All Things Superman: An Open Discussion (Spoilers) - - - - - - - - - - - Part 91

[Loki882]

How about these names? Shadowpact, Books of Magic, Hellblazer, Constantine and his peeps. Also, I'd love for GDT JLD to be set in MOS's universe. To see Clark have to interact and deal with someone like John Constantine would be hysterical (Constantine would spend the entire movie constantly trolling Clark). Also, seeing Lois and Zatanna play off each could be really fun.

 

[The Sage]

Alex McDowell on creating Krypton: http://www.fastcocreate.com/1683341...krypton-and-the-future-of-production-design#2

Excerpt:

The roughly 15 minutes of Krypton footage is actually the most screen time ever devoted to a world McDowell has built from scratch. "It required a design that looks alien but is comprehensible to a human audience," he says.
McDowell started with basic questions raised by the story to find an underlying scientific and social structure for the planet's civilization: What kind of a world would allow you to believe a man and woman would launch a newborn in a spaceship at the moment of birth and never see him again? How can an entire planet be ready to blow itself up and its inhabitants not know it? How does that hold a mirror, to the movie audience, that Krypton is a cautionary tale? That if we don't make certain decisions now, this is where Earth might end up?

"It's an extreme version of environmental disaster that we're experiencing now on Earth," says McDowell. "They've just had a longer time to germinate to self-destruction.

"What conditions would allow a sophisticated and civilized society that has space travel to turn inward and no longer see what it's doing to itself?" he adds. "We likened it to a feudal, hyperconservative kind of society that no longer believes other planets were worth visiting and mothballed those fleets. Ancient, doddering old fools running society and paying no attention to science or more enlightened minds."

 

[Lead Cenobite]

"What conditions would allow a sophisticated and civilized society that has space travel to turn inward and no longer see what it's doing to itself?" he adds. "We likened it to a feudal, hyperconservative kind of society that no longer believes other planets were worth visiting and mothballed those fleets. Ancient, doddering old fools running society and paying no attention to science or more enlightened minds."

That's quite a chance for a world that's so science-oriented in the comics that it's ruled by a SCIENCE Council.

 

[Smallville13]

It's sad to see the activity die off on this board. Remember when we went through one of these threads a day a month ago?

 

[Deserana]

Yeah it is quite sad. I remember the same happened with TDKR (when I first joined the hype) and before it was released it was awesome. The board caught every piece of news and viral out there. Finally had a place where I could express my excitement for the film however after it came out the boards were just full of people saying it was bad or underwhelming. Was hard to take.

The difference here though is that unlike TDKR the chances of a sequel are about 90% so we'll all most likely be back next year for MOS2 whereas with TDKR it was almost worse as there was essentially no reason to be there so everyone disappeared.

 

[Smallville13]

Yeah it is quite sad. I remember the same happened with TDKR (when I first joined the hype) and before it was released it was awesome. The board caught every piece of news and viral out there. Finally had a place where I could express my excitement for the film however after it came out the boards were just full of people saying it was bad or underwhelming. Was hard to take.

The difference here though is that unlike TDKR the chances of a sequel are about 90% so we'll all most likely be back next year for MOS2 whereas with TDKR it was almost worse as there was essentially no reason to be there so everyone disappeared.

Yeah, I remember that, it was very jarring that TDKR really did take a beating this time 12 months ago here, when elsewhere it was getting praise. MOS is like the exact opposite.

I still am trying to figure out the psychological aspect of why MOS got such critical reviews. I mean yeah on a technical level it stumbles, but not enough to really hurt it overall. It's a 2.5-3.5 star film at least. I do think that perhaps the heavy dark science fiction really hindered it. The best parts of the film are when it's just Superman juxtaposed in this really grounded tone, which works really well (the flashbacks, turning himself into the military). But when it goes all out Krypton on Earth and it becomes pure sci-fi (and somewhat muddy, weak sci-fi: opening a black hole on Earth) it does lose something, and Superman does too, losing his very exclusivity on Earth.

I think this heaviness on sci-fi subverted alot of people's expectations, but actually for the worst. It's hard to sort of figure out. On one hand I think Zod was a perfect villain for this, as it tied into Clark's Kryptonian origin, and actually gave him an honorable out for imposing himself as a caped alien god on Earth (no-one here considers this, but Superman just deciding to wear his Kryptonian colors and impose himself on society is a very tight rope to walk, and can inadvertently speak very low for his character, like Jonathan Kent said there would be huge world-wide disruption; beliefs, policies, everything.) But on the other hand, I do wonder if I agree with Grace Randolf that maybe Zod is a sequel villain.

 

[Smallville13]

Here's another thing I'll add for why I think this film stumbles in comparison to TDK franchise. The TDK scripts are far more sophisticated in comparison, because they all dabble in real-world crime drama type elements (drug trade, extradition, terrorism, etc.).

Goyer for Superman traded these for science fiction elements to make up for these instead, which just weren't as strong in a sense.

However if Snyder/Goyer are serious and MOS2 will be a more political/espionage type thriller with the government and Lexcorp and we see a return to these more topical elements, I think that bodes especially well.

 

[herolee10]

Personally, while it could have used more work, I liked the overall theme of how Clark was looking for a place to call his own and how he decided for himself on where he would be in life as opposed to allowing society, whether it was humans or his fellow kryptonians, making the choice for him.

 

[Willi Berg]

I think MOS made us speculate a whole lot and that is what kept the conversation going, but once it was released, there really isn't a whole lot to say about it besides your own review.

I mean, for instance, I got a kick out of seeing the scenes with Lois and Perry bantering over a story. But that was like two short scenes. I would love to see more of that in the sequel, see the Daily Planet in full force with Clark there...but because this is an origin movie, ok, it's all set up and we're now just going to kind of have to wait for the story to really get going with Luthor etc.

 

[DChero]

This is a lot better than after Superman Returns was released. The humanity!

 

[BH/HHH]

This is a lot better than after Superman Returns was released. The humanity!

I was here then but can't for the life of me remember what it was like. I remember it was great leading up to the film.

 

[Willi Berg]

The most I remember from Superman Returns after it was released was the fear of where Superman was going. There was so much talk of will there/won't there be a sequel and it lasted for ages. Whether it was good enough, or made enough, to warrant a sequel. At least that concern isn't there for MOS. (I don't think it is anyway...wait! What's the consensus on this movie now?!?)

 

[DChero]

I was splitting time between here and that movie database. The fan base was so torn on whether a sequel should happen. If Singer didn't include Jason, I think that we would have just gotten done with the Routh trilogy.

 

[Marvin]

An entire city leveled. I must have heard that over 30 times last month.

people had never seen so much damage and destruction in one sitting before...

 

[TheFlamingCoco]

Is the GIF from a TV spot?

 

[Loki882]

Independence Day, Godzilla (all the movies), Cloverfield, Pacific Rim, Transformers, 2012, Armageddon, etc. The damage in those movies was MUCH greater than in MOS. Also, the entire city was not leveled, more like several city blocks (the city is enormous, over 95% of it came out of the battle without a scratch).

 

[roach]

Independence Day, Godzilla (all the movies), Cloverfield, Pacific Rim, Transformers, 2012, Armageddon, etc. The damage in those movies was MUCH greater than in MOS. Also, the entire city was not leveled, more like several city blocks (the city is enormous, over 95% of it came out of the battle without a scratch).

plus the workers had Carl's Jr/Hardees triple bacon sandwiches to help them build

 

[InJustice]

Here's another thing I'll add for why I think this film stumbles in comparison to TDK franchise. The TDK scripts are far more sophisticated in comparison, because they all dabble in real-world crime drama type elements (drug trade, extradition, terrorism, etc.).

Goyer for Superman traded these for science fiction elements to make up for these instead, which just weren't as strong in a sense.

However if Snyder/Goyer are serious and MOS2 will be a more political/espionage type thriller with the government and Lexcorp and we see a return to these more topical elements, I think that bodes especially well.

Did they say that in an interview? Just wondering.

 

[Smallville13]

Did they say that in an interview? Just wondering.

They've both pretty well confirmed Lex for the sequel. And have both hinted that the scene with the surveillance drone is an indication of where they'll go next. Goyer also said that he wants to see Superman tackling 3rd world issues.

 

[TheFlamingCoco]

^ Just so the bulk of it is Metropolis "his home base" I'm happy. I do want to see Superman confront the leaders of the world, saying that his planet was destroyed by hate and warfare, and that justice can only happen through reconciliation. Basically, the Day The Earth stood still with Superman

 

[bluearth]

Is the GIF from a TV spot?

It is. You werent trying to get on his case though, were you?

An entire city leveled. I must have heard that over 30 times last month.

people had never seen so much damage and destruction in one sitting before...

Even worse, I've read several reviews that said Superman caused all the carnage. A few blocks gets leveled in Man of Steel and we're suppose to be horrified, but when entire continents and cities slide into the sea in 2012 we're suppose to chew popcorn with a smile on our face.

Whats worse is the damage in the Avengers gets overlooked because theres a few scenes showing the heroes helping a couple dozen civilians. Considering the Damage in the Avengers was much worse then the Japanese Tsunami which claimed the lives of tens of thousands, helping a couple dozen people doesnt give you an excuse to celebrate right after the fact.

 

[hopefuldreamer]

They've both pretty well confirmed Lex for the sequel. And have both hinted that the scene with the surveillance drone is an indication of where they'll go next. Goyer also said that he wants to see Superman tackling 3rd world issues.

That'd be really cool to see

 

[BH/HHH]

An entire city leveled. I must have heard that over 30 times last month.

people had never seen so much damage and destruction in one sitting before...

That's shot gives me a nerdgasm everytime I see it

 

[Marvin]

Is the GIF from a TV spot?

Beats me I avoided almost all the spots,
it was however floating around on these forums long before the release.

 

[InJustice]

If you look really closely at that gif, you can see that they made a mistake with the Superman S (left corner has red when it's supposed to be yellow).