Man of Steel
After seeing the movie last Friday, I checked the community to see if there was any discussion on it. After noticing that over the weekend no posts were made on the movie, I felt that this had to be corrected. After all, it is perhaps the biggest comic book movie of this year, with only Iron Man 3 giving it a run for the money, and are we not a comic book community. So below the cut are my somewhat random musings on the movie beneath the cut.
To begin with, I must admit that I really liked the movie and, for some reason, the more I thought about the movie, the more I liked. Which is pretty much the opposite with what happened to me with Iron Man 3. It had it's issues, there is no denying that, and it does lag somewhat in the middle before Zod arrives, but to me it had this great heart to it and managed to find a new way to make Superman relatable to the audience, to make him something else than the Big Boy Scout while still remaining that character. That said, it took some pretty big breaks with continuity, such as Jonathan Kent 's death and the final battle with Zod, and I can see why it turned some people off. Still, to me, it stayed very loyal to Superman, even if it took a very different approach in telling his story. That being said, it has been really interesting to see the very large difference between the critical from professional critics and the audience. It has also been enjoying to try to figure out multiple possible reasons for that.
Then to the musing. I repeat that these are random, as there are so many I could write here.
-It is insane how handsome Henry Cavill is as Superman. He is also extremely built and I found myself amused by the age old question of how does Superman work out while watching the movie. Still, it will be a bit of a challenge in the issue for them to sell Clark Kent to be unrecognizable from Superman with that physique. The positive thing is that I am fairly certain they acknowledged this in an interview and stressed they are thinking about how to make that work in the story. Now despite focusing on that, I did feel he was really great as Superman and especially loved his expressions during the flight sequence.
-I think Michael Shannon will be Zod for me from that movie forward. It is partially as Superman II came before me, so I have never formed that deep a tie with Stamp's Zod, but it is more than that. Stamp's Zod was impressive and had clear presence, but he was ultimately a relatively simple character, just someone who wanted power. Shannon's Zod was so much more and the actor really succeeded to selling the layers of the character to me. The interactions with Jor-El really helped with that, as they gave that clear sense that Zod had been something different before his insanity took over, and even with that, it was clear what had driven Zod to that, how he was the ultimate product of the society that bred him.
-I actually really liked how their senses were a weakness for the Kryptonians.
-The way Diane Lane sold Martha Kent 's reaction to Clark claiming to have found his parents was simply brilliant. It also made the scene of Clark losing it on Zod for choking his mother so much more to me.
-For some reason, the character that surprised me most in the movie was Faora just by being such an utter force in the movie. It was clear why she Zod's second-in-command and just commanded almost any scene she was in. I was trying to figure out the reasons why I had been so impressed with her and I realized that it was also sadly partially because how a rare character she was in the sense that while she was utterly gorgeous, there was nothing sexy or seductive about her. She was a soldier to the bone and her ice cold resolve just made intimidating. It so rare to see such female characters in movies like this that it stood out almost just by being there.
-Speaking of which, I really dug Lois Lane. I also loved that she figured out Superman identity, because I cannot stress how utterly creepy and dumbfounding I find the Superman/Clark/Lois triangle to be.
-The movie did, however, leave open how many people actually know that Clark is Superman? And I did also appreciate how fast the blogger rolled over on Lois.
-When the Colonel drew his knife out in the trailer, I had been worried that the scene would be really hokey. In the movie, though, I absolutely loved it due to the Faora's response. She was going to give the Colonel a soldier's death after casually slaughtering the other soldiers. While her line was clear foreshadowing, it still really worked for me.
-Perry White wasn't in the movie much, but Fishbourne really made those scenes work. I also kind of liked Jenny (Olsen?), even if her presence was very minor.
-The collapse of the Kryptonian space empire is either really sloppy writing or simply brilliant. I am leaning on the latter as Goyer mentioned in an interview how he intentionally left loose ends in the movie and when I was watching the scene of the desolate outpost I kept wondering how this could be connected to Brainiac.
-The end fight was just awesome. I do not think I have ever seen such a scene in a movie before where it is shown what it really means for people like Superman to fight. Also, I think it left the movie in an interesting position, outside of Zod's fate of course, as it showed the destruction that people like Superman can cause, as the death toll for that fight must have been insane. Usually when fears of Superman are made, they are about how anyone can face someone so possible. Here that fear is given a whole another level, as now there is that very clear example of the aftermath beings like him can leave behind, even when not intended. It opens up very different kinds of narratives to go forward with, surprisingly new ways to ground concerns about Superman.
-Which of course brings us to Lex Luthor. I was actually pleasantly surprised that they didn't show him in this movie, as they didn't really need. Same with Kryptonite. Everyone knows Lex is out there, everyone knows he is threat. What they showed off him, though, the visual references to Lexcorp, were also very good to me, as they made it clear which Lex Luthor exists in this world. Not the rambling real estate crook, not some deformed superfreak, but the businessman. The movie also creates an excellent foundation for the narrative conflict between Lex and Clark, and what they represent.
-I knew where the reference to Bruce Wayne would be and I tried to be on the lookout for it, but couldn't see it. Damn you all.
-And finally, and this has already been quite long, I really liked the small moments. This actually comes directly from Zach Snyder, where he was telling about focusing on small moments in the story, but I was positively surprised how well it worked. From the moments on Krypton to Zod comforting Faora after the destruction of Krypton to Martha's reaction to the people on the streets of Metropolis during the final fight. They all just gelled for me.
And with here I shall end. I hope that people enjoyed the movie at least as much as me and were left upbeat after it.
To begin with, I must admit that I really liked the movie and, for some reason, the more I thought about the movie, the more I liked. Which is pretty much the opposite with what happened to me with Iron Man 3. It had it's issues, there is no denying that, and it does lag somewhat in the middle before Zod arrives, but to me it had this great heart to it and managed to find a new way to make Superman relatable to the audience, to make him something else than the Big Boy Scout while still remaining that character. That said, it took some pretty big breaks with continuity, such as Jonathan Kent 's death and the final battle with Zod, and I can see why it turned some people off. Still, to me, it stayed very loyal to Superman, even if it took a very different approach in telling his story. That being said, it has been really interesting to see the very large difference between the critical from professional critics and the audience. It has also been enjoying to try to figure out multiple possible reasons for that.
Then to the musing. I repeat that these are random, as there are so many I could write here.
-It is insane how handsome Henry Cavill is as Superman. He is also extremely built and I found myself amused by the age old question of how does Superman work out while watching the movie. Still, it will be a bit of a challenge in the issue for them to sell Clark Kent to be unrecognizable from Superman with that physique. The positive thing is that I am fairly certain they acknowledged this in an interview and stressed they are thinking about how to make that work in the story. Now despite focusing on that, I did feel he was really great as Superman and especially loved his expressions during the flight sequence.
-I think Michael Shannon will be Zod for me from that movie forward. It is partially as Superman II came before me, so I have never formed that deep a tie with Stamp's Zod, but it is more than that. Stamp's Zod was impressive and had clear presence, but he was ultimately a relatively simple character, just someone who wanted power. Shannon's Zod was so much more and the actor really succeeded to selling the layers of the character to me. The interactions with Jor-El really helped with that, as they gave that clear sense that Zod had been something different before his insanity took over, and even with that, it was clear what had driven Zod to that, how he was the ultimate product of the society that bred him.
-I actually really liked how their senses were a weakness for the Kryptonians.
-The way Diane Lane sold Martha Kent 's reaction to Clark claiming to have found his parents was simply brilliant. It also made the scene of Clark losing it on Zod for choking his mother so much more to me.
-For some reason, the character that surprised me most in the movie was Faora just by being such an utter force in the movie. It was clear why she Zod's second-in-command and just commanded almost any scene she was in. I was trying to figure out the reasons why I had been so impressed with her and I realized that it was also sadly partially because how a rare character she was in the sense that while she was utterly gorgeous, there was nothing sexy or seductive about her. She was a soldier to the bone and her ice cold resolve just made intimidating. It so rare to see such female characters in movies like this that it stood out almost just by being there.
-Speaking of which, I really dug Lois Lane. I also loved that she figured out Superman identity, because I cannot stress how utterly creepy and dumbfounding I find the Superman/Clark/Lois triangle to be.
-The movie did, however, leave open how many people actually know that Clark is Superman? And I did also appreciate how fast the blogger rolled over on Lois.
-When the Colonel drew his knife out in the trailer, I had been worried that the scene would be really hokey. In the movie, though, I absolutely loved it due to the Faora's response. She was going to give the Colonel a soldier's death after casually slaughtering the other soldiers. While her line was clear foreshadowing, it still really worked for me.
-Perry White wasn't in the movie much, but Fishbourne really made those scenes work. I also kind of liked Jenny (Olsen?), even if her presence was very minor.
-The collapse of the Kryptonian space empire is either really sloppy writing or simply brilliant. I am leaning on the latter as Goyer mentioned in an interview how he intentionally left loose ends in the movie and when I was watching the scene of the desolate outpost I kept wondering how this could be connected to Brainiac.
-The end fight was just awesome. I do not think I have ever seen such a scene in a movie before where it is shown what it really means for people like Superman to fight. Also, I think it left the movie in an interesting position, outside of Zod's fate of course, as it showed the destruction that people like Superman can cause, as the death toll for that fight must have been insane. Usually when fears of Superman are made, they are about how anyone can face someone so possible. Here that fear is given a whole another level, as now there is that very clear example of the aftermath beings like him can leave behind, even when not intended. It opens up very different kinds of narratives to go forward with, surprisingly new ways to ground concerns about Superman.
-Which of course brings us to Lex Luthor. I was actually pleasantly surprised that they didn't show him in this movie, as they didn't really need. Same with Kryptonite. Everyone knows Lex is out there, everyone knows he is threat. What they showed off him, though, the visual references to Lexcorp, were also very good to me, as they made it clear which Lex Luthor exists in this world. Not the rambling real estate crook, not some deformed superfreak, but the businessman. The movie also creates an excellent foundation for the narrative conflict between Lex and Clark, and what they represent.
-I knew where the reference to Bruce Wayne would be and I tried to be on the lookout for it, but couldn't see it. Damn you all.
-And finally, and this has already been quite long, I really liked the small moments. This actually comes directly from Zach Snyder, where he was telling about focusing on small moments in the story, but I was positively surprised how well it worked. From the moments on Krypton to Zod comforting Faora after the destruction of Krypton to Martha's reaction to the people on the streets of Metropolis during the final fight. They all just gelled for me.
And with here I shall end. I hope that people enjoyed the movie at least as much as me and were left upbeat after it.