TMOS Review & Speculation Thread (Spoilers) - Part 3

[flickchick85]

I will say, as well, that another thing that makes the fact that this is starting to get written off in some quarters as a critical failure really disappointing is that I'd put it above so many other superhero movies considered successes.

Thor. Captain America: The First Avenger. X-Men: First Class. All three of these movies back in 2011 were considered "successes" while Green Lantern was written off as the failure. And yes, Green Lantern is the poorest of the four, and yes, I think all three are good films that I enjoyed. But I'd say Man of Steel comfortably surpasses all three. But at times it almost feels like with Marvel films they get a medal just for showing up, and if they appropriately set the stage for the next Avengers with their post-credits scene or whatever they are considered a resounding victory. Or they performed well given the modest expectations going in, like more wasn't expected of them. But with Man of Steel people are expecting an enduring masterpiece and therefore write it off as a disappointment if it is instead in the same ballpark of quality as the Marvel or Fox films that were praised, even if it's actually better than those.

I generally agree. I love the MCU, and I loved First Class, but they ALL had their fair share of corny dialogue and iffy plot mechanics.

 

[ThePhantasm]

Just saw it a second time... loved it again. Its a great start to a new Superman franchise and I have no major problems with the film at all.

 

[Anno_Domini]

Just wanted to say, I LOVE Man of Steel

 

[JangoNate]

saw it for the second time today

really didn't enjoy myself this time

it felt like it was 3 and a half hours long

I'm beginning to think fans will start turning against this movie en masse once the initial excitement settles down

it's hard to admit because on paper this movie did everything I could have hoped for

I, too, will disagree with this sentiment. Too many of my friends have been three times or more and scheduling the next visit for me to believe that the excitement is going to leave everyone after more viewings. I'll be able to officially confirm or deny this after I see it a second time on Monday. All I know is that I cannot stop thinking about the film (in a good way) and my wife, who was annoyed as hell at my constant chatter about the film before we saw it, can't stop talking about it either.

 

[sf2]

I, too, will disagree with this sentiment. Too many of my friends have been three times or more and scheduling the next visit for me to believe that the excitement is going to leave everyone after more viewings. I'll be able to officially confirm or deny this after I see it a second time on Monday. All I know is that I cannot stop thinking about the film (in a good way) and my wife, who was annoyed as hell at my constant chatter about the film before we saw it, can't stop talking about it either.

Indeed. It's so overwhelming. So pumped up in the end. Can't wait. Crave 4 more.

 

[TheFlamingCoco]

I feel like with a more relaxed pace, more character development, and a sweeping scale, it would get five stars/5. That being said, I would say it's not too far away from TDK quality, and Zack's ability to capture BOTH the tone of a real-world movie and a fantasy-based comic-book is amazing. Goyer said it was his hardest script, but I actually find very few faults with it. It embraces the sci-fi genre while being a compelling drama with true superheroic action. I give it 4.5/5.

 

[4NutzinYoface]

Just wanted to say, I LOVE Man of Steel

I am just going to go with this

The movie ****ing ROCKED all across the board. The acting (Crowe kicked major ass, same with Cavill, Lane, Costner, Fishburne, Meloni, Shannon, the girls who played Faora and Lane) the cinematography, the beautifully brilliant Hans Zimmer, the story, and most importantly? To me anyways? The ACTION!!! Finally, this, THIS is a Superman feature film. Period.

I do understand some criticism with regards to the fast pace or odd editing/pacing of the film I guess, but I am forgiving this entirely as its not a deal breaker by any means, & I loved how they just went balls to the wall with this movie and from the get go said...."Annnnnd. . .GO!!!" Especially with all the previous Superman movie attempts and how they were? To me, the constant bullet train, roller coaster ride of a movie the filmmakers took us all on was more than welcome.

Also despite its fast pace and chalk full of full throttle action I still managed to cry at various points in the movie when it came to those great emotional beats. They were all executed really well for me (save maybe the Pa Kent tornado scene...it was sad and it worked but perhaps a BIT more time on that could have been good)

SPOILER**************













I am so happy that General Zod and Superman battled in a blood splattering guy wrenching toe to toe battle and that he died however I wish he had a much cooler death. Same with the troops/Faora et all on the ship. Needed a much cooler explosion in my opinion. It was kind of underwhelming like the way Nero's ship was destroyed in the Star Trek movie. As for Zods neck snap outro, it was done well and I loved Kal-Els reaction to it, very emotional but also not satisfying for such a grand and awesome villain.

I wished he got pierced through the chest with Supermans eye lasers as they were fighting on the Wayne satellite in space, & Zod fell allllll the way back down to earth crashing into the Black Zero while he and everyone else aboard blew up in the ship. Something like that, you know?

Anyway, the fear of me hating or even disliking this film is far behind now. There is only love

Such an awesome movie.




<3

 

[N7 Joseph Shepard]

Just saw it a second time... loved it again. Its a great start to a new Superman franchise and I have no major problems with the film at all.

.....HOW!!...I've been trying to book tickets for 3 days now for a second viewing....all freaking sold out

 

[TheFlamingCoco]

I thought it was freaking amazing and EASILY the best DC film so far.

It's funny, but I think this is a very good answer to TA. Superhero spectacle and sci-fi, but with realism and drama.

 

[Matt]

Honestly, I just didn't care for it. It had its pros. For example, Shannon was AMAZING. Cavill surprised me. That being said, I think someone with a little bit more natural charm like Matt Bomer would've served the role better and added some much needed levity to the movie.

Anyway, here are my miscellaneous thoughts:

Chris Meloni and Richard Schiff were absolutely wasted. They played cliches with no real role to sink their teeth into. They could've easily been played by glorified extras.

The sad part is, Meloni's character had more chemistry with Adams than Cavill did. I wouldn't say that this is Cavill and Adams's fault, but rather a result of the script. There is no reason to believe the Clark/Lois romance. They meet, they have a two minute conversation and that is supposed to establish some deep bond? It was almost as if the writers were relying on the idea of Lois Lane and Clark Kent being together, doing the work for them, rather than developing the romance.

The action was a mixed bag. At times it was way too busy. The fight with Zod was amazing though.

Hmm, what else sticks out to me? The Perry/bald guy/Jenny Olsen subplot was ridiculous. It felt so shoehorned in. It felt like a way to kill time in the second act and try to give the viewer an emotional stake in the over-the-top, Transformers-esque action, but to me, it just came off as a cheap way to use 9/11 to pull on people's heart strings and since Perry/bald guy/Jenny Olsen weren't really well developed, I didn't give a damn about their plight so the stakes weren't raised.

I could ***** about Super-Emo, but I won't bother. I didn't like the characterization of Big Blue and I will just leave that there. From emo-child Supe to the heavy handed Messiah metaphor (film writers really need to move on from Donner's Jesus characterization and into the more modern Byrne approach), I just didn't care for the characterization.

I suppose my biggest gripe is, it didn't really seem like a Superman movie. Too many elements that make Superman into Superman were missing. Metropolis didn't even feel like a location in the movie, but rather just a generic place where Snyder could invoke 9/11 allegories. Metropolis should've been a character in the film unto itself, much like Gotham was in BB and TDK. It wasn't. It was just a hollow shell of destruction. Luthor should've been there. People can say he is overplayed and I agree that he is overplayed as the main antagonist....but he is as important to Superman as Lois or the Kents. He is more than just a villain. He is a key supporting character and should've served the Meloni role (not exactly, but with some tweaking). It just didn't feel like Superman. The biggest missing element was the sense of fun and wonder. I don't want to see Superman turned into a whiney emo. People can say that Superman needs to be "human," but I didn't find this interpretation to be more "human." I found it too be overly angsty. I want to see a Superman that is fun and fills me with a child-like sense of awe and wonder. I never had that from this film. Just angst, angst, and more angst. The closest thing was the first flight, but any joy left from that was immediately sucked out. Instead we were left with a bland, angst filled, joyless 2.5 hours.

But at least Shannon was really good. 6/10.

 

[psylockolussus]

Its not about how high the expectation is. Look at TDKR, the expectation was very high and it still ended up as one of the best-reviewed superhero films to date.

People just wants to see a good movie. They could do a low-scale Superman movie with a very compelling and well-told story. They failed at story-telling.

 

[TheFlamingCoco]

'-Matt Bomer would've served the role better and added some much needed levity to the movie.'

He's a good actor but.. :/

 

[Matt]

'-Matt Bomer would've served the role better and added some much needed levity to the movie.'

He's a good actor but.. :/

I stand by it. This movie desperately needed some kind of charm or joy brought to it. It was just so....bland and void of happiness/hope. Bomer just has that charming, reassuring presence. Cavill did a fine job. But he is an actor who fit in perfectly with the tone of the movie, and I don't mean that as a compliment.

 

[rayc1971]

I thought it was freaking amazing and EASILY the best DC film so far.

its not better than the darknight please stop it people getting carried away

 

[Matt]

its not better than the darknight please stop it people getting carried away

I still think Batman 89 is the best DC movie to date. Modern, I'd say Batman Begins. But that is just me.

 

[flickchick85]

Its not about how high the expectation is. Look at TDKR, the expectation was very high and it still ended up as one of the best-reviewed superhero films to date.

People just wants to see a good movie. They could do a low-scale Superman movie with a very compelling and well-told story. They failed at story-telling.

That's because TDKR met those expectations (for the most part). People got what they were expecting to get from it. It was a very Nolan-y Bat-flick with an escalated scope/scale from the previous installment, serving up a fitting conclusion for the trilogy, just like everyone was hoping for.

No one is saying MoS is flawless - it is definitely flawed. Almost everyone agrees though, that this was NOT the movie most people were expecting - for some, that leads to crushing disappointment, while others are perfectly happy with what it actually turned out to be.

 

[Lencho01]

I stand by it. This movie desperately needed some kind of charm or joy brought to it. It was just so....bland and void of happiness/hope. Bomer just has that charming, reassuring presence. Cavill did a fine job. But he is an actor who fit in perfectly with the tone of the movie, and I don't mean that as a compliment.

I personally think Nolan and co. take things way to seriously. Especially when you remember that these characters are initially for children.

When I look back at the trailers and listen to all stuff from Jor-El and Pa Kent about hope, inspiration, and changing the world, I feel like they were selling a different film.

 

[Matt]

I personally think Nolan and co. take things way to seriously. Especially when you remember that these characters are initially for children.

When I look back at the trailers and listen to all stuff from Jor-El and Pa Kent about hope, inspiration, and changing the world, I feel like they were selling a different film.

Bingo! I left the movie just wanting to feel some sort of sense of fun or wonder or joy, because this film was absolutely void of it. Someone needs to tell Chris Nolan that not everything has to be dark and gritty and not every character has to have an existential crisis.

 

[Senator Pleasury]

Honestly, I just didn't care for it. It had its pros. For example, Shannon was AMAZING. Cavill surprised me. That being said, I think someone with a little bit more natural charm like Matt Bomer would've served the role better and added some much needed levity to the movie.

Anyway, here are my miscellaneous thoughts:

Chris Meloni and Richard Schiff were absolutely wasted. They played cliches with no real role to sink their teeth into. They could've easily been played by glorified extras.

The sad part is, Meloni's character had more chemistry with Adams than Cavill did. I wouldn't say that this is Cavill and Adams's fault, but rather a result of the script. There is no reason to believe the Clark/Lois romance. They meet, they have a two minute conversation and that is supposed to establish some deep bond? It was almost as if the writers were relying on the idea of Lois Lane and Clark Kent being together, doing the work for them, rather than developing the romance.

The action was a mixed bag. At times it was way too busy. The fight with Zod was amazing though.

Hmm, what else sticks out to me? The Perry/bald guy/Jenny Olsen subplot was ridiculous. It felt so shoehorned in. It felt like a way to kill time in the second act and try to give the viewer an emotional stake in the over-the-top, Transformers-esque action, but to me, it just came off as a cheap way to use 9/11 to pull on people's heart strings and since Perry/bald guy/Jenny Olsen weren't really well developed, I didn't give a damn about their plight so the stakes weren't raised.

I could ***** about Super-Emo, but I won't bother. I didn't like the characterization of Big Blue and I will just leave that there. From emo-child Supe to the heavy handed Messiah metaphor (film writers really need to move on from Donner's Jesus characterization and into the more modern Byrne approach), I just didn't care for the characterization.

I suppose my biggest gripe is, it didn't really seem like a Superman movie. Too many elements that make Superman into Superman were missing. Metropolis didn't even feel like a location in the movie, but rather just a generic place where Snyder could invoke 9/11 allegories. Metropolis should've been a character in the film unto itself, much like Gotham was in BB and TDK. It wasn't. It was just a hollow shell of destruction. Luthor should've been there. People can say he is overplayed and I agree that he is overplayed as the main antagonist....but he is as important to Superman as Lois or the Kents. He is more than just a villain. He is a key supporting character and should've served the Meloni role (not exactly, but with some tweaking). It just didn't feel like Superman. The biggest missing element was the sense of fun and wonder. I don't want to see Superman turned into a whiney emo. People can say that Superman needs to be "human," but I didn't find this interpretation to be more "human." I found it too be overly angsty. I want to see a Superman that is fun and fills me with a child-like sense of awe and wonder. I never had that from this film. Just angst, angst, and more angst. The closest thing was the first flight, but any joy left from that was immediately sucked out. Instead we were left with a bland, angst filled, joyless 2.5 hours.

But at least Shannon was really good. 6/10.

Agreed on everything. The rate too. Senator Pleasury approves this review.

 

[TheFlamingCoco]

I personally think Nolan and co. take things way to seriously. Especially when you remember that these characters are initially for children.

When I look back at the trailers and listen to all stuff from Jor-El and Pa Kent about hope, inspiration, and changing the world, I feel like they were selling a different film.

I think many GN's are more adult-oriented.

 

[darkslayer101]

Holy ***** just caught the movie
overall solid 9/10 great start to DC universe
Just gonna quickly list my pros and cons and give my thoughts on sequels

Spoiler

My reaction after watching:

Perfect balance of humor, emotion, drama and action

But!
First things first, i can't believe the BS going on with the critics at RT.
What were they expecting? some cheesy slapstick humor, with many tongue and cheek moments?
Superman Freaking Returns has higher rating in RT? wtf
This is freaking Superman and they definitely brought their A game. I would rate it among the top 3
with Avengers and TDK. Easily best movie this year so far. Thought Stark Trek would hold on to that and boy am I wrong.

I was considerably under hyped for this movie until the last few trailers, so this was particularly impressive.

Pros:
- The action was just pure Superman just being Superman, Zack did his homework
- Jor-El was a great character, good usage of Crowe's talent unlike one other character...winkIM3wink!
- cried like three times, like man tears flowing (the tornado scene)
- Supporting characters really stood apart from Cavill.
- I wouldn't say Cavill is the best Superman, but man he fit the role of this outcast and alienated person. His accent was great too
- Did i mention the action sequence? that was just pure fanservice
- I liked how Zod went off, I thought, just like every other, he would be sent off to phantom space or prison but they really did it! Really looking forward to how this impact Supes, since Zod was the only one left of his race
His cry after the battle kinda reminded me of a particular moment in Dexter (TV Show)
- really love the flashback, great character development without wasting time showing his childhood
- How Kal hones in on his powers, also Zod at the end going pro was pretty insanely awesome
- Terraforming was much more terrying and looked more intimidating than alien Invasion from Avengers. I liked how they captured this
feeling with just Fisburne and other 2 characters.
- scale and scope really pulled me in
- chemistry between Kal and Lois was perfect. especially with the ending daily planet scene.
- The level of destruction was crazy. The fight with Zod and terrafroming literally took out a city. how can they easily go back to normal lives with that lol.
- From now on each time the main theme plays, it gives me goosebumps and makes me feel mighty.

Cons:
- Zod was very weak, even in acting, felt underwhelming until when he loses his people then we get to see Shannon at his best.
- Soundtrack was not memorable by itself, but while watching was great. The main theme was just awesome though.
- Krypton part was kinda weak, didn't really feel the threat of distruction apart from the planet blowing up. The counsel looked like
something out of Matrix series.
- The pacing was a bit off
- I find it hard how they are gonna fit the DC universe into this. The scale was so huge and effective, that i wonder we won't be seeing
this scope until like Justice League or Avengers 2. Kinda like how the first Ironman set the bar and the other movies didn't meet it.

Overal Great movie, the 2nd and 3rd act just screams for repeated viewings, the choregraphy was amazing, and I am beyond stoked for a sequel.
Now I am kinda worried for Thor TDW in terms of the action department. If Thor is half as good as MoS in terms of action, I will be satisfied.
This movie has easily the best action sequences in the CBM market in a solo film.

 

[Lencho01]

Bingo! I left the movie just wanting to feel some sort of sense of fun or wonder or joy, because this film was absolutely void of it. Someone needs to tell Chris Nolan that not everything has to be dark and gritty and not every character has to have an existential crisis.

Makes one to ask "Why so serious?"

I think many GN's are more adult-oriented.

Yeah, they now they are because they think to be "real" they have to be more "serious" or "adult" or whatever other words they like to use.

 

[blksuperman2]

Saw TMOS Friday night and loved it. I'm going to put spoiler tags because my review is gonna be really really long. I'll rate it 10/10 but will also point out all of my dislikes and flaws I have w/ it.

Spoiler

Story - This is a story that we've seen before. The start was very good and I loved the alien feel to Krypton. It kinda captured that Star Wars theme of A long time ago in a galaxy far far away. I didn't care for the flashbacks scenes of young Clark growing up because most of the time it stopped the momentum and flow that the film established. The Kents finding little baby Kal-El is just as iconic as the Els placing Kal in the space ship. It should have been shown.

- Superman - Waaaay back when when Cavill was cast in the Justice League movie I never saw him as Superman. He just never had the look to me. After seeing him on the big screen I'm convinced that he IS SUPERMAN. :thumbs up:

- Lois - Much like Cavill I felt that Adams was mis-cast. I'm not gonna go in to detail why I don't care for characters changing race (Perry White) or gender (Olsen) but it also applys to hair color as well. I just need Lois to be a brunette. It may seem silly but it matters to me. That being said I did like this Lois. I've always had a problem w/ how Lois has been protrayed in comics/TV/movies because there's no way that Superman (who could more than likely get any woman he wanted) would even want to be around Lois. Unless they establish that Martha was also demeaning, cold, and callous and those are traits that he likes in a woman then it's never made sense why he'd ever want to be w/ her. For the first time this movie made me believe that Superman would actually fall for Lois. She basically was the first person (outside of his family) that got Superman and I liked that aspect.

- Villians - I was blown away by Faora and thought she was single handedly one of the greatest Superpowered villians ever. When she was beating Supes down it made me think of how awesome a Supes vs Wonder Woman scene would be. They've had some epic battles in comic book and cartoon form but live-action would look amazing too if it looks like what we've gotten here. Man, she really stole the movie for me.

Zod was good to. I argued in the IM3 boards how I don't need to know the motivations behind why a villian does what he does. If you can understand or relate to crazy then that means you're crazy too. Zod's speech at the end that he's done all these crazy things because it's to protect his people was stupid and not needed. He's just a good villian and I liked his craziness. What I didn't like though was how Jor-El was able to defeat him in the beginning of the movie. That made absolutely no sense and made even less sense once they explained how each citizen was breed to all do one job. So how on Earth(Krypton) can a scientist who's never been in a fight beat someone who was breed to not only be an Elite soldier but to lead them. Zod should have also been able to easily defeat Superman in combat too. Supes should have only had an advantage because he was used to Earth's atmosphere because of being on Earth 33yrs longer. That should have been his only advantage.

- Special F/X - I loved the approach they took w/ how to portray superspeed. I liked how Smallville did it by slowing everything around Clark but this movie worked as well. This goes back to my love for Faora. She was moving so fast that at times it looked like she was punching generic soldiers at the same time. The flight scenes were done pretty well too but there were also times when I just thought some of the CGI was awlful. Hopefully for the next film they'll have a bigger budget.

Superpowers - I'm gonna focus more on the villians because how Supes' powers were shown were top notch for me. I just didn't get why the Kryptonians had Superstrength or superjumping ability while in their suits if they couldn't experience all of the other abilities until after their suits were removed. That seemed odd to me. What I did find interesting is how they made it seem like the powers granted by a yellow sun were no big deal. I always wondered why if Kryptonians knew that if they went to Earth they'd have this fantasical powers then why they didn't just come to Earth. It makes sense if their technological advances were so great it would be like us living on the moon. Yeah, you'll be able to lift objects that you wouldn't be able to on Earth and be able to jump ridiculous distances but you'd still just be on the moon and that just not appealing.

Score - No John Williams score and no real iconic theme either. Other than when they were on Krypton I can't recall liking any of the musical arrangments. I'll have to pay more attention to the score when I see this again.

all and all, all of the nitpicks and gripes that I had were far eclisped by the sheer love I have for this film. I'm definitely going to see it again and I never see a film twice in the theater.

 

[Tony Stark]

Bingo! I left the movie just wanting to feel some sort of sense of fun or wonder or joy, because this film was absolutely void of it. Someone needs to tell Chris Nolan that not everything has to be dark and gritty and not every character has to have an existential crisis.

What was strange to me, the one moment in this film where there was some light heartedness, was at the very end where Superman smashes the spy satellite infront of the General's car. That was literally the only thing in that whole bloody film that got a chuckle out of me and it was at the end.

 

[LostSon88]

Ill just say that for myself, in regards to your comment about the lack of an 'iconic score' that I have found myself humming the Hans Zimmer MoS theme quite a few times.