Man of Steel reaction

Just got home. Here are my thoughts.

My immediate reaction was that it could have been much better. To sum it up, there was far too much action and not enough plot/character stuff. Zod is by far the most developed character, and by the end of the movie I genuinely felt somewhat bad for him. The basis for the plot is very generic, but it was made enjoyable by Zod and his purpose. If this type of villain scheme is going to be done, this is a good way to do it.

As I said, there was too much action. Now, having said that, this was by far the best action I've seen in any movie. It was over the top, and absolutely thrilling to watch. Now, not only is there too much action, but the actions scenes drag on far too long. That's another problem: pacing. The beginning felt very rushed, and with all the action scenes it's just a mess. A beautiful mess, but a mess.

This film has my favorite score ever.

The dialogue was weak.

Despite the problems I have with the action scenes that drag on way too long, there is one thing that I have to mention.

Spoiler: big effin spoilers in here

Superman killing Zod was marvelous. If you're going to have Superman kill on screen, that is the definitive way to do it. Put him in an immediate position where he has no choice, and then show him in complete agony over having done it.

It wasn't a surprise just because of the position he was in, but when he did it I was taken back by just how powerful it felt. Probably my favorite moment in the film.

So yeah.

While the action scenes are ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS, they drag on too long, there's too many of them, and by the end that's all the movie really has going on. If there just would have been more thoughtful stuff and somewhat less action it could have been an outstanding film.

Oh, and that is the worst Clark Kent secret identity I have ever seen. He looks exactly the same. Reeve and Routh put him to shame.

 

Well to be completely honest... only having f*cking glasses to hide your identity is a pretty weak disguise. Jussayin'.

 

Reeve and Routh both had their hair arranged entirely differently, their posture was completely different, and their overall demeanor was drastically different. It's not about arguing the validity of the disguise, it's always been kinda hokey and you're almost supposed to wonder how nobody falls for it, it's about how well the movie portrays the differences between the appearance/attitude of Clark and Superman, and this movie did that poorly. Yeah, we only saw Clark for about 10 seconds, but from what little we saw him it wasn't nearly as good as the others.

My point was not that the concept of having a disguise like that is bad, my point was that it wasn't executed very well in this film.

 

To be completely honest...you don't know what the disguise is. It's a whole lot more than just the glasses.

 

Oh yeah, I agree with you. I was just acting stupid.

Again, I understand that. Stupid me making stupid comments.

 

I love when people post detailed reviews of movies like this (on khv) because then, when someone asks me "HAVE YOU SEEN IT :D" at work, I can just regurgitate what you guys have said.

 

Everything that you just said is my main complaint about Superman as a whole. Superman, as a super hero, is simply too perfect for any story revolving around him to be interesting.

 

And that's where you'd be wrong, along with most other people who fail to understand the character and don't even attempt to.

There's so much for to a character than his powers. Superman's plot is really personal, and really touches on a lot of human ideals: preservation of society versus the choice of one's own identity, choosing whether to fight back or to stand down, how to trust someone (in this case, most of humanity) when you aren't wanted, the choice of an outsider to choose to protect a place that isn't his birthplace, and even what its like to have two families.

A good fictional character is not defined solely by what his or her abilities are, it is what that character chooses to do with what he or she is able to do, and Superman really is something to strive for.

But go ahead and call him uninteresting.

 

Where did Supe's signature curl go? :-( -- I wondered throughout the entire movie.

 

Agree

Also agree

Mostly agree, there was way too much explanation of things that didn't need explanation, and I feel like the Krypton prologue was too much.

Definitely one of my favorite parts too.

Spoiler

Another one of my favorites, I dunno if you'll agree, but when Superman had to watch his father die when he could easily save him...hit me right in the feels, and to me, was a good portrayal of how Superman constantly has to restrain himself

Agree, I was expecting him to look a lot more different than...well, not looking different. Also, while Amy Adams isn't at all a bad actress, the film's portrayal of Lois is kinda...empty of character, save for the beginning. The chemistry between her and Superman just felt flat to me.

Still a good movie, but it has its flaws. A masterclass in spectacular action scenes, an imperfect portrayal of the plot and characters.

 

Oh, I agree that plots revolving around him as a person can be interesting. Clark Kent can be a very interesting character when the writer is actually trying. It's mainly the hero vs villain/other threat plots that I find boring and the main reason why I could never get into Superman as more than a side character. His identity as Clark Kent just isn't enough to pull me back in, even when the duality of his life is brought up. To reiterate:

 

Which Superman is this referring to? Because GayYellowSuperman doesn't have no problems 'cept his fashion sense.

 

Spoiler

HOW COULD I FORGET THAT?! Yes I completely agree, that scene was probably my second favorite. And since it came right after Clark told John that he wasn't his real dad and all that made the scene all the more powerful retrospectively.

I think the main problem is that Lois doesn't really do anything worthwhile in the film. She doesn't even really do anything. I was kinda torn about the scene where she was climbing the edge of the ice. At first I thought that that was reckless like Lois would be, but even that seemed like it may have been just slightly too much. It just felt like the movie was begging us to buy this version of Lois as a true-to-her-roots portrayal, without making an effort to anywhere else. I wouldn't say that the film got the character wrong per se, it just didn't really... try.

I like that she (spoiler I guess) knows that Superman is Clark from the beginning, but their "relationship", if you would even call it that, felt very contrived. Like, simply because she is Lois Lane, and he is Superman that they have to have a relationship. The kiss at the end was just too much and completely unwarranted.


Exactly.

 

I just got back from seeing it. It was pretty good. I agree with you guys that Lois' and Superman's relationship in this movie felt, at best, flat and, at worse, borderline forced.

 

Actually, I avoided saying that she doesn't do anything because she actually does do some substantial stuff

Spoiler

Granted, Superman's dad was telling her what to do, but she still helped stop the whole planet engine thing in a big way when Superman is first taken captive by Zod

Still, most of what she did in order to move the plot forward felt like it had little character. I blame the writer and director though, not the actress.

 

That's true, I take back what I said about her not doing anything, and I agree.

 

I really didn't want to like Man of Steel as much as I did, and as much as it hurts me to say it, I think this might have been the best superhero reboot to date (yes, even better than Iron Man). I have to say that some of the transitions were poorly done, like

Spoiler

when he and Lois were kissing and then suddenly, he's off fighting Zod again. It was too harsh a shift for me

and the whole film did appear to waste the majority of its product placement money on the action sequences (granted, the destruction of Krypton and most all of the sfx were stunning, so, visually, I did enjoy it) but I liked where it ended and it did flashbacks just right. Casting was great, little easter eggs were great, and any film where you cast a good crazy and a passable human herione gets a few bonus points in my book.

9.5/10 will probably see again

 

Well, Iron Man wasn't a reboot, and I challenge you to say that this reboot is better than Batman Begins rebooting from Batman and Robin.

This movie shouldn't get points for having a "passable human heroine" because it did not create the character, and Lois Lane in a Superman movie is almost a requirement, not to mention that it didn't do a good job with the character.

9.5 seems way too generous to me.

 

Just saw the movie today, I kinda liked it, well some parts of it. The beginning was kinda rushed, and a bit confusing. The entire movie actually seemed rushed. Either that or everything just seemed way to fast paced. I really like the look of Krypton, it was just a very beautiful place, in my opinion.

 

Also

World of Cardboard