TMOS Review & Speculation Thread (Spoilers) - Part 3

[Enriquespy]

Clumsy and with some awkward lines, it stumbled and fall, but in the end it joined us in the stars.

Awesome film, loved it, imperfections and all.

Powerfull, emotional and fast, a great start to a hopefully even better sequel.

What can I say, I'm realistic, but also a lover, not a nitpicker.

 

[Tony Stark]

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.

I liked the main theme (the one from the trailer), the rest of the music was underwhelming to me.

 

[JangoNate]

Audience at my theatre chuckled at a few parts like...

Spoiler

the lumber through the truck, some of Lois' lines when she was introduced, Superman regaining his powers on Black Zero and removing the restraints with an "I'm going to kick your @$$" look, Superman flying through the mountain

...well there were a few more parts, but the point is I saw more levity than some let on, but maybe I'm easy to entertain.

 

[Lightning Strykez!]

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.

This. All of it.

I saw the film a second time because I really want to like it. But towards the end, I just felt...tired. It's an exhausting film and Superman shouldn't feel that way.

 

[BadrHari]

Cons:

-Amy Adams was not a good Lois Lane. I really wanted Olivia Wilde, but thats just my casting choice.

-Perry White barely in the movie, very little scenes
-A little too much fast paced action where you couldn't breathe. At the end, I wanted the movie to sort of let the audience breathe and build up a giant climax. And sometimes the action went so fast, I couldn't keep up with what was going on. Who's punching who ??

-Too much Military / Superman relationship and not enough Lois / Superman relationship. Lois and Superman just sort of kiss at the end out of nowhere. There was no build up. There were no scenes to indicate Lois liked Superman in 'that way'. Instead, the movie focused on her being more interested in his character than falling in love.
-I don't like how Russell Crowe reappeared so realistically. It fooled the audience into thinking he was still alive. I liked how in 1978, Jor El (Marlon Brando) was just a hologram recording. But it was fun the way he helped when he hacked the ship.

-Not a whole lot of character development....at all... The only thing Superman learned was where he came from and that scene was like a minute long when he found the abandoned Krypton ship in Canada.

-A lot confusing stuff, the whole phantom zone thing... and i still have no idea why he needed his old ship to bomb Zod's ship. And was there two ships? I don't know ...

-Zod damaged 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 dollars worth of property. Levelled everything... It will be silly in a Man of Steel sequel that the city will be rebuilt that quickly. I mean Zod kind of went independence day on Metropolis with that ship. No way that can be rebuilt in time for a sequel.

-The B.S. talk of realism. I don't know why the filmmakers kept saying "oh, this will be more realistic version". I didn't see any realism! The opening scene was flying dragons.

-The 'FEEL' of the film was real gritty.... This is hard to type out, but movies leave a certain feel to the audience. Superman Returns had a good 'feel' to it, but sucked as a movie. It's hard to explain, but if you've seen enough movies, then you know what I'm talking about. I guess its called 'atmopshere' of the film.

-I kind of wished the film wasn't a series of flashbacks, but in chrono order the way 1978 was. I know they want to be different, but Superman Returns had a few flashbacks as young Kent and it slowed the movie down. The flashbacks were important in this one, but I didn't think it needed to be this way.

-Stop showing the former bully who's at I-Hop. Too much of him and it was pointless...

-No after credit scene with Joseph Gordon Levitt....COME ON WARNER BROTHERS / DC!!! I wanted this rumor to be true just to get people talking. Have they learned NOTHING from Marvel Avengers on how to get an audience talking and anticipating your next project for that super big weekend ?!?!?


Pros:

-Henry Cavill. Got to hand it to him, he acted circles around Brandon Routh. I thought it was a great Superman.

-Hans Zimmer score...holy *beep* him as a composer and thought the score was one of the BEST parts.
-Loved the way he became Clark Kent with the glasses at the very end. That was a moment we were all used to, but to get to see it after all the battles was a breathe of fresh air.

-It was great the way they solved the Superman was Clark Kent storyline with Lois. Have her find out BEFORE he is the lovable goofy Clark Kent at the Daily Planet. He didnt have a 'disguise'.
-The whole beginning Krypton stuff was awesome. Probably my favorite part.

-The death of Zod. Come on, that was a perfect way to end him.

-Antje Traue stole the show as Zod's right hand woman!! She was bad ass and sexy as hell..

-PUNCHES!!! FINALLY!!!! The old superman films , he never punched anything... Freaking Bryan SInger screwed up Superman Returns - 2 hour and 40 minute film with not a single punch thrown!!! But in this movie - he beats the *beep* out of things.

-Zod. Yes, ZOD! I think Michael Shannon did an excellent job. I loved the character. And we got a SUPER VILLAIN that was not Lex Luthor. Superman Returns dropped the ball on this one.

-I like how Zod was planning on making Earth the new Krypton. The Luthor plan in Superman Returns made no sense and was silly, but Zod's plan in this one made sense and I liked it.

-I thought Russell Crowe, Diane Lane and Kevin Costner all were really good in this. I liked Laurence Fishbourne, but he was barely in the movie.

-Zod vs. Superman was bad ass fight at the last scene. I mean, when Zod speaks about Superman killing his people and that he is a warrior, that was freaking cool...

-Lois hunting for Clark was a good storyline and I enjoyed that.

-Really enjoyed seeing Zod adjust his senses to planet Earth. It gave Superman an upperhand on defeating them and I thought that was well written. And once he got used to the planet, it made Zod more of a threat.



Overall:

B+

 

[chaseter]

This movie was not good at all. It starts off with Jor-El riding a ****ing Avatar dragon. Holy **** was that stupid and pointless. No one also cares Snyder that a alien monster is roaring at the sky when Kal-El was born. Jesus Christ this movie lacked subtlety. Clark is sinking in the ocean after saving nubs...WHY IS THERE A ****ing WHALE AND A BABY WHALE? Here are the highlights of awful:

Lois wearing jeggings in -40 sub arctic temperatures and climbing on the side of an ice cliff?

The entire destruction of Metropolis where Clark and Lois kiss on the ashes of millions dead.

The over the top-ness of everything. I never thought I would think Superman Returns was actually a better movie. What does gravity have to do with terraforming the atmosphere and who designed a drymounting machine that makes you have to be on opposite sides of the world? Why did Superman fly all the way to drymounting Brazil when he was right there next to the main machine that powers the terraforming machine?

This movie was disjointed and felt like a fat kid seeing boobs for the first time. The script was not good. It had no flow and everything was going back and forth. The flashbacks had no connection to what was going on it was stupid. He sees a short bus so he remembers that time he saved the kids on the short bus? Genius story telling.

Amy Adams sucked.

No one gives a crap about any of the Bugle cast.

Millions and millions of people die.

Superman kills Zod when all he had to do was idk...turn his body slightly?

Shaky cam is also awful.

We don't need to see Krypton at all. Give that story during the intro credits. Snyder spent 1/5 of the movie investing us into characters that don't matter. Clark's childhood however is very important and you need to really show the interactions between him and the Kents. This movie could have really used a scene where Clark was sitting at the dinner table with Ma and Pa Kent. All of their interactions felt rushed and glossed over. I should have known this movie was in trouble when Jor-El was riding a dragon within 10 or so minutes. There was just hardly no emotional investment into most of these characters and them being in mortal danger meant nothing to me because all of that time was wasted on exposition. Superman was also never really in mortal danger. I don't think he ever got a scratch or tore a piece of his suit.

There were friggin explosions when Zod and Superman were flying through buildings.


What was good? The costumes. Pa Kent's death. Some of the action when it wasn't over the top stupid. Some of the visuals. Zod and Faora. Henry Cavill is a good actor and has a lot of emotion in his face. He's also devishly handsome and not submissive looking like Brandon Routh.

Movie felt like too many people had their hands in the pot because it lacks vision and control. That seems like an obvious Snyder fault but I think Goyer fugged up the script a lot too. It also felt like it sort of lacked some of the Snyder flair as there wasn't a single slow motion shot when that could have been awesome.

2/4

This post was brought to you buy IHOP and Sears.

 

[Robin91939]

This film is even better the second time. It is truly amazing. Went from an 8/10 to a 9/10 with a second viewing.

And with the complaints of product placement -- I don't even care. The film made its budget back in one day of release because it made $100 million. After the underwhelming performance of Superman Returns (a film that I love) they wanted to guarantee themselves a profit with the product placement, sponsorship, partnerships etc.

-R

 

[Poni_Boy]

Not sure why people think product placement money attributes to box office gross. That goes to the marketing costs of the film, which easily topped $100 million.

the Walmart screening was 100% B.O. Tie-ins and contracts aren't.

 

[Micromind]

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

This is where Avengers scored better with critics and general audience, no scene showing falling buildings, no death and destruction, it provided uplifting tone, people and critics want to see movies like that.

 

[Project862006]

This movie was not good at all. It starts off with Jor-El riding a ****ing Avatar dragon. Holy **** was that stupid and pointless. No one also cares Snyder that a alien monster is roaring at the sky when Kal-El was born. Jesus Christ this movie lacked subtlety. Clark is sinking in the ocean after saving nubs...WHY IS THERE A ****ing WHALE AND A BABY WHALE? Here are the highlights of awful:

Lois wearing jeggings in -40 sub arctic temperatures and climbing on the side of an ice cliff?

The entire destruction of Metropolis where Clark and Lois kiss on the ashes of millions dead.

The over the top-ness of everything. I never thought I would think Superman Returns was actually a better movie. What does gravity have to do with terraforming the atmosphere and who designed a drymounting machine that makes you have to be on opposite sides of the world? Why did Superman fly all the way to drymounting Brazil when he was right there next to the main machine that powers the terraforming machine?

This movie was disjointed and felt like a fat kid seeing boobs for the first time. The script was not good. It had no flow and everything was going back and forth. The flashbacks had no connection to what was going on it was stupid. He sees a short bus so he remembers that time he saved the kids on the short bus? Genius story telling.

Amy Adams sucked.

No one gives a crap about any of the Bugle cast.

Millions and millions of people die.

Superman kills Zod when all he had to do was idk...turn his body slightly?

Shaky cam is also awful.

We don't need to see Krypton at all. Give that story during the intro credits. Snyder spent 1/5 of the movie investing us into characters that don't matter. Clark's childhood however is very important and you need to really show the interactions between him and the Kents. This movie could have really used a scene where Clark was sitting at the dinner table with Ma and Pa Kent. All of their interactions felt rushed and glossed over. I should have known this movie was in trouble when Jor-El was riding a dragon within 10 or so minutes. There was just hardly no emotional investment into most of these characters and them being in mortal danger meant nothing to me because all of that time was wasted on exposition. Superman was also never really in mortal danger. I don't think he ever got a scratch or tore a piece of his suit.

There were friggin explosions when Zod and Superman were flying through buildings.


What was good? The costumes. Pa Kent's death. Some of the action when it wasn't over the top stupid. Some of the visuals. Zod and Faora. Henry Cavill is a good actor and has a lot of emotion in his face. He's also devishly handsome and not submissive looking like Brandon Routh.

Movie felt like too many people had their hands in the pot because it lacks vision and control. That seems like an obvious Snyder fault but I think Goyer fugged up the script a lot too. It also felt like it sort of lacked some of the Snyder flair as there wasn't a single slow motion shot when that could have been awesome.

2/4

This post was brought to you buy IHOP and Sears.

 

[rayc1971]

Not sure why people think product placement money attributes to box office gross. That goes to the marketing costs of the film, which easily topped $100 million.

the Walmart screening was 100% B.O. Tie-ins and contracts aren't.

exactly! I never heard this stuff for a movie before this movie don't get why its being thrown in the boxoffice grosses!they ignore the maketing costs like they don't matter

 

[Antithesis_SD]

Just saw it again. The theater was packed full of people with maybe 10 empty seats in the whole theater. The crowd seemed very responsive. When the movie ended, most of the theater applauded. I was surprised, because it was a general public audience, not a premiere super-fan deal.

I enjoyed the movie just as much the second time. My rating of 8.5/10 still stands.

 

[Afrokin]

Goyer is a great idea guy, but leave the script writing to people who actually write good coherent scriots and know how to illustrate romance, pain, anguish, subtlety etc without having that awkward "I AM DIALOG" feel

 

[Poni_Boy]

exactly! I never heard this stuff for a movie before this movie don't get why its being thrown in the boxoffice grosses!they ignore the maketing costs like they don't matter

I think it's the fault of the media for that ignorance. You only ever see two figures: Box office gross and production costs. It goes much deeper than that. Marketing and distribution for a movie like this (i.e. expanded 3D release) adds another $100+ million. More writers should specify that when they report on figures.

 

[Afrokin]

This is where Avengers scored better with critics and general audience, no scene showing falling buildings, no death and destruction, it provided uplifting tone, people and critics want to see movies like that.

we do? hence why The Dark Knight did so well? The Last Airbender had an uplifting tone, but that movie was atrocious and people DIDNT like it. you can't speak for everyone.

Empire strikes back, one of the most acclaimed movies of all time ended on a sour note and was very dark...it was loved. Avengers did well because the average person today has a short attention span and gets "bored" when movies are fleshed out stories and not romantic COMEDY fests like what high ranked superheroes of late have been. smh. If it ain't got comedy, they usually hate on it, but MOS deserved most it's critic reviews as it missed the emotional barrier by a long shot.

 

[Afrokin]

This movie was not good at all. It starts off with Jor-El riding a ****ing Avatar dragon. Holy **** was that stupid and pointless. No one also cares Snyder that a alien monster is roaring at the sky when Kal-El was born. Jesus Christ this movie lacked subtlety. Clark is sinking in the ocean after saving nubs...WHY IS THERE A ****ing WHALE AND A BABY WHALE? Here are the highlights of awful:

Lois wearing jeggings in -40 sub arctic temperatures and climbing on the side of an ice cliff?

The entire destruction of Metropolis where Clark and Lois kiss on the ashes of millions dead.

The over the top-ness of everything. I never thought I would think Superman Returns was actually a better movie. What does gravity have to do with terraforming the atmosphere and who designed a drymounting machine that makes you have to be on opposite sides of the world? Why did Superman fly all the way to drymounting Brazil when he was right there next to the main machine that powers the terraforming machine?

This movie was disjointed and felt like a fat kid seeing boobs for the first time. The script was not good. It had no flow and everything was going back and forth. The flashbacks had no connection to what was going on it was stupid. He sees a short bus so he remembers that time he saved the kids on the short bus? Genius story telling.

Amy Adams sucked.

No one gives a crap about any of the Bugle cast.

Millions and millions of people die.

Superman kills Zod when all he had to do was idk...turn his body slightly?

Shaky cam is also awful.

We don't need to see Krypton at all. Give that story during the intro credits. Snyder spent 1/5 of the movie investing us into characters that don't matter. Clark's childhood however is very important and you need to really show the interactions between him and the Kents. This movie could have really used a scene where Clark was sitting at the dinner table with Ma and Pa Kent. All of their interactions felt rushed and glossed over. I should have known this movie was in trouble when Jor-El was riding a dragon within 10 or so minutes. There was just hardly no emotional investment into most of these characters and them being in mortal danger meant nothing to me because all of that time was wasted on exposition. Superman was also never really in mortal danger. I don't think he ever got a scratch or tore a piece of his suit.

There were friggin explosions when Zod and Superman were flying through buildings.


What was good? The costumes. Pa Kent's death. Some of the action when it wasn't over the top stupid. Some of the visuals. Zod and Faora. Henry Cavill is a good actor and has a lot of emotion in his face. He's also devishly handsome and not submissive looking like Brandon Routh.

Movie felt like too many people had their hands in the pot because it lacks vision and control. That seems like an obvious Snyder fault but I think Goyer fugged up the script a lot too. It also felt like it sort of lacked some of the Snyder flair as there wasn't a single slow motion shot when that could have been awesome.

2/4

This post was brought to you buy IHOP and Sears.

for the most part I agree. I missed that "Snyder" flare. It's like hiring John Woo for a movie and stating...no slow mo. I think Snyder was possibly frustrated and this wasn't HIS baby, but everyone elses making sure it went their way, but at the end if anything went wrong u get "Snyder is a hack" but when it goes right u get "Nolan did it again" smh...

Honestly I'd have rathered Nolan wrote the movie or JJ abrams and let SNyder loose. I did miss some of Snyder's flare, but I hated some of the videogame looking action that took me out of the serious tone it intended

 

[sf2]

This. All of it.

I saw the film a second time because I really want to like it. But towards the end, I just felt...tired. It's an exhausting film and Superman shouldn't feel that way.

Exhausting???
R u watching SR?
It is so pumped up n overwhelming in the end. Especially u see the kid in heroic pose n the mild manner reporter clark kent finally!

 

[Micromind]

we do? hence why The Dark Knight did so well? The Last Airbender had an uplifting tone, but that movie was atrocious and people DIDNT like it. you can't speak for everyone.

Empire strikes back, one of the most acclaimed movies of all time ended on a sour note and was very dark...it was loved. Avengers did well because the average person today has a short attention span and gets "bored" when movies are fleshed out stories and not romantic COMEDY fests like what high ranked superheroes of late have been. smh. If it ain't got comedy, they usually hate on it, but MOS deserved most it's critic reviews as it missed the emotional barrier by a long shot.

RT ratings for Avengers and MOS speak for themselves (both featured Alien Invasion), also bleak tone and realism (read death and destruction) are major complaints from critics.

Personally speaking, I liked the movie.

Edit: They also wanted more humour, maybe Zod should have shouted "Kneel" in Germany, just like Loki did.

 

[Senator Pleasury]

Exhausting???
R u watching SR?
It is so pumped up n overwhelming in the end. Especially u see the kid in heroic pose n the mild manner reporter clark kent finally!

I don't have a clue why would Clark play with a cape around the neck in a world where superheroes don't exist (as he is to be the very first one). Also I would have loved the mild-mannered Clark but what's great about him starting at the Planet was that Lois is in love with Superman but thinks Clark's the opposite of the superhero, which was ruined before we could see it.

 

[sf2]

I don't have a clue why would Clark play with a cape around the neck in a world where superheroes don't exist (as he is to be the very first one). Also I would have loved the mild-mannered Clark but what's great about him starting at the Planet was that Lois is in love with Superman but thinks Clark's the opposite of the superhero, which was ruined before we could see it.

Maybe they do have cartoon with hero in cape?

I am all ready to move on to see the new development of their relationship.

See, we have already let go of the red briefs. ;-)

U can always rewatch C nL the tv series.

 

[Project862006]

or maybe his has distant memories of jor el with a cape on before he is sent off

 

[jakinj]

I don't know what the hell all the critics were smoking... Man of Steel was fn awesome

 

[blksuperman2]

I actually thought they were going to go the "Smallville" route and establish that there was a popular kids comic called "Warrior Angel" and he was wearing the cape as a nod to that but in the context of the movie that scene didn't make sense. It didn't really bother me though.

 

[sf2]

I don't know what the hell all the critics were smoking... Man of Steel was fn awesome

Perhaps because he is superman. He should be perfect. There r plotholes. There shouldn't be building falling n people dying. He suppose to do this this n that. :-(

 

[BlueLantern]

Death and destruction isn't a problem if it actually FEELS like death and destruction. Here it just felt like CGI stuff falling over with no emotional context to any of it.

I watched the film again last night. I stand by my feelings. The first hour and a half or so? Until when he fights Faora and Nam-Ek? That first hour and a half is great.

It's got flaws, sure, but it overcomes them by really stating the case for a strong character driven film. Then it loses its **** and becomes Kryptonians vs Buildings.

The amount of times I nodded my head in disdain at a falling helicopter perfectly poised for Superman to come in and grab like a boss or a building collapses whilst Superman's busy just punching Zod through another one was ridiculous.

People who've loved the film can come in with the response of 'well that's to prove Superman can't be everywhere' but consider that such a feeling isn't conveyed in any way at all. Instead Superman's just depicted is inconsiderate of these situations as opposed to conflicted about his inability to save people.

There's a few occasions where Superman gets punched and flies off-screen for a while. It's followed by a structure collapsing/plane crashing/something devastating happening and Superman just stays off screen. He then comes in a while later with the overused cannonball-into-a-Kryptonian-to-fly-them-off-screen move.

Why not show Superman at least once rising from the ground, beaten and bruised but seeing someone in danger immediately and pushing himself to help? Screw that. Focus on 'reality' by showing more buildings/planes/world engines crashing.

This stuff is compounded by the fact that the US Army is depicted as a group of deliberators not unlike the council on Krypton. They send in air strikes to blow Nam-Ek/Faora/Clark up but didn't consider to help the civilians on the ground.

Considering the penchant Kryptonians have for flying through buildings or throwing folks into them you might think they'd take steps to protect people. Same drill on Metropolis. Send in the air strike but **** the folk at ground level, they've got Captain America/Hawkeye/Black Widow to help! Oh wait, they don't.

And this is really the problem all over for the final act and even before as far as Superman himself is concerned. Sure, in the broad strokes of things he's 'saving' people, but it's not like he can do anything else. The real Superman is a proactive hero who literally patrols the city looking to snuff out trouble at any turn. No job is too small for him and no challenge is ignored. That's what makes him super.

Looking at the casual disdain for innocent civilians and public property means he needs Ra's Al-Ghul to teach him a vital lesson. 'Always mind your surroundings'.