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Man of Steel - quick review (1 Viewer)

Patrick Sun

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May end up combining this thread with the long-running MoS thread, but for now, just to parcel things out, and try to keep things relatively spoiler-free (or at least use spoiler text for this opening weekend).

So, given the complaints that "Superman Returns" didn't have a single punch thrown by Superman. Weil, they dispensed with that nitpick in a grand fashion, and often.

Lots of action in the film, but it was getting anime-ridiculous the longer the action scenes ran on.

The film has a lot of flashbacks, so the pacing sputters more in the first act, but towards the end, I found myself not liking the conflict resolution, and found the plotting/storyline to be both rushed and underdeveloped. After discussing the film with a friend afterwards, there were better ways to get to resolve the ending, as it is, it just felt like lazy writing to me. Plus, the characterizations are so reliant on people's walking-around knowledge of them, it's kind of a shame, actually, so don't expect much in characterizations of anyone but Clark/Kal, and even then you don't get much more than the mysterious good samaritan angle and high school punching bag scenes for his characterizations.

The product placement got a little much at times.

And for me, I didn't really think Superman had a genuine Superman moment in the film, just the knicks of a thousand knife wounds to encapsulate his struggle with General Zod and his forces.

I give it 2.75 stars, or a grade of B-. (Mostly A- for action, C- for story).
 

Lord Dalek

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To be fair Superman The Movie had very little action itself and everybody loves that one.
 

Raul Marquez

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Patrick, I agree with your review. I have a feeling A LOT of Superman fans are going to be angered with changes to the mythology, in particular those relating to Lois and Clark (like how they first meet). Not wanting to give any spoilers, but.... The conclusion with General Zod? Come on..... It goes against everything we knew about Superman. Raul
 

Raul Marquez

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When I went into the movie this morning I wanted to feel like when I saw the first Christopher Reeve in the '70s ..... That mixture of innocence and wide-eyed wonder at what was happening on screen. I didn't get that. :( I still recall the tag line from that film: "You'll believe a man can fly".It was funny watching over 95% of the public in the packed theater stay until the end of the credits waiting for an additional scene..... Nah, I won't tell.Raul
 

Greg Chenoweth

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I really enjoyed THE MAN OF STEEL a lot. I saw SUPERMAN II in the movie theater 12 times and I have hated every film since that one. This one was very well done and I did not mind the reinventions of the mythology. I like to see something different and I got it in this film. The only part that was disappointing was the end with General Zod. They could have done it differently. It's my only complaint.
 

Matt Wooten

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First I want to say I'm a Superman fan. Since I was a child, Supes has always been my favorite superhero. This movie gave me action scenes I could have only dreamed of.. But that was about it. I've always had mixed feelings about Returns.. but I never wanted to walk out of the theater.
The final fight with General Zod was fantastic! I was totally into it.. until the end. The resolution with Zod was uncalled for and wrong.
I almost walked out of Man of Steel. David Goyer needs to stop crapping on comic book characters.
 

JoshuaB.

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I had absolutely no problem with changes to some aspect of the Superman mythos, but Man of Steel left me cold. All of the warmth and humour that is part of Superman is missing here. Yes, there's plenty of action for fans who crave endless close up battles and CGI galore, but there's no heart, only fleeting moments, courtesy of flashbacks to Kevin Costner and life in Smallville. The cast is mostly good, but Henry Cavill is wooden as the Man of Tomorrow; he's more successful when he's Clark. I wanted to really like Man of Steel, but I left feeling disappointed. I need to revisit Superman Returns (a vastly underrated film) just to get the bitter taste of almonds out of my mouth.
 

Greg Chenoweth

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Matt Wooten said:
First I want to say I'm a Superman fan. Since I was a child, Supes has always been my favorite superhero. This movie gave me action scenes I could have only dreamed of.. But that was about it. I've always had mixed feelings about Returns.. but I never wanted to walk out of the theater.
The final fight with General Zod was fantastic! I was totally into it.. until the end. The resolution with Zod was uncalled for and wrong.
I almost walked out of Man of Steel.David Goyer needs to stop crapping on comic book characters.
That's the part that I didn't like either but the rest of the movie was awesome!
 

TheBat

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if you guys saw it in 3d. I would highly recommend checking out the 2d. the 3d was terrible. I saw the 2d and it was excellent. while I am a fan of the original movie. I was able to separate myself from the series and enjoy the new movie.
certainly helped that my audience was really into it.

Jacob
 

Robert Crawford

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TheBat said:
if you guys saw it in 3d. I would highly recommend checking out the 2d. the 3d was terrible. I saw the 2d and it was excellent. while I am a fan of the original movie. I was able to separate myself from the series and enjoy the new movie.
certainly helped that my audience was really into it.

Jacob
Anybody else agree because I wanted to see this at IMAX?
 

todd s

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Raul,

Without giving anything away. So their is a scene after the credits? Also, with regards to all of the product placement. Yes, it was to get extra $$. But, the producers wanted the scenes to feel like it was real. If Supes was fighting front of a convenience store...Odds are in the real world it would be a 7-11...Not Smallville convenience.
 

TravisR

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The trailers did not impress much so maybe I had lowered expectations but I thought Man Of Steel was a fantastic summer movie. Very good cast (Michael Shannon is always awesome and I always enjoy seeing Christopher Meloni and Larry Fishburne) and while the story is darker than I wanted to see, Superman still seems like a positive and optimistic character in the middle of a dark tale.

My only real complaint is how washed out and lacking color the movie looks.
 

Quentin

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I'd give the film a solid A-. It has some clunkiness in the middle...maybe it's a little too long...but, it does a LOT of things VERY well. And, it plays on a scale we've never seen before now.

I like the resolution with Zod a LOT. It may not be the Superman some people are used to, or who they think Superman should be...but, it plays directly to the theme and character at the heart of THIS film. It is the ultimate choice for Kal to make for his future and what kind of man he will be: he will be humanity's protector. It is not an easy choice, and he is pained by it...but, he makes it when he has to.
 

mattCR

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todd s said:
Raul, Without giving anything away. So their is a scene after the credits? Also, with regards to all of the product placement. Yes, it was to get extra $$. But, the producers wanted the scenes to feel like it was real. If Supes was fighting front of a convenience store...Odds are in the real world it would be a 7-11...Not Smallville convenience.
Not in Kansas. It'd be a Casey's or Quick Trip. Seven eleven very rare around the parts. That said, it wasn't bad, but I thought the final fight drug out too long with a ridiculous level of destruction that kept making me think of The Avengers with the military response of 'this has to stop'. Not bad, but not great. It lacked some of the sheer 'fun' factor that I think makes the best superhero movies work
 

TravisR

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Quentin said:
I like the resolution with Zod a LOT. It may not be the Superman some people are used to, or who they think Superman should be...but, it plays directly to the theme and character at the heart of THIS film. It is the ultimate choice for Kal to make for his future and what kind of man he will be: he will be humanity's protector. It is not an easy choice, and he is pained by it...but, he makes it when he has to.
I agree.
I'm sure it will be controversial but it's not like he breaks Zod's neck, gets up and says "I did that with break neck speed" like he's Dirty Harry or something. He doesn't want to kill him and hates when he has to do it.
 

Raul Marquez

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Travis,
The point is.... the Superman we grew up with would NEVER do that. Some other superhero , maybe..... but NOT Supes. I have a real problem with changing the mythology on something as basic as this. All of the other films, books, and TV shows have been faithful to it. Call him something else, but not Superman.

Also..... has anyone wondered just how he managed to shave? :)

Raul
 

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