Movie: Man Of Steel (06-14-13)

[nyquillyn]

If you haven't seen the "Donner Cut" of "Superman II", watch it. Soooooo much better than the original cut.

[darth_vedder]

If you haven't seen the "Donner Cut" of "Superman II", watch it. Soooooo much better than the original cut.

Totally agree. It has some rough spots, but overall was a better version of the film.

Is it wrong that I want to watch Part 4 'The Quest for Peace' now?

[Peeps]

yes

yes it is

[darth_vedder]

^I know

It's an awful movie, but I still kinda want to re-watch pt. 3 & 4.

What are the thoughts on the Brandon Routh one? I don't really remember much, but I remember liking Kevin Spacey as Lex Luthor. Oh, and some creepy scene where Superman is a peeping tom.

[bada]

I thought Routh was a good Supes and l liked the plane sequence. The rest didn't really work.

[Jorge]

Plot Devices: The Movie

[BurtReynolds]

iron man 3?

[Jorge]

This movie wishes it was half as fun as Iron Man 3.

I'll elaborate later. There's a lot of good things going on and there are a lot of really bad things going on, especially past the first hour or so. The cast brings it. The big problem is Snyder.

[nyquillyn]

[McParadigm]

The cast brings it. The big problem is Snyder.

[Peeps]

This movie wishes it was half as fun as Iron Man 3.

I'll elaborate later. There's a lot of good things going on and there are a lot of really bad things going on, especially past the first hour or so. The cast brings it. The big problem is Snyder.

we will contrast and compare. you as a critique and i as a fanboy

but i wont see it till tomorrow afternoon/morning so i will avoid this thread until then

[bada]

I'm gonna have to stay away for a week or so. Really want to hear opinions but don't want to be spoiled and I'm not fighting for a seat this weekend.

[Harry Lime]

Sounds like a Zack Snyder movie.

Heheh.

Listen, I'm going in with an open mind. Like I said before, I want to like it. I didn't get to go to the avant-premiere a few nights ago but my friends who went were all raving about it (to be fair, though, I never agree with them on anything). So I dunno. I'll watch it tomorrow and report back. I won't be crushed if I hate it. But it would be nice to have a good Superman flick.

My lord, do you agree with anybody?!

When did you get so goddamn snippy, boy? You better slow your roll before I show you the back of my hand.

Spoiler: show

Did you have to include the dummy hand? Brings me back to a R.L. Stine nightmare I had when I was kid.

I'm seeing this cinematic motion picture event tomorrow.

[BurtReynolds]

I thought a lot of it worked and a lot of it didnt. I'm pretty sure most of the problems with this can be blamed squarely on one Bruce Wayne, because "dark and gritty" must have been the prime directive before anyone was chosen for this movie. Its somewhat successful at it, but consistently trips itself up along the way. It does work for the first half though.

The plot devices are no more ridiculous than Cerebus, Cosmic Cubes, secret armies of Iron Man suits, or clean power sources converted to perfectly timed neutron bombs. Felt like they tried to cram the original two movies together while ramping up the action, which is way too much. still its about as entertaining as the last Star Trek. Or maybe my expectations just cant go any lower.

Random thoughts:

Spoiler: show

the costumes (besides superman's) are very stupid. The rest of the visuals were pretty good, though.

Holy shit Metropolis is huge, and lots of people die! Its kind of disturbing actually. I wish they would have taken more of a cue from Marvel, but again, this is dark and gritty.

I dont think i liked some of the deviations from the usual story. Didn't care for the changes to Kryptonite, the almost total absence of Clark, a lame fortress of exposition (err... solitude), etc. But I could argue that the audience already knows that shit and dont want to sit through it again. still, its rushed.

I was worried when the military showed up that this was about to go full Michael Bay and they would start kicking ass. Thankfully they were utterly useless, but still brave. that was nice.

Superman felt super for the first time i think, unfortunately he doesn't have much character. the new guy is wooden.i really just dont care about this character in any context.

what's with Warner Bros really wanting its heroes to kill people even though they dont kill people? It doesnt help that its bungled here even more than it is in TDKR. The ending is so bad.

All in all i'd say it was much better than the last turd, but thats not high praise. its pretty forgettable.

[BurtReynolds]

^I know

It's an awful movie, but I still kinda want to re-watch pt. 3 & 4.

What are the thoughts on the Brandon Routh one? I don't really remember much, but I remember liking Kevin Spacey as Lex Luthor. Oh, and some creepy scene where Superman is a peeping tom.

I only remember Cyclops being the real hero of the movie and the worst idea since Jar Jar Binks: Superkid.

[epilogue]

^I know

It's an awful movie, but I still kinda want to re-watch pt. 3 & 4.

What are the thoughts on the Brandon Routh one? I don't really remember much, but I remember liking Kevin Spacey as Lex Luthor. Oh, and some creepy scene where Superman is a peeping tom.

I only remember Cyclops being the real hero of the movie and the worst idea since Jar Jar Binks: Superkid.

Yeah, there's a reason you don't remember much about it.

Though, you should revisit it. Because Spacey is terrible. You're remembering that wrong.

[Jorge]

Here's my take. Mild spoilers.

Spoiler: show

I loved the first... third of this. I kept thinking "oh, this isn't humorless, it's reverent." I felt that rooting the story in Krypton and adding to the mythology of it was a good idea. I kind of wanted the entire movie to be Russell Crowe, Badass Scientist. I liked how they handled Clark Kent's "wilderness years". I also really liked how the Kryptonians announced themselves to the world, it felt like a scene from a horror film.

The movie really falls apart right around the first confrontation with Zod. A lot of really strange choices in the script and directing. I didn't buy the development of Superman's relationship with Lois-- we're meant to see this strong bond between them and buy into their flourishing love story, but we have no idea how that bond happened (in this sense, it kind of reminded me of Natalie Portman in "Thor"-- hunky alien shows up, damsel-in-distress immediately falls for him).

This script was pretty uneven. Parts of it were moving and powerful (particularly the scenes between Jor-El and Zod) and parts of it were just ham-fisted and silly ("The world's too big, mom!", "You're a monster... and I'm going to stop you", the kind of clumsy dialogue that popped up every now and then in the Dark Knight movies). The few moments of attempted humor fell flat, and the whole thing kind of falls victim to its lofty aspirations in the drama department.

The final act is a big disconcerting mess of flying debris. It tries to out-spectacle The Avengers and fails. I did like the final one-on-one battle between Supes and Zod, but it kind of peters out at the end. And yeah, this movie's last few minutes are just the worst. Just the worst. Hated that resolution.

Cast wise, I thought everybody did a good job. I actually liked Cavill. I thought Michael Shannon was really good-- there is a genuine gravity and desperation in his final moments, and I totally bought into it. I also felt that Amy Adams was misdirected in this role. Her Lois Lane was too soft-spoken and at times hapless, when she needed to be a firecracker. I'm blaming Snyder for this one-- Adams is a wonderful actress, and she clearly has the chops for this kind of role, but her performance needed some of the chutzpah that she showed in "The Fighter". Of course, the script didn't do her any favors ("this is me talking! I'm a Pulitzer prize winning journalist!").

There were a few cool moments scattered throughout, like Superman sinking into a sea of human skulls, but overall I feel like Snyder really screwed up with how he handled everything past the first hour. Also, to anyone who, like me, grew up watching Dragon Ball Z: Is it just me, or is this basically a remake of the Saiyans Saga?

[Will]

It was all right, but its not better than any of Nolan's Batman flicks.

[Mecca]

Loved the first half of the movie and the Jonathan Kent scenes were pretty touching. The second half was just a boring mess of explosions and buildings falling down.

[Mecca]

Also, the ending answered a question for me

how fast can superman go?

Spoiler: show

at breakneck speed