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Man of Steel |OT| It's about action.

MattKeil

BIGTIME TV MOGUL #2
FUCK the ciritcs. Fuck them all. I'm sorry but this movie is insanely good. I had high exxpectations but they've somehow all been exceeded. One of my favourite Superhero movies EVER. Certainly the best Superman movie. Better than any Marvel movie I've ever seen. Pretty much the only superhero movies that might be better are the Nolan Batman movies. Loved it. Dat action.

With respect to the differing opinion, this just reads as crazy talk to me. I haven't wanted to walk out of a movie more since The Spirit. The fight in Smallville and the final fight were good in concept, if not choreography, but overall it was a floppy, kludgey, bloated, boring mess. Why was
the first 10 minutes on Krypton even in the movie when it could be (and is) easily explained when Clark reaches the ship?
Screams "we need an action scene at all costs" and possibly studio interference.

I hope they give Cavill another shot, because there was a flash of Christopher Reeve-level charisma in
his final scene with the general,
but he had nothing to work with most of the time. I liked Superman Returns better, and I hated Superman Returns. Maybe next time they'll finally do a new and interesting story, as opposed to an inferior remake/rehash of a Donner film.

Agreed. I honestly can't comprehend some of the reviews. I dislike Supes as a character, always have, and I felt this was phenomenal. Everything worked for me here. I can see why the jump cuts to his childhood didn't for some people, as it felt very "panel to panel" in a comic book sense, but that's part of why I liked it so much. I do wonder if some people just have origin fatigue in general that might play into it. All I know is this made me like Superman more than the Donner movies ever did and certainly more than Returns.

edit: One more thing. I love how you FELT everything in this film.

What in the hell? Felt what? It was so goddamned sterile when it wasn't being blatantly maudlin. I want to see the movie you guys saw.
 
With respect to the differing opinion, this just reads as crazy talk to me. I haven't wanted to walk out of a movie more since The Spirit. The fight in Smallville and the final fight were good in concept, if not choreography, but overall it was a floppy, kludgey, bloated, boring mess. Why was
the first 10 minutes on Krypton even in the movie when it could be (and is) easily explained when Clark reaches the ship?
Screams "we need an action scene at all costs" and possibly studio interference.

I hope they give Cavill another shot, because there was a flash of Christopher Reeve-level charisma in
his final scene with the general,
but he had nothing to work with most of the time. I liked Superman Returns better, and I hated Superman Returns. Maybe next time they'll finally do a new and interesting story, as opposed to an inferior remake/rehash of a Donner film.



What in the hell? Felt what? It was so goddamned sterile when it wasn't being blatantly maudlin. I want to see the movie you guys saw.

I certainly didn't see the movie you did. What your saying reads as just as much crazy talk to me as what his did to you, apparently.
 

PantherLotus

Professional Schmuck
I liked this movie much less than I loved that wonderful trailer, but I did like it. The very best and most fulfilling scene in the film
(Young Clark with the red towel/sheet cape in the wind, full of hope and innocence)
came at a bizarre point in the film.

Basic plot point spoilers ahead.

Krypton opening: I thought this took far too long to get through, though I thought it was beautiful. I think editing made it a mistake by slapping this right at the beginning before we're invested in Superman himself.

Boyhood/Drifter cuts: My favorite parts of the film, honestly. I think there's a reason here, probably due to the iconic nature of what he's doing. I disliked the back and forth but they're not as offensive as some are suggesting. Again, I think editing is the issue.

Spaceship discovery/Lois Lane intro: After watching a 40 minute Krypton opening, THESE are the scenes that suspended my disbelief. I'm thinking no way no way no way no way. No way is this reporter climbing around an ice sheet at 40 below. No way is she following some near-shirtless dude into an alien spaceship. No way is she pushing buttons. Just completely taking my SOD for granted and I got angry about it.

Basically everything afterward: And here's the problem with basically everything Superman. To have any suspense or impending doom or foreboding at all, they have to create just the most absurdly overpowered villains and giant, Final Fantasy-esque scenes of environmental destruction. I thought the giant terra-forming dual spaceship thing was a cool idea! Why did they do it in New York? NY would be Kansas-flat after something like that. All the genetics stuff was a waste of time. Lois Lane in space was stupid. Way too much non-stop action and fight scenes for the last 3rd of the film. I didn't believe what I was seeing and I didn't care about the characters!

I guess I enjoyed it. I think the casting was wonderful, if completely mismanaged. I thought the dialogue was horrendous (Zod's especially). I think this thing should be completely re-cut but I'm not sure it would make me care more any of the characters. 6/10.

Doesn't even touch the Nolan Batman films. Not close.
 

neojubei

Will drop pants for Sony.
Dat first Flight scene (dat Birthright nod)

Dat Flight score

Dat very brief All-Star pose

Dat Faora fight

Dat Everything

I joined him in the sun, and it was good. He forgave me for my earlier doubts.

Yeah this movie was awesome
 
6.5/10. Tonally on the complete other end of the spectrum as Superman Returns, but it turns out that isn't a recipe for greatness. It delivers on the huge-scale Superman action sequences lacking in Singer's pic but forgets everything the Donner/Singer pics actually did really well.

The genetics stuff is all very weird and even with all the setup they neglect to really address the whole Superman = Free will Zod = predeterminism ideas until the very end with Zod's ham-fisted speech. Would have much rather them played up the Superman-as-alien concepts and have Zod present a compelling reason for Kal to perhaps side with the Kryptonians instead of the Earthlings.

Superman vs. Faora and Big Dude had more impact for me then Superman vs. Zod. I think this movie is the answer to how much destruction you can put on screen before there's diminishing returns, at some point it became kind of abstract and distracting to me.
 

Solo

Member
Sorry to disappoint anyone hoping for me to either suck the movie off Batman Begins style or tear it apart Captain America style. Sadly its neither as good or as bad as those movies. I wasn't joking when I called it "A Tale Of Two Movies". Those two movies can almost be called "the first half of the movie" and "the second half of the movie".

First comes "the first half of the movie", which is essentially Superman: The Movie circa 2013. I don't mean that as a bad thing nor do I mean it's a Donner wankfest like Returns. Imagine Donner's movie either never existed or wasn't iconic, and MoS was the first or first successful Superman movie. Man Of Steel's first hour has that feeling of carving out an iconography for the character the way S:TM did. I felt the origins and the cross-cutting between timelines was very slick, executed well and was quite affecting. The themes of loneliness, destiny, and family were presented and set up quite nicely.

Then comes "the second half of the movie", which essentially becomes Transformers. Nondescript CG body doubles fighting with other nondescript CG body doubles in nondescript city streets, destroying all kinds of buildings while all sorts of explosions go on in the background. All the work done in exploring themes in the first half of the film gets pushed aside as the movie becomes a Roland Emmerich-esque disaster movie. Tonally the movie flies from one extreme to another. There are lots of fights and ups and downs, but its ultimately meaningless as the film has long since left character and soul behind.

This could have been a great movie with a rewrite or two. Instead it's a half-baked, passable-but-entertaining one that never decided what it wanted to be. It's a mostly well-cast, mostly well-acted, mostly well-shot, mostly well-directed, and completely underwritten movie that lacked a strong voice.
 

Cooter

Lacks the power of instantaneous movement
I just bought two tickets to see it in 3D tomorrow because I had free ones from donating blood. Did I make a mistake going the 3D route?
 

strafer

member
Sorry to disappoint anyone hoping for me to either suck the movie off Batman Begins style or tear it apart Captain America style. Sadly its neither as good or as bad as those movies. I wasn't joking when I called it "A Tale Of Two Movies". Those two movies can almost be called "the first half of the movie" and "the second half of the movie".

First comes "the first half of the movie", which is essentially Superman: The Movie circa 2013. I don't mean that as a bad thing nor do I mean it's a Donner wankfest like Returns. Imagine Donner's movie either never existed or wasn't iconic, and MoS was the first or first successful Superman movie. Man Of Steel's first hour has that feeling of carving out an iconography for the character the way S:TM did. I felt the origins and the cross-cutting between timelines was very slick, executed well and was quite affecting. The themes of loneliness, destiny, and family were presented and set up quite nicely.

Then comes "the second half of the movie", which essentially becomes Transformers. Nondescript CG body doubles fighting with other nondescript CG body doubles in nondescript city streets, destroying all kinds of buildings while all sorts of explosions go on in the background. All the work done in exploring themes in the first half of the film gets pushed aside as the movie becomes a Roland Emmerich-esque disaster movie. Tonally the movie flies from one extreme to another. There are lots of fights and ups and downs, but its ultimately meaningless as the film has long since left character and soul behind.

This could have been a great movie with a rewrite or two. Instead it's a half-baked, passable-but-entertaining one that never decided what it wanted to be. It's a mostly well-cast, mostly well-acted, mostly well-shot, mostly well-directed, and completely underwritten movie that lacked a strong voice.

So what's the score?
 

Solo

Member
Also, an aside RE: Faora.

Sorry duders, you guys are being blinded by her hotness. The performance is wooden and monotone and not particularly memorable. I think you guys are giving her too much leeway for being hot + having some nice moments of ass kicking.

But yes, she's really hot.
 

Solo

Member
Also, Shannon didn't have ENOUGH scenery to chew in this. I wanted him to be in "I WILL FINNNNND HIM!" mode all movie.

:_(
 

Subitai

Member
Also, an aside RE: Faora.

Sorry duders, you guys are being blinded by her hotness. The performance is wooden and monotone and not particularly memorable. I think you guys are giving her too much leeway for being hot + having some nice moments of ass kicking.

But yes, she's really hot.
How would you portray a genetically defined soldier.
 

artist

Banned
I've been rethinking since yesterday (first viewing) and will probably increase my score a notch or two more. The trailers and the amount of footage I saw and was still surprised by a lot of moments in the movie. Surprisingly for Avengers, I saw a few trailers and could have as well skipped the movie.
 

MBison

Member
Some of you are nuts. This was a great movie. Perfect? No. But really entertaining. Makes Iron Man 3 look like a joke film. Seriously.
 

PantherLotus

Professional Schmuck
Also, an aside RE: Faora.

Sorry duders, you guys are being blinded by her hotness. The performance is wooden and monotone and not particularly memorable. I think you guys are giving her too much leeway for being hot + having some nice moments of ass kicking.

But yes, she's really hot.

I didn't think she or her character were all that hot.
 

Ithil

Member
Loved it. Just a great time.
Looking forward to more movies with the same crew, there's no limit to where they can go.
 

Solo

Member
And for those who've asked (or said so): this movie doesn't have a patch on any of the Nolan Batman movies. People trying to compare it to Batman Begins are woefully off the mark.
 

Matrix

LeBron loves his girlfriend. There is no other woman in the world he’d rather have. The problem is, Dwyane’s not a woman.
itUp8Z464wxVV.gif

:(

I feel your pain. Sorry you can't see it anytime soon., hope everything works out for you. I thought the wait for me was bad and it is, I'm even risking my health to see this next week :\

Woot no GL avatar for me. Leaves Solo on the bus.
 

MBison

Member
And for those who've asked (or said so): this movie doesn't have a patch on any of the Nolan Batman movies. People trying to compare it to Batman Begins are woefully off the mark.

I'm not sure I'd go that far. It has, at least for the non-battle scenes, the same kind of realistic grit look that Nolan tried to instill in Batman. Compared to like Amazing Spider-Man which looks cartoonish in comparison. Plus the scale of the movie is huge, also in step with Nolan.
 
And for those who've asked (or said so): this movie doesn't have a patch on any of the Nolan Batman movies. People trying to compare it to Batman Begins are woefully off the mark.

Yeah its not Begins. begins was a tale of a non-superhero real life non-scifi hero. you liked the first half because it had the non-scifi element of superman and you disliked it when it showed who superman really is and what superman is capable of. This is why its not BB, its Man of Steel, a movie in its own right. I can pretty much guarantee most in general audience will prefer Man of Steel as a superhero movie over Batman Begins because this is what the GA always wanted. a SUPERhero movie. You cannot separate 'destruction porn' from Superman as he exists (look at WB animation movies and the destruction)
 

Solo

Member
Blanket statements are great. I'm glad I can objectively look at others opinions.

I can objectively look at any opinion one wants to present trying to compare BB and MoS. But I also know none of them will hold water.

There's almost no sense in comparing the films, that's how different they are. The only real similarity is the structure of each film's first act.
 

Error

Jealous of the Glory that is Johnny Depp
She barely had any dialog, and her delivery of the few lines she had were great. She sold her character just on stares and gestures. I like
her reaction to seeing a destroyed Krypton completely sold how much she cared for krypton
, more so than Zod even though he had a lot more dialog.
 

Solo

Member
I'm not sure I'd go that far. It has, at least for the non-battle scenes, the same kind of realistic grit look that Nolan tried to instill in Batman. Compared to like Amazing Spider-Man which looks cartoonish in comparison. Plus the scale of the movie is huge, also in step with Nolan.

I'm not just talking about grit or realism (whatever that means with respect to comic book movies) but rather the thematic depth and character arcs/development. Those are the 2 strengths that the Nolan films rode to glory. MoS, aside from its first 45 minutes or so, was superficial at best or hollow at worst with respect to theme and character.
 
Saw this on twitter. Sadly I agree.

There is no Man of Steel criticism more stark than the fact that Earth would have been better off had Kal-El died on Krypton.

And Solo's review is dead on. Another rewrite or two and it would've been great. It has all the beats, checks all the boxes, but came out undercooked.
 

3N16MA

Banned
Sorry to disappoint anyone hoping for me to either suck the movie off Batman Begins style or tear it apart Captain America style. Sadly its neither as good or as bad as those movies. I wasn't joking when I called it "A Tale Of Two Movies". Those two movies can almost be called "the first half of the movie" and "the second half of the movie".

First comes "the first half of the movie", which is essentially Superman: The Movie circa 2013. I don't mean that as a bad thing nor do I mean it's a Donner wankfest like Returns. Imagine Donner's movie either never existed or wasn't iconic, and MoS was the first or first successful Superman movie. Man Of Steel's first hour has that feeling of carving out an iconography for the character the way S:TM did. I felt the origins and the cross-cutting between timelines was very slick, executed well and was quite affecting. The themes of loneliness, destiny, and family were presented and set up quite nicely.

Then comes "the second half of the movie", which essentially becomes Transformers. Nondescript CG body doubles fighting with other nondescript CG body doubles in nondescript city streets, destroying all kinds of buildings while all sorts of explosions go on in the background. All the work done in exploring themes in the first half of the film gets pushed aside as the movie becomes a Roland Emmerich-esque disaster movie. Tonally the movie flies from one extreme to another. There are lots of fights and ups and downs, but its ultimately meaningless as the film has long since left character and soul behind.

This could have been a great movie with a rewrite or two. Instead it's a half-baked, passable-but-entertaining one that never decided what it wanted to be. It's a mostly well-cast, mostly well-acted, mostly well-shot, mostly well-directed, and completely underwritten movie that lacked a strong voice.

I actually think the first half never reaches it's potential because drifter Clark is devoid of any emotion and the flashbacks to his childhood is what really stands out. Sure he is lonely and trying to find his reason for being but I felt that Goyer never fleshes out Clark enough as an adult before he puts on the cape.
 
Saw this on twitter. Sadly I agree.



And Solo's review is dead on. Another rewrite or two and it would've been great. It has all the beats, checks all the boxes, but came out undercooked.

thats hilariously inaccurate assessment because you could say the SAME thing about comic books and graphic novels concerning Superman.
 

Solo

Member
I actually think the first half never reaches it's potential because drifter Clark is devoid of any emotion and the flashbacks to his childhood is what really stands out. Sure he is lonely and trying to find his reason for being but I felt that Goyer never fleshes out Clark enough as an adult before he puts on the cape.

The whole
cape/Superman
bit was weird to me and felt a bit unearned. It's just like
"here's the suit! Now go fly!"
 

GamerXXX

Banned
Sorry to disappoint anyone hoping for me to either suck the movie off Batman Begins style or tear it apart Captain America style. Sadly its neither as good or as bad as those movies. I wasn't joking when I called it "A Tale Of Two Movies". Those two movies can almost be called "the first half of the movie" and "the second half of the movie".

First comes "the first half of the movie", which is essentially Superman: The Movie circa 2013. I don't mean that as a bad thing nor do I mean it's a Donner wankfest like Returns. Imagine Donner's movie either never existed or wasn't iconic, and MoS was the first or first successful Superman movie. Man Of Steel's first hour has that feeling of carving out an iconography for the character the way S:TM did. I felt the origins and the cross-cutting between timelines was very slick, executed well and was quite affecting. The themes of loneliness, destiny, and family were presented and set up quite nicely.

Then comes "the second half of the movie", which essentially becomes Transformers. Nondescript CG body doubles fighting with other nondescript CG body doubles in nondescript city streets, destroying all kinds of buildings while all sorts of explosions go on in the background. All the work done in exploring themes in the first half of the film gets pushed aside as the movie becomes a Roland Emmerich-esque disaster movie. Tonally the movie flies from one extreme to another. There are lots of fights and ups and downs, but its ultimately meaningless as the film has long since left character and soul behind.

This could have been a great movie with a rewrite or two. Instead it's a half-baked, passable-but-entertaining one that never decided what it wanted to be. It's a mostly well-cast, mostly well-acted, mostly well-shot, mostly well-directed, and completely underwritten movie that lacked a strong voice.

interestingly, some claim the first half was the bad part but that they were rewarded for sticking it out with the second part. It seems to me Goyer is the most to blame here but didn't someone else work on the screenplay when Goyer was busy with Godzilla movie? I forget his name...
 
Just got back from watching the film. Got to say, that first 30 minutes was such a boring pile of shit, I was ready to walk out. Made worse by it being summed up in a 5 minute montage later on. Should have been cut entirely, the montage made it redundant and bloated.

Past that, I really enjoyed it. Thought Caville looked great as superman, Faora was just awesome to watch, Zod was serviceable. Now I'm someone who really can't stand super heroes, hated the Donner films and most super hero films in general (TDK was the only batman I liked). So gotta give Snyder credit for actually getting me to like Superman.
 

Solo

Member
interestingly, some claim the first half was the bad part but that they were rewarded for sticking it out with the second part.

I fell exactly the opposite. The first half of the film (which is the half that hews closely to the tone of the trailers BTW) showed promise that the rest of the movie couldn't deliver.
 
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