Thoughts On: Man of Steel

[scifi_tv_addict]

What a visually stunning....mess. Zack Snyder has proven time and time again that he can make a pretty movie...what he has yet to me prove to me is that he can make a good movie. Man of Steel, for all of its gorgeous costumes, pretty actors, and stunning explosions is a mess on almost every level. It's a shame because I think the idea was there and

Comments

[scifi_tv_addict]

You know, you're right. I think young!Clark spoke more than adult!Clark for the first half. Here's the thing (and I've leveled that goody-two-shoes complaint at Superman for years), being good isn't inherently boring. Steve Rogers is a boy scout, but the writers (and actor) did a great job of showing you why that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. Is it harder to make a super nice guy interesting? Probably. It's why Bruce Wayne has always been more popular on film, but that doesn't mean it can't be done. I saw a spark of personality with Clark when he was with his mother back home and again in that interrogation scene with Lois...but almost all of that was because of the actor, not the writing. You can't spend an entire movie showing a dude wandering around a bunch saving people and expect us to invest in him on a personal level. You can't.

You're a lot harder on Lois than I am (probably because of your love for Lois & Clark ;)). I think this was just a different type of Lois Lane, and with that in mind I think Amy Adams did the best with what she had. I mean, the whole back half was a mess in regards to her character so it's hard to really judge any of that...she was there only as a narrative and romantic device.

Well, like I said...I liked the supporting cast mostly in that they conveyed a specific idea well enough (Fishburne was a likable enough boss, Diane Lane was a good maternal figure, Russell Crowe seemed like a cool dude, etc). I didn't even know that chick's name was Janny/Jenna, to be honest. I didn't give a shit about her or the fact that she almost died. The narrative gave me no reason to care.

It's interesting to compare this movie to something like Thor. They have a lot in common, but where one movie succeeded, the other failed. Both featured superhuman beings fighting alien battles on Earth. Both featured a hero grappling with identity (and daddy issues). Both featured a love story between a career-driven mortal woman and an alien being. Except Thor made me care about the battle being fought, made me care about the characters in that battle, and made me invest in the relationships.

Also, the destruction became laughable at one point. I was like...it's kind of hard to save a city (or town) after you've destroyed it all. I spent the whole last 10-20 minutes being more impressed by the CGI of the shattering glass than the actual fight itself.