Man of Steel

[*YoungGuyver]

Review

So I went to see Man of Steel last night, and found it enjoyable.  For those looking for something emotional, take in the beginning of the movie as much as you possibly can, because after Kal El comes to Earth, the emotional tone is pretty flat.  My tears welled up in the beginning, but nothing other than an interest in the events after that.  The beginning was kind of like Abrahms first Star trek in its emotional.

 

For those that hat shaky cam, get used to it in this movie, unless it was something wrong with our theaters projector.  The entire film seemed to be shot with an over the shoulder cam, which means the match mover guys in the vfx department must have had their work cut out for them due to all the effects.

 

Krypton was pretty good, and very fleshed out.  From Kal El's arrival to Earth up until his donning of the cape, it's pretty much a story told in flashbacks.  So the whole movie is basically an hour of flashbacks to explain how the various points of his life have developed who he is as a man.  Okaaaaay, that's one way to do it.  I can mentally understand his motives, and that's fine; but everything is so disjointed, it's difficult to get a single story out of it until halfway through.  The lack of any emotional depth kinda sucks, because except for a few moments, Kal El never expresses anything, and he never has to worry about losing anything.  There is no risk for him (except for maybe a moment when he's a kid in a closet).  The entire supporting cast of the movie is expressing the exact same emotion in the exact same way-awe.  Everyone is in awe of Kal El, which is nice to see it realistically portrayed, but gets boring to see an hour of it.

 

One thing pissed me off right royally though.  A bad guy says the are superior because evolution has no morality.  That is total bs, said by a writer that apparently has NO understanding of what evolution actually says.  In real evolutionary theory, lone wolf creatures that live solitary existences have no need of morality.  Social creatures that work in groups however REQUIRE it for their survival.  If the murder rate exceeds the birth rate, then the species kills itself off.  If people lie more than they tell truth, then communication becomes meaningless, and civilization falls apart.  Kal El walks into a church at one point to look for guidance, which I have no problem with.  The message for the movie is faith and trust, which I have no problem with.  But combined with the religious imagery, I kind of took offense to the bashing of evolution.  I don't like how they pit religion against science.  It's stupid, because they were showing science in action as being real, but were they saying it was evil, and faith good?  Perhaps in the sequel they will show the evils of faith, and how many people have been murdered by it.

[durendal]

I watched it, and feel that it was an alright movie. Not much of a wow factor. But I do find the human factor of clark to be interesting. I like the way they put Jonathan Kent as the reason behind why Clark has this urge to help people. And the suffering he had after that final blow to Zod, but I wish they made it clearer as to why he was in anguish, was it because of what he did zod or what he wasn't able to prevent Zod from doing?  I was looking forward to the famous phrase "kneel before Zod", but I guess they didn't feel the need for it. There were no funny moments, and everything in the movie was serious. 

 

I feel that this movie has redeemed the franchise from the disaster that was Superman Returns. So I guess the sequel will feature luthor then?

[Larz Zahn]

I enjoyed the movie. Like young Guyver said, its an odd form of pacing. The first 30 minutes is fast paced and action oriented. Then the middle of the movie for nearly a hour and a half is slow. This movie has more flashbacks than one piece it seems. But the last half hour to an hour is were its all at!

The different take on kryptonion genetics is definitely a... Unique look at things.

I'm not too worried at the lack of humor in a movie. It seems like too many movies are all about having more and more humor in it i actually found it refreshing to watch something that's completely serious. One that's not a horror film.

And honestly it had really subtle subtle subtle type of humor.

However, i never noticed a science vs faith thing. they never really harped on either enough to make me think that.

Edited June 16, 2013 by Larz Zahn

[*Jess♥]

I'm not too worried at the lack of humor in a movie. It seems like too many movies are all about having more and more humor in it i actually found it refreshing to watch something that's completely serious. One that's not a horror film.

this.

I do like the idea of watching a film that doesn't have to have some kind of gag present.

I really do want to see this but I'm afraid I will not be able to afford it.

[*YoungGuyver]

I'm not talking about the lack of humor, I'm just saying all the emotions were the same.  It's almost the exact same emotion for almost the whole movie.  That is what brings it close to the edge of boring.  Still enjoyable though, but close

[odin]

I for one loved the movie, yes it had it's flaws but it is one of the best superhero movies in my book, I like the way they added to the lore of Krypton and they way they worked now which added to the importance of superman as a whole, in a way you got that science vs faith if you think about it, this superman was all about freewill and to do what he thought was right, Zod stole the show as well as Jor el for sure and the final battle was THE best final battle I have seen in a movie ever, all the emotions hit the spot, if I had to complain about anything it was the forced romance of Lois with Supes and the ending but overall I can say that to me this movie surpassed the reeves movies by far and I can't wait to see more.

[durendal]

It remains to be seen how well Cavill will play Clark Kent the reporter since we only see a short scene of him in the final part of the movie.  Christopher Reeves definitely played Clark Kent very well, it so happens that the rest of the Superman movies he was in doesn't exactly have a decent story.

 

I don't know about what you guys mean about emotions, but this scene sure is an emotional moment:

 

Clark: Can't I just.... keep pretending I'm your son?

Jonathan: You ARE my son.

[Larz Zahn]

It had emotional moments in the movie. But i don't think the movie was suppose to be emotional.it was an introductory movie for superman. For me, it was about about explaining who Clark is, and why he's so big about helping people.

The movie had near dark undertones and again, I'm a little refreshed by this and the ending made me hopeful.

We seea seemingly more pleasant and cheerful superman. For about 30 seconds sure but he was still notably happier. So this could make way for a light hearted sequel.

But my friend pointed out some religious tones. So yeah, i was wrong on that part.

Supes age was the same age as Jesus.

Supes was the salvation for the kryptonion race.

He said a few more but this is all i remember.

Edited June 17, 2013 by Larz Zahn

[*guyverfan]

saw this today, mmmmm, yeah, i guess it was ok, just another hollywood movie with big explosions and a happy ending.

if their going to make a sequal to this movie they'd probably have to blow up half the planet so they can out do this one

they could of atleast given superman a different hair style (maybe part his hair down the middle)and maybe kill off louis lane to mix it up alittle.

the new suit looked cool though.

[Larz Zahn]

Someone once told me that superman without the forehead curl is not superman...

[odin]

I'm already calling it, the next Man of steel movie will feature Lex Luthor as the main villain, almost everything that happened in the movie was very subtly set up so lex would take the spotlight to make the people fear Superman, if the director plays it smart they could very well introduce kryptonite in the form of Metallo (think about it he could be one of the victims of the aftermath of the Zod battle), that way we could have the traditional "brawn vs brain" with luthor and supes AND another balls to the wall fight with different stakes than in the first one.

[*YoungGuyver]

We've already had 3 superman movies with Lex in them.  Can we hold off on that a bit please?  Let's give some other bad guys a chance.  How about Mr Ixlplc (sp?)  Or Solomon Grundy.  Or even the Joker, just to mix things up a bit.

[odin]

We've already had 3 superman movies with Lex in them.  Can we hold off on that a bit please?  Let's give some other bad guys a chance.  How about Mr Ixlplc (sp?)  Or Solomon Grundy.  Or even the Joker, just to mix things up a bit.

 

like I said, Lex is the obvious next choice, I don't like him but I mentioned him cause he would be the best way to introduce Metallo if he uses the Kryptonite again. Solomon Grundy and Joker are Batman villains so I seriously doubt they would be added, Brainiac or doomsday have better chance at being the next villain than those 2 I really don't get why would you want them there.

[river_chaos]

Saw this the other day, and I have to say: I loved it! 

 

I did see plenty of dry humor (though most people wouldn't catch it at first unless you live in a family where dry humor is present everyday).  My favorite part was at the end where Supes confronts that military guy about trying to find out who he is. 

 

I didn't catch the religious implications in it though.  I mean, sure Clark goes to a church to hear what he already knows is the best course of action from a priest, but other than that I didn't see that much religious stuff. 

[*YoungGuyver]

Superman is space jesus.  Jor El gave us his only begotten son (whom is powered by the sun) to 'save' mankind, and to live as an example for us.  The Kent's are Mary and Joseph, a couple with no child, virginal.

 

The bad guys are science heavy.  They wear technology, saying things like evolution makes them superior because they have no morality (untrue).  Jor El, conversely, as a 'scientist' flies around on an alien bird and gives his son a natural conception because science is bad.  Jor El points out that using science to mine the core of their world led to it's destruction.  Jor El is then the heavenly spirit, walking around the ship giving Kal El advice.  Right there you have the father, son, and holy ghost.

 

As a boy, after saving the school bus, the lady came to suggest that Clark was godly/gifted.  In his vision, he is even on an apocalyptic mountain of skulls.  The movie repeats themes of faith, trust, and choice/free will.

[*V Guyver]

I have to point out, this is a half action and half boring drama. But without all the great acting you'd want. Great super hero movie, just not a great movie overall.

O know some of you might look like some jerk to those die hard Superman fans. But this entire movie felt more like a serious Dragon Ball movie would be like without much humor. Plot wise it's interchangeable, and action wise, it's so heavy in action and explosions, that it far surpasses the comics. It honestly feels like I was watching the wrong franchise. 

[durendal]

Look at the bright side, he's no longer wearing his underwear outside.

[*YoungGuyver]

at least when he did you knew it was clean, lol

[RazorLaser]

Saw it last night (very decent cam version because I didn't want to wait until pay day to see it in the cinemas).

 

Kevin Costner was the best part of the film. The fight scenes were decent too.

 

I didn't like a lot of the time/scene transitions either. What almost ruined the film for me were the "He's hot" comments from the female soldier at the end.

[Salkafar]

Saw it just now.

 

I don't think this is gonna save the franchise.

 

Kevin Costner was great, that's true; Russell Crowe, not so much.

I have to say, I liked Zod. They could have used a little more depth, but what can you do... the movie's already long.

[Larz Zahn]

The sequel is what's gonna be the deciding factor... if they can find a proper formula then there is high hope. This first movie is more of an introductory movie. setting up the stage for the next.

[*Jess♥]

I really enjoyed it.

such a wonderful movie, I got drawn into the universe and it was great.

I love the designs on their kryptonian clothing. so beautiful.

the way the story was presented was wonderful for me. I really liked how it was broken up into sections. it was refreshing and gave me chance to rest  and regroup and worked well, the latter part of the movie was very overwhelming. I liked it but I wonder if the movie could have been better if all the action weren't bunched right up toward the end. I also thought quite a lot about the massive damage and probably hundreds of deaths that went on in the city.

 

I do want to mention the evolution thing that has been mentioned in this thread. I noticed that when the line came up.

I took note of it and listened to the scene and considered the context.

The woman was saying that evolution would favour them because she believed his morality was a weakness. there was no apparent suggestion that evolution doesn't have morality. She was making comment on survival of the fittest.

[*YoungGuyver]

which is incorrect, because social creatures require morality in order to work together.  Evolution does not breed out morality.

[*Jess♥]

I wouldn't say it's incorrect. our current understanding of how our own evolution turned out, doesn't mesh with her assertion. that doesn't mean she's wrong or non-factual.  it means she has a different concept of survival and strength etc. i mean, she is a born and bred soldier! It's clear Zod and his followers saw things that way.

and anyway, they were not really focused on being social creatures. they were soldiers. and it seems very clear that krypton was made that way. being that they were the bad guys, representing kryptons way of doing things, the way of doing things that lead to the stagnation of their society and eventual collapse (literally!) ... kinda makes it clear that the assertion that morality is weak... in the films presentation of it, shows that it is wrong. but in general terms, she was citing her opinion and individual perspective.

[*Jess♥]

which is incorrect, because social creatures require morality in order to work together. Evolution does not breed out morality.

side note here...

if humans did lack morality, we would become a stronger race. we don't kill the physically weak because we are moral. This in the long run results in a genetic pool that has variety but in it's general essence is weaker than it would have been. humans are intellectually and technologically superior to humans of the past, but physically, we are generally weaker. If we lacked morality and were therefore perhaps considered an evil race, we would kill the weak people and the disabled and the low intelligence people, and the race as a whole would become stronger. selective breeding would result in a very powerful race. I can't imagine anybody being able to advocate such a thing... well of courser somebody did around the 1940's, but I believe the concept is factually correct, if not something that could be considered truly evil.