I saw MAN OF STEEL.... My review.... SPOILER ALERT!!!!

[Prince Namor]

********SPOILER ALERT!!!!*********

 

I knew a great deal about this movie before I went to see it, due to my inability to keep from clicking on Spoiler tags, but in many ways it maybe helped me through it and to have a handle on things before I saw them. Not sure it would have mattered but....

 

A little history. Never been that much of a DC guy. I was always annoyed with that Bat-Mite, Super Dog, big headed alien stuff, etc. that I just passed most of it by. When I was a kid, I always thought those comics were for KIDS, and the Marvel stuff just had a lot more... Sass.

(In hindsight, I learned to appreciate what it was and the people who worked on it. Most of them.)

 

I was gravitating toward the magazine type stuff even at 10-11 years of age (1973-1974), wanting something more gratuitous... something more exciting.... and something less patronizing.

 

I mean really... I read a LOT as a kid, outside of comics, so the idea that there'd be any sort of suspense in a Superman story just seemed out of the question. Gwen Stacey DIED in ASM, what was there at DC? I knew Jimmy Olsen was going to go right back to his same boring self regardless of what he morphed into for a particular issue.

 

When the Superman movies came out in 1978 and 1980 (to this day I've never seen III or IV), I was intrigued, more by the second one, for obvious reasons, but I remember thinking something along the lines of what I read (years later) that Stan Lee has intimated that... How is it that DC was able to make that type of movie? A movie with attitude... action... a sense of humor.... That's MARVEL comics, NOT DC...

 

Marvel of course, eventually got it right, 30 years later, and they're on a roll.

Superman Returns? . Bored through most of it, never have a desire to see it again.

 

So going into this movie, I had the benefit of a couple of things:

1) Superman as a character never has been all that relevant to me, and he seemingly doesn't even exist anymore. To me anyway. Don't get me wrong, I RESPECT his place in history though.

 

2) Some of the things about this movie that aggravated people, I was already aware of, so those things couldn't sneak up on me in the movie. I could pay better attention to the story.

 

3) I love Zack Snyder's work.

 

and most importantly....

 

4) I long ago left that whole 'do it exactly like the comic' thing at the door.

Seriously, I understand the passion behind it. I just don't see it happening, and in most instances don't WANT it to happen. Most of those comics were poorly written and silly anyway, and the idea that what I may have loved as a 6 year old or a 13 year old is somehow going to translate that well to a mostly adult audience that didn't grow up reading it...

These characters aren't owned by creators anymore. They're owned by multi-billion dollar companies. The people entrusted with their continued use have one sole purpose (lust like Zod) and that is to by any means possible continue their existence.

When they ask producers to put together $225 million for a movie about one of these characters, the idea is to make it's appeal as broad reaching as possible. The comic book fans? That's what the animated stuff is for.

 

Ok. My review.

 

This is one of the better Superhero movies ever made.

Maybe Top 10 if I get around to thinking about it enough.

They took an icon, and made him relevant again.

Really this movie rocks and I think I'd see it in the theater a second time and that is extremely rare for me.

Yes, the action and the fighting is amazing.

The SPX are astounding.

The look of the film is fantastic and the story is very well done.

But there's a quiet understated HEART to this movie that really pulled me in.

Clark and his father

The trust built between Supes and Lois

Supes and the military

Even the understanding of his heritage and past in conversation with Zod

This movie is deeper than you think, and it's easy to get overwhelmed by the SPX.

That's why I think knowing some of what was going to happen ahead of time helped (though that tornado scene still choked me up).

 

Ok, now the killing. The big controversy.

I know it's been proven that Superman HAS killed in the past, but even if he hasn't (and in THIS movie he HASN'T), what he did was what was necessary and actually makes sense within the context of what they're trying to establish.

It's his final connection with his alien world. He has to make a choice. Zod will kill everyone.

And now... he's America's son, raised in Kansas.

 

I'll tell ya, I was one of those people who, back in the day, when Cyclops was whining about 'We're not killers!' when the X-men were fighting the Brood... I just wanted Wolverine to STRANGLE him.

 

I know... Superheroes aren't supposed to kill. It's a bad example to set.

 

But I taught MY son.... That if you're EVER in a fight to the death with an ALIEN who is hell bent on eliminating the human race... go ahead and step over that line.

 

 

[A-DONIS]

[DiceX]

 

 

[Gotham Kid]

Saw MOS for the second time today

[Dr. Balls]

I know it's been proven that Superman HAS killed in the past, but even if he hasn't (and in THIS movie he HASN'T), what he did was what was necessary and actually makes sense within the context of what they're trying to establish.

It's his final connection with his alien world. He has to make a choice. Zod will kill everyone.

And now... he's America's son, raised in Kansas.

 

That's what I really liked about the film's ending. Killing Zod is supposed to be a tough choice. Killing Zod is supposed to go against his every belief and philosophy. Killing Zod is not what he wants to do, but it's essentially comicbookdom's Kobiyashi Maru. A no-win scenario that will cost lives - and Supes is the only person who can dictate if it's going to be one loss of life or many.

 

I agree - definitely one of the best superhero movies ever made, and I am flat-out a non DC person. It stands on it's own in a big way.

[Bosco685]

Another Man of Steel thread?

 

 

 

Love the review, Chuck. I still haven't seen it yet.

[dover]

[DiceX]

Another Man of Steel thread?

 

 

 

Love the review, Chuck. I still haven't seen it yet.

 

WTF is wrong with you, man?

 

 

[Bosco685]

Another Man of Steel thread?

 

 

 

Love the review, Chuck. I still haven't seen it yet.

 

WTF is wrong with you, man?

Dumping the wife with the kids while I take off to the movie leads to me coming home to play the role of Zod. It would be just the end of the movie acted out.

 

[faster friends]

Find a babysitter and take the wife with you.

[Davenport]

But there's a quiet understated HEART to this movie that really pulled me in.

 

This movie is deeper than you think, and it's easy to get overwhelmed by the SPX.

Great review.

 

Your two conclusions I pulled out above are the greatness-core imho. Heart and depth.

 

Speaking only for myself, I really felt Clark's pain in that instant Zod's neck snapped, not Zod's. The ultimate act of tough-love, extinguishing a life, and he'll have to wrestle with it the rest of his life.

Excellent acting. Pain, not rage or revenge, and toward the man who murdered his birth-father, attacked his adoptive-mother and threatened his world. Again, just excellent acting.

[Comicopolis]

[Speedy-D]

Saw MOS for the second time today

second time's the charm!

[media_junkie]

I loved the movie. I have seen it twice and am going back for a third time on Sunday.

[Comicopolis]

I loved the movie. I have seen it twice and am going back for a third time on Sunday.

 

[Naelbis]

I thought the killing scene was excellent given that it showed that sometimes there are no "good" choices, only different levels of bad. And I say that even though I really enjoyed Zod's character in the movie and could see how someone in his position would end up there. I also thoroughly enjoyed the interactions between Col. Hardy and Zod's second in command. They actually had better chemistry than Clark and Lois did, just on a different level.

 

There was a few things I disliked about the movie of course, mainly the interactions between Clark and Lois. It just didn't feel natural to me and seemed like they rushed it /shrug. I also didn't like seeing her on the C-17 during the bombing run, she felt out of place and only there to allow Superman to swoop in and save her for the sake of dramatic effect.

[nearmint]

My only problem with the film is that they should have provided a reason why Zod wanted Lois to come aboard his ship.

[slym2none]

I thought it was obvious - it was known that Lois was closer to Kal/Superman than anyone else, and she could have been used as a hostage. Why else the implied threat of "Would you like us to tell General Zod that you refuse one of his requests?"

 

I just don't know why she volunteered.

 

:shrug:

 

 

 

-slym

[conditionfreak]

I guess I just ain't that deep. When I watch a movie, it is rare that I see so many underlying things like the rest of you. I just see what is presented.

 

How do you kill someone who is invulnerable? Snap his neck?

 

If Superman has died once or three times, and returned. Can not Zod return? Which means that Supes may not have committed murder.

 

But seriously. Isn't Superman supposed to represent Country, Mom, and Apple Pie? All that is good? In his first fight, right out of the box. He kills his opponent.

 

He has no where to go but up, I suppose. Up, Up, and Away.

[conditionfreak]

I thought it was obvious - it was known that Lois was closer to Kal/Superman than anyone else, and she could have been used as a hostage. Why else the implied threat of "Would you like us to tell General Zod that you refuse one of his requests?"

 

I just don't know why she volunteered.

 

:shrug:

 

 

 

-slym

 

Just guessing here. The -script?