Man of Steel

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28 days...6 hours...42 minutes...12 seconds
Man of Steel (Zack Snyder)



Nolan & Snyder Take On Superman

Krypton is dying and Jor-El makes the brave decision to save his newborn son, Kal-El, by sending him off into the stars in the hopes of preserving their race. The newborn lands on Earth and as he grows older, is told to keep his powers a secret, for if the world found out, they would reject him. He travels the world looking for answers as to who he is and where he came from. He finds those answers when General Zod arrives, another survivor from the planet Krypton. He has the same goal as Jorl-El did, preserving the race...even if it means destroying another.

Man of Steel is Warner Brother's attempt at getting another franchise off the ground. Now that Harry Potter and Batman are done, they have nothing. so they go to the one man from their past who they know can resurrect a dead franchise: Christopher Nolan. With Nolan as the Producer, veteran comic scribe David S. Goyer behind the screenplay and the visual comic book flair eye behind the camera, Zack Snyder, it looked like WB had put all their eggs in one basket. For the most part, it paid off.

Man of Steel has it's fair share of problems, I walked away from it with the same feeling I had with The Dark Knight Rises (which was I really enjoyed it, but the problems it has were very apparent). This is a new take on the traditional superhero. This time, Nolan brings in his dark and brooding style to this franchise. Some people dislike this new look and feel, Superman hardly smiles, the world does not love him and the film is dead serious. There are little to no moments of humour. Nolan is taking a...wait, THE, definition of a Superhero and planting him into a real word realm, much like he did with Batman. While some people will be turned off by this, I actually found it kind of refreshing. Yes, we have another superhero who grapples with issues, but these are issues that he should be struggling with. Who is he, where does he come from, what is his purpose. Nolan and Snyder explore this notion and they do it well.

The narrative of the film is told in two segments, the present timeline which is Kent looking for answers to his past and the other timeline are flashbacks to pivotal moments in his life growing up. The flashback sequences feel like segments from Malick's Tree of Life, which fits the Kansas setting perfectly. Costner and Lane play Superman's Earth parents. Costner feels the need to hide Kurt's powers, he fears the world is not ready for someone like him, but he's Superman after all. So that need to save people, no matter what is there. Lane is given the short end of the stick here and is given very little to do.

Superman's other parents are played by Russel Crowe and Ayelet Zurer. We are introduced to them in an overly long prologue sequence set on Krypton. It feels like a scene that could have been told in ten minutes, instead it feels like twenty. The look and feel of Krypton is lackluster in the sense that we get an Avatar/Matrix hybrid of sorts with flying winged monsters and test tube babies. So the film kind of starts off on a misstep, but once we get to Earth, the film finds its footing. Goyer finds a way to keep Russel around much longer than he needs to be. Although Crowe does bring a bit of charisma to a nothing role.

Things get a little harry for Superman when a being who calls himself General Zod arrives. From that moment on the film feels less like a Superman film and more like an Alien Invasion movie and I feel like that was their intention. There is more destruction in this film than in last years Avengers or any of the Transformers movies. The last hour or so is relentless action and destruction. To the point where I didn't know if I could take it anymore. You can only throw a guy through several buildings so many times before it gets tiresome. Snyder is a visual director and he manages to keep the action going with some beautiful shots. These characters move at incredible speeds, so the fight sequences are CGI heavy. Usually when a film has to animate a human, it looks fake, here they seem to pull it off nicely.

General Zod is played by Michael Shannon. He plays up the bad guy role well enough for me to give a pass to. We know his intentions, we know he is a threat and Shannon seems to be having some fun with the role, despite the seriousness of the tone. He goes over the top and it works. Cavill is great as Superman, he has the looks, the build and the charisma. He's just never really given that one moment that I think he needed to really "sell" that Superman role. The one thing he seems to do different (other than brooding) is scream a lot. Unfortunately one of the biggest problems with the film is the chemistry between Adams and Cavill. Lane and Superman seem to have none of it and their moment at the end felt false. Although she does a much better job than the train wreck that was Bosworth.

Man of Steel is a great Superhero movie. It follows in the steps of Nolan's Batman series more than what Marvel is doing with their characters. I urge people not to expect that Superman from the past, goes he's gone. This new one is here to stay.

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Suspect's Reviews



"Hey Look it's Masterman"
Like you said in your review superman has changed, and I loved it. I loved what they did with Krypton, I thought the opening 20 minutes where fantastic. People say the movie tryed to be emotional and failed, which I think is utter crap. The tornado scene with Kevin Costner, was very moving and one of my favourite scenes. I think this movies was alot better than The Dark Knight Rises.



You thought the tornado scene was moving? In all respect, I thought that was the dumbest scene in the entire movie. He just stood there and waved? Who does that? And I didn't get why superman didn't go and save him.



"Hey Look it's Masterman"
You thought the tornado scene was moving? In all respect, I thought that was the dumbest scene in the entire movie. He just stood there and waved? Who does that? And I didn't get why superman didn't go and save him.
Well then you didn't get the movie. A massive point of the film was that his earth mother and father where protecting him, they thought the world wasn't ready for him, they was protecting him from us humans. The scene was moving because, we all know superman could of saved him but his earth father was still protecting him.



"Hey Look it's Masterman"
Spoiler


One thing I didn't get, don't know if I was at toilet or what. The space craft that was on earth, the one where superman met lane, how did that end up on earth?.



Well then you didn't get the movie. A massive point of the film was that his earth mother and father where protecting him, they thought the world wasn't ready for him, they was protecting him from us humans. The scene was moving because, we all know superman could of saved him but his earth father was still protecting him.
So keeping his powers a secret to the world was more important to him than his father's life? I'm not sure if I hate that more because it makes superman look like an a-hole, or because that's totally unrealistic.

As far as how the space craft ended up on earth, I'm pretty sure we don't find out. Or I just can't remember.



"Hey Look it's Masterman"
So keeping his powers a secret to the world was more important to him than his father's life? I'm not sure if I hate that more because it makes superman look like an a-hole, or because that's totally unrealistic.

As far as how the space craft ended up on earth, I'm pretty sure we don't find out. Or I just can't remember.
It was more important to his father, he didn't want the world finding out his son was an alien. He would be known as a freak, an outcast. It would throw the world into fear. He was doing what he thought was right.



Eh, I still can't buy it. Even if that's what he thought was right, I don't buy that he would sacrifice his father's life for it. I might have been able to suspend my belief if the scene was really well executed, but the wave was just so cheesy...



"Hey Look it's Masterman"
Eh, I still can't buy it. Even if that's what he thought was right, I don't buy that he would sacrifice his father's life for it. I might have been able to suspend my belief if the scene was really well executed, but the wave was just so cheesy...
He didn't wave. He put his hand up to say no! Stay there.



Bright light. Bright light. Uh oh.
Suspend your disbelief, which some people do far too easily sometimes and some people almost never do because of all the baggage they carry with them.
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I am so bummed out right now. You know when General Zod lost his mask on earth and all of his senses developed into a hyperactive headache? That describes my IMAX 3D viewing of Man of Steel. The fight scenes were fun, but everyone involved really missed the true essence of Superman. The opening sequence on Krypton was sick! In fact, the first film should of been a prequel focusing on Krypton lore starring Russell Crowe, setting up Supermans debut in the 2nd of the trilogy.
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28 days...6 hours...42 minutes...12 seconds
The ship that Supes meets Lane on is one of the thousands of scouting ships that were sent out by Krypton. Zod mentions this when he also describes how he was released from his 'prison'. The project was abandoned and all the scouting people/vessels died.

As for the tornado sequence.
WARNING: "Man of Steel" spoilers below
I think the one scene involving Costner and young Clark is important to remember. Clark asks what he should have done regarding the school bus incident, let them die? Costner's response....maybe. He spent his whole life protecting him, making sure that no one would discover the truth about him. Clark lived his whole life battling this issue. His father did not wave goodbye to him, he simply told him not to come save him. he let his father die doing what his father ASKED him to do. I hear a lot of people don't believe that scene, but it kinda worked for me. Costner needs to get back into more movies!!!



I didn't have any issues with the tornado scene. In fact I didn't have issues with any of the early Kent stuff. My issue was the last hour when the film becomes non sop stuff blowing up. Also when are they going to stop putting two people who are indestructible in a fist fight, just an excuse to destroy even more stuff.
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That's all the Avengers was, yet people loved that.
Because that was actually fun. When this movie tried to do a big epic final fight it was dull. The Marvel movies have embraced the notion that they are a comic book movie. They have fun and and interesting characters beyond the broody and melancholy. Which have made for much better adaptations. Warner Brothers has messed up all their modern DC titles save for the first two Batman movies from the Nolan trilogy.



"Hey Look it's Masterman"
Because that was actually fun. When this movie tried to do a big epic final fight it was dull. The Marvel movies have embraced the notion that they are a comic book movie. They have fun and and interesting characters beyond the broody and melancholy. Which have made for much better adaptations. Warner Brothers has messed up all their modern DC titles save for the first two Batman movies from the Nolan trilogy.
Oh please, the end of man of steel was nothing but fun. Superman changed for the better, this take on superman was alot better than the past superman's and alot more real. Man Of Steel was alot better than The Avengers hands down.



You have your opinion. Absolutely foreign to me but you are entitled to it. I watched this hoping for a good movie, I got a dull polished turd. And for a movie based off a comic, the biggest crime you can do to the film is make it dull. I will stick to Richard Donner's 1978 movie with Christopher Reeves. And I still say The Avengers is still the best comic movie to date.



"Hey Look it's Masterman"
You have your opinion. Absolutely foreign to me but you are entitled to it. I watched this hoping for a good movie, I got a dull polished turd. And for a movie based off a comic, the biggest crime you can do to the film is make it dull. I will stick to Richard Donner's 1978 movie with Christopher Reeves. And I still say The Avengers is still the best comic movie to date.
Superman had to change for a modern day audience. If it stuck to its same camp style as previous movies, then what's different?. It changed for the better and c'mon the Avengers is a 2/5 at best. Iron Man, Thor, The Dark Knight, Man Of Steel and Burton's batmans are all better movies.