Man of Steel, since you asked. (review)

[Cary Preston]

http://thrillbent.com/blog/man-of-steel-since-you-asked/

[Luke Jaconetti]

I cannot speak for anyone else, but I saw Man Of Steel on Saturday and I thought it was fantastic.  The story, the acting, the action, the effects, all of it.  This was the movie that I had wished that Superman Returns was when it was released. 

 

I liked that it was a "serious" movie but not brooding and nihilistic like the Dark Knight movies.  Superman retained an aura of hope, honesty, and goodwill the entire time.  And the action!  Wow!  Having watched Superman II on HBO last week by chance, I can honestly say that a battle between Kryptonians has finally "arrived!"  Unlike a lot of modernist frenetic action movies, this one was up-tempo but still comprehensible.  Every atttack and counterattack made sense and it was not cut like a music video.  Just an absolute blast. 

 

Like I said, I can only speak for myself.  But this movie delivered the goods in spades.

On Friday, June 14, 2013 9:14:04 AM UTC-4, cwpreston wrote:

http://thrillbent.com/blog/man-of-steel-since-you-asked/

[Edward Crosby]

I agree. I really enjoyed the movie.

***Kinda SPOILERS***

What is interesting to me is that the filmed seemed more like an alien/alien invasion movie than a Superman movie and I had no problem with that. I don't read any of the Superman titles and have only read some monumental stories in the past and from what I know from all the stories written about Superman I don't recall the story ever written from this point of view, like it focused mostly on the fact that we (humans) have an alien among us and now we are being invaded to be annihilated by this alien's people.

Good stuff. Really, really loved the battles. However, I kept calling fowl on the portrayal of all the people still hanging around Metropolis while it was being devastated. During that time, and I hate to bring this up, I kept thinking of September 2001 when NY was being targeted and the World Trade Center was collapsing and how I saw videos everywhere of people running away in terror. I honestly don't think there would have been so many people hanging around Metropolis while 20, 30, 60 story buildings were collapsing everywhere around them. At least, in my case, I think I would be running, driving, finding whatever means necessary to get out of the city.

Casting was pretty decent. I like Amy Adams but I found it hard to accept her as Lois Lane. Laurence Fishburne as Perry White was pretty awesome. I was really hoping Jimmy Olsen would pop up at some time. Henry Cavill was pretty darn good as Superman. Didn't really care for Kevin Costner as Jonathan Kent. I like Diane Lane but I didn't really like her as Martha Kent either.

Did anyone catch any hidden gems? Did anyone notice the Lexcorp tanker truck being thrown by Zod at Superman. That was the only one I noticed.

Overall it was a really enjoyable movie. I went in with pretty low expectations, despite the recent enticing trailers, and came out not disappointed.

----------------------------------------
Have a Better One,
Edward Crosby
http://about.me/edwardcrosby

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[Cary Preston]

Great acting, great casting, very good production, and I really appreciated the changes to the core story. My only issue was the power level- after seeing a few buildings leveled it becomes tedious. It also makes a Justice League movie problematic- the power levels they showed were Dragon Ball Z-esque. It would have been much better toned down some. 

Spoiler warning

If you're powerful enough to survive (and even thrive) being punched through multiple skyscrapers, how can your neck be so easily broken? 

[Edward Crosby]

Not only that, is there a reason he couldn't just put his hand or arm over Zod's eyes? I'm sure it would have burn some but it still would have prevented Zod from killing the humans.

----------------------------------------
Have a Better One,
Edward Crosby
http://about.me/edwardcrosby

[Cary Preston]

Spoilerific: 

Or simply flown away with him. The scene itself I was ok with; if you're going to change a core concept of the character (like intentionally killing another) you need a suitable moral crisis to spur it, and this fit the bill well. Even with comic book physics the notion of punching a human (even a large, heavy one) through multiple skyscrapers just seemed silly. Into one, maybe even through one (since some are mostly glass) would have been cool. The destruction from the terraformer made perfect sense, too. Just make the Kryptonians reasonable! I can even accept the oversight of power explanation (Earth's lower gravity and beneficial solar radiation provides superhuman strength, superior Kryptonian physiology provides invulnerability; but flight, x ray vision, and heat vision?) 

Don't get me wrong, it was a great movie. It could have been better- and it could have been a springboard to more. 

[Edward Crosby]

One other thing I had a problem with is the conquest of Superman by the Kryptonians. Didn't Zod, basically, have a small army with him? Is there a reason Zod couldn't have just sent his entire army to capture Superman instead of a couple of soldiers? True, it would have been the end of the movie but, come on, if your going to make a point that that many of Zod's soldiers survived the Phantom Zone then at least make a point of how easy it would have been for Superman to have been defeated. In other words, it probably should have been written that only a handful (three at the most) of Zod's soldiers survived the Phantom Zone.

If there will be a sequel, do we have a guess, based on this movie, who will be the villain? My money is on Braniac. A lot of the Kryptonian technology they displayed in this movie could easily be explained as the origin of Brainiac in a sequel. Or possibly Doomsday.

----------------------------------------
Have a Better One,
Edward Crosby
http://about.me/edwardcrosby

[Luke Jaconetti]

Spoilers still:

 

I don't take Superman's killing of Zod to be a big character change so much as it is part of the character which is incredibly rare.  Superman once executed 3 rogue Kryptonian criminals (including a version of Zod) in the Pocket Universe story from the late 80s.  It was a heavy burden but there was no choice in the matter.  Similarly, Superman battled Doomsday knowing that he would have to kill him in order to stop him, which he did.  (Of course Doomsday took Superman's life as well.)

 

I compare this positively with Superman II, where Superman casually tosses the de-powered Zod down a chasm, knowing he will fall to his death.  In MOS, Superman pleads with Zod to stop, and then he is clearly emotionally devastated by what he had to do in that situation.  The end of Superman II alway seemed incongruous to me.

 

I'll agree with the nitpicks -- couldn't he had covered Zod's eyes, or flown away? -- but as it stands I like the scene.  As I said on a G+ comment, it's a harsh character beat but a legitimate one.

 

As far as the cast, I might be on my own but I really liked Kevin Costner as Jonathan Kent.  He has the sort of stoic fathering approach which I would expect from a Middle America farmer like Jonathan.  I get the feeling that Jonathan has a hard time expressing his love for Clark, as I imagine that nuturing fathering is something he did not grow up with.  The only time that stoic facade is broken is in the barn with the ship, "You are my son." 

 

I LOVED the anti-Donner vision of Krypton.  Reminded me of something from Edgar Rice Burroughs.  Crowe was great as Jor-El, which helps those scene as well.

 

Did anyone else assume that the large Phantom Zoner who fought Superman with Faora was Non?  Because I did!

 

Easter Eggs -- besides the Lexcorp ones (a Lexcorp truck in Smallville, made me think of the show Smallville, heh), the satelite has a Wayne Tech logo on it.  Supposedly when Jor-El's program is showing Superman how he came to Earth, there are two ships -- and supposedly the Walmart prologue comic suggests that this is Supergirl, as a set up for the sequel.  Also, the scientist of the Phantom Zoners is credited as Jax-Ur, who was a PZer in the comics.

 

Looking forward, I want Brainiac in the sequel.  Either use the Kryptonian tech like Edward suggested (which was put to great use in the DCAU), or avoid the Kryptonian connection altogether and use the modern Colun style, with his army of drones and all of the bottle cities, come to Earth to capture the Last Kryptonian (sort of like we saw in Superman Unbound).  Couple that with Lex Luthor and his team of armored personal security as a sort of third party.  For the third film I would use Doomsday -- with all of Zod and Faora's talk of evolution breeding superiority, Doomsday is a no-brainer; his origin as a Kryptonian experiment in forced evolution fits perfectly.  Just do Doomsday from the comics, replacing the Justice League with the Metropolis SCU and Lex's crew.  This sets up the fourth movie as well!

[Edward Crosby]

Total cost of damage.

http://www.comicbooktherapy.com/so-how-much-damage-was-done-in-the-man-of-steel-infographic-shows-the-cost-152253

----------------------------------------
Have a Better One,
Edward Crosby
http://about.me/edwardcrosby

[Ronald Methvin]

Naw. He had like a dozen guys at most and several were scientists. Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android

---

From: Edward Crosby <ecr...@gmail.com>;
To: TUG group <theuni...@googlegroups.com>;
Subject: Re: [The Unique Geek] Man of Steel, since you asked. (review)
Sent: Mon, Jun 17, 2013 12:55:36 PM