pretty good. Now for the letdown that is The Lone Ranger...

Without seeing the film yet(maybe tomorrow), I can guess Lex would be making an appearance, however, he's been a tad overdone in the old movies. I'd love to see Brainiac or Darkseid at some point.(Rumor has it, if there is a JLA movie, Darkseid is said to be the villain)

 

[NJCardFan]

Saw this today and while I believe it could have been better, I did enjoy it and there were aspects of the film I didn't like:

Spoiler

For starters, I hated how they killed Zod off. Zod deserved more than simply having his neck snapped. While I understand that how he was killed goes against Superman's beliefs but Zod shouldn't have died so simplistically. 2nd, While the Kryptonian Council were arrogant, I don't buy their Gattica-esque society. I don't believe that the El's would be a part of such a society. 3rd, allowing Lois Lane to know everything about him is a head scratcher. Yes, they do marry in the future but they should have saved this for another film similarly to the 70's era movies but I'm willing to let this go. 4th, if they're going to do another movie, the villain can't be Lex because of the tremendous wad they shot in this film. Lex's attempts to undermine anything Supes does won't come close to the level of action this movie has so the next villain must come down to 3 entities; Darkseid(however, rumor has it that Darkseid is said to be the main villain for the JLA movie if it ever gets off the ground), Brainiac, or Doomsday, the latter making the most sense. And lastly, the destruction in Metropolis and Smallville(among other places) is going to take decades to repair and something tells me that the next movie, both places are going to look no worse for wear.

That said, I liked the pace of the movie. I like how Clark/Superman was portrayed. Henry Cavill did very well. I know some who didn't like Amy Adams as Lois but I happened to be in the "Amy Adams is hot" club so she did fine IMO. It didn't bother me that they made Perry White black but it did bother me that Lawrence Fishburn was a bit laid back for my tastes. White is the DC version of J. Jonah Jameson without the accusatory attitude toward super heroes. He's more wise cracking than how he was portrayed in this film but again, it's something I'm willing to overlook as Fishburn is one of those actors who I can watch in any role. I loved Diane Lane(always have) and Kevin Kostner as the Kent's and Russell Crowe as Jor EL. Overall it was a good movie on par with Batman Begins.

 

[Cardinals.Ken]

Saw this last night. I'm still trying to process the experience to reach even a modicum of eloquence to describe it.

All I can say at this point is that it's like that time I slept with my brother's wife; it felt great, it felt right, a good time was had...but...I dare not ever mention it, nor should I ever publically admit to it, and I should feel ashamed for the rest of my life.

 

[Cheesebeef]

i thought it was solid. not in the Batman Begins, Iron Man, Spiderman realm as far an series starter for me, but I was entertained, Cavill was a very good Superman and I'd be excited to see the next one.

 

[Chaplin]

i thought it was solid. not in the Batman Begins, Iron Man, Spiderman realm as far an series starter for me, but I was entertained, Cavill was a very good Superman and I'd be excited to see the next one.

That's where I'm at as well, although I think it's at least on par with the first Spider-Man. Certainly A LOT better than Superman Returns. A lot of plot problems like people have said, but as far as a summer blockbuster, I think it acquits itself just fine.

Sheesh, 2013 is the year of Chap and Cheese agreeing. It must be the apocalypse.

 

[Cheesebeef]

That's where I'm at as well, although I think it's at least on par with the first Spider-Man. Certainly A LOT better than Superman Returns. A lot of plot problems like people have said, but as far as a summer blockbuster, I think it acquits itself just fine.

Sheesh, 2013 is the year of Chap and Cheese agreeing. It must be the apocalypse.

ha...was just thinking that when you listed Diggstown in that other thread that Ken started.

me thinks (from news of your wedding and my continued ascension on my tv show) that we're both pretty happy with life right now, thus no fights! let the good times roll chap!

 

[clif]

Just saw this tonight. I thought it was entertaining. Something was missing though. It was lacking something that i cant put my finger on just yet. I am still processing it.

 

[Chaplin]

ha...was just thinking that when you listed Diggstown in that other thread that Ken started.

me thinks (from news of your wedding and my continued ascension on my tv show) that we're both pretty happy with life right now, thus no fights! let the good times roll chap!

Either that or the main cause of our fights is irrelevant right now. Yeah, that's probably it.

Here's a hint: Halloween colors. What what???

 

[Cheesebeef]

Just saw this tonight. I thought it was entertaining. Something was missing though. It was lacking something that i cant put my finger on just yet. I am still processing it.

I think it was the general lack of depth for me.

that's my feeling. while it was entertaining, there just wasn't a next level to the story...no real interesting twist at any part in the story. can't really recall one scene where I was thinking "wow...that was a REALLY well written scene."

entertaining none the less, but there wasn't really one moment in the film for me that actually made me think, or was overly moved while being entertained.

 

[crisper57]

I think it was the general lack of depth for me.

that's my feeling. while it was entertaining, there just wasn't a next level to the story...no real interesting twist at any part in the story. can't really recall one scene where I was thinking "wow...that was a REALLY well written scene."

entertaining none the less, but there wasn't really one moment in the film for me that actually made me think, or was overly moved while being entertained.

The tornado scene did it for me. That scene was well done.

 

[Stout]

The tornado scene did it for me. That scene was well done.

The tornado scene was a facepalm fail for me. You should know why I hated the scene, and why I cheered the tragedy--the stupidity of the writing--I think you get it without me having to put it in a spoiler. He deserved what he got in that scene for the sheer character stupidity.

 

[crisper57]

The tornado scene was a facepalm fail for me. You should know why I hated the scene, and why I cheered the tragedy--the stupidity of the writing--I think you get it without me having to put it in a spoiler. He deserved what he got in that scene for the sheer character stupidity.

I guess I meant the part of the scene at the very end. No words, no long winded speech to really drive his philosophy home, just a simple hand gesture. I agree the writing in the movie was sloppy, but I thought they made the most of that scene. Even made the wife emotional.

 

[Cheesebeef]

I guess I meant the part of the scene at the very end. No words, no long winded speech to really drive his philosophy home, just a simple hand gesture. I agree the writing in the movie was sloppy, but I thought they made the most of that scene. Even made the wife emotional.

yeah...the dog thing was ridiculous.

 

[NJCardFan]

yeah...the dog thing was ridiculous.

You obviously don't own a dog.

 

[crisper57]

You obviously don't own a dog.

Seriously.

 

[Cheesebeef]

You obviously don't own a dog.

if I had superhuman speed, you're damn sure i wouldn't let my father die because a DOG is what he was rescuing.

 

[Chaplin]

if I had superhuman speed, you're damn sure i wouldn't let my father die because a DOG is what he was rescuing.

Strange thing, other than flying and a bit of the fight with Zod at the end, Clark never uses his super speed EXCEPT in Smallville, once, while dodging one of the spaceships firing on him. We don't see him actually run from anything a majority of the time. I wonder if he realized he had superspeed at the time the aforementioned scene happened.

 

[Stout]

You obviously don't own a dog.

I have owned a dog before, and while I loved it, I sure in the hell wouldn't put my life on the line for an animal.

Seriously.

Anyone stupid enough to run into mortal peril to save a dog deserves to die. Sorry, but that's just silly.

 

[Chaplin]

Anyone stupid enough to run into mortal peril to save a dog deserves to die. Sorry, but that's just silly.

Wow, what a terrible thing to say.

 

[Cardinals.Ken]

In terms of the tornado scene, here's what Mark Waid (writer of Superman-Birthright, the comic series that has a lot of elements gleaned from it for Man of Steel) had to say about it:

Spoiler

...And I loved, loved, loved that scene where Clark didn’t save him, because Goyer did something magical–he took two moments that, individually, I would have hated and he welded them together into something amazing. Out of context, I would have hated that Clark said “You’re not my real dad,” or whatever he says right before the tornado. And out of context, I would have loathed that Clark stood by frozen with helplessness as the tornado killed Jonathan. But the reason that beat worked is because Clark had just said “You’re not my dad,” the last real words he said to Pa. Tearful Clark choosing to go against his every instinct in that last second because he had to show his father he trusted him after all, because he had to show Pa that Pa could trust him and that Clark had learned, Clark did love him–that worked for me, hugely. It was a very brave story choice, but it worked. It worked largely on the shoulders of Cavill, who sold it. It worked as a tragic rite of passage. I kinda wish I’d written that scene.

For his full (spoiler-filled) review, click here.

 

[Stout]

Wow, what a terrible thing to say.

Seriously? If you dive in head first to a frickin' certain death scenario to save a kitten or a puppy, I'm supposed to shed tears? No! Pets are great. Love them, cherish them, but don't be silly enough to DIE for them.