Cemented as my favorite movie of 2016 (so far).
Enjoyed it at the theater, but LOVED this cut. Really appreciate how much more clarity this gives to Lex's core motivations and Superman's heart overall. Also appreciated the additional interviews and commentaries from ordinary people as they wrestled with who Superman could be or should be to them. How that kind of power should be embraced or quarantined. And how the Superman himself struggled to find the answer within himself. There's an old poem that always feels relevant, including now...a couple of lines:
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, dont deal in lies,
Or being hated, dont give way to hating,
And yet dont look too good, nor talk too wise
...
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth youve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build em up with worn-out tools
...
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: Hold on!
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kingsnor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything thats in it,
Andwhich is moreyoull be a Man, my son!
He kept his head through the doubt, refused to deal in lies when lied upon and when his words and actions were twisted. He never let his ego get to him despite being well positioned to do so (and really, how many can you think of that would use that level of power purely to do good?). He fought on when he had nothing left to fight with, putting everything he had into every second he had left. I think it's fair to say that Superman earned his status as a man many times over, but none as much as he earned it in the end.
Yep, I like this movie in all its coldness and ferocity. I look forward to the lighter mood of the upcoming films, but I appreciated just how dark and angry, afraid and sober, contemplative and reflective this film was, not just of the main characters, but what their responses and answers really do say about us.