TMOS Reviews Thread - Non Spoiler Review and Discussion - Part 4

[mayo23]

In regards to the negative critics who said there's "too much action"; I don't see how that equals them not wanting any action at all. Like others have said, "balance" is the key word here. Some people just have a lower threshold for sustained amounts of action/violence but it doesn't mean they'd rather not have it at all. I personally thought the final battle in The Avengers dragged a bit or at least almost got to that point. And given the 2h28 run time, I'm sure some of the negative reviews were feeling that some of that time could've been used more on character moments.

 

[GremlinZilla89]

It's A wonderful Life
Blade Runner
Fight Club
Predator
Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas
The Shining
Psycho
Citizen Kane
The Thing
The Outsiders


All films that I can think of that got mixed to negative reviews upon release and are now classics.

Just sayin'. Sometimes critics miss the boat.

 

[sf2]

So... in the bad critic, do they acknowledge cavill as superman? I mean r thry wowed by him?

 

[Ultimatehero]

In regards to the negative critics who said there's "too much action"; I don't see how that equals them not wanting any action at all. Like others have said, "balance" is the key word here. Some people just have a lower threshold for sustained amounts of action/violence but it doesn't mean they'd rather not have it at all. I personally thought the final battle in The Avengers dragged a bit or at least almost got to that point. And given the 2h23 run time, I'm sure some of the negative reviews were feeling that some of that time could've been used more on character moments.

Thing is, from what I hear on here they've also said:

- Too much plot
- Too serious
- Not funny enough

It literally does sound like they wanted Batman & Robin and not like they wanted more character - just more laughs.... it's like critics are trying to doom us to the mid 90s superhero fare... studios luckily won't ever listen to critics or we'd get Batman & Robin again.

 

[GremlinZilla89]

It's also funny they praised the Nolan films for what they are criticizing MOS for: It's serious tone and it's large spectacle.

 

[blumatic]

Big difference between Avengers and MOS is that the characters in the Avengers interacted with each other the entire film while Man of Steel lacked a bit in that category. That's one of the top things I didn't like about the film.

The Avengers were a team confined in closely together to make something happen. Superman is alone.

 

[GremlinZilla89]

And really, outside of Clark/Kal-El, I don't need any character development. These movies don't need to show us what everybody had for breakfast. Leave the exploring of the side characters for the sequels.

 

[RoughNTumble]

we have a feeling we might care more about the action scenes given that we're already a fan of the character ioo

 

[Spidergurl4302]

I'd say character development, which is also a criticism that's being levied at MOS for lack of it. Trust me i'm no huge Avengers fan but i can see what most people liked in it, critics and audience.

Same here. I think people are forgetting the Avengers had the advantage of having five separate movies before it which established the characters. So by the time the Avengers movie came out the GA and critics already felt connected to the characters, which is probably why they didn't mind all the action and ate up any of the character interactions.

 

[The Albatross]

Domestically it should threaten box office records Should definitely have a shot at dethroning Iron Man 3 as the top grossing film for the year

 

[blumatic]

And really, outside of Clark/Kal-El, I don't need any character development. These movies don't need to show us what everybody had for breakfast. Leave the exploring of the side characters for the sequels.

Thank you. Especially in an origin film. I mean lets get to know the main character and what built him. Critics are praising the peformances of Costner, Lane and Crowe. Thats a good thing since they are the fabric of Superman. Lois, Perry White, and everyone else can wait.

 

[sf2]

Maybe superman should be a little lighter. Which I would agree.

Btw... I love the scene in SII where the 3 kryptonians found out superman's weakness that he cares about the people. Then they use it against him. I hope to see this in MOS.

 

[Princess Denise]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MG4YE0w3UMs

^Jahns review. Haven't watched it yet, but I trust this guy immensely.

Funny, he seems to have the common criticisms (choppy in the beginning, repetitive action scenes), but he seemed to really enjoy it.

 

[sf2]

Domestically it should threaten box office records Should definitely have a shot at dethroning Iron Man 3 as the top grossing film for the year

Gut feeling?

 

[The Roach]

Funny, he seems to have the common criticisms (choppy in the beginning, repetitive action scenes), but he seemed to really enjoy it.

I know. Except instead of just slamming the movie as "bad" he is rather unphased by it. He's a comic book guy, so hearing his opinion is really good news to me.

Honestly, what I want (and have always wanted, since the first trailer) for Man of Steel on the character side of things is for the Clark/Kal dichotomy to be explored. I want to see his inner conflict to integrate with society and to find a purpose in life. That is how I relate to Superman, and it's what has made him my favorite hero.

On the spectacle side of things, I want this movie to slap Superman Returns across the face. Honestly, you could have made the movie just be one long action sequence with some breaks for Kal's character to develop and I'd be happy with it.

From what I'm hearing, both my expectations are to be met (if not exceeded).

 

[GreenKToo]

listening to my new soundtrack...pure joy, especially flight.

 

[JangoNate]

Was reading through the positives n RT and smirked. I know it was said earlier, but I wanted to bring up again the irony that we were hating on Devin Faraci before the reviews came out and he came out positive. Instead we're surprised by critics like Roeper.

 

[BatLobster]

Yeah, ironically Devin was spot-on when he warned that there were a lot of negative reviews waiting to come out. And yet his was a mixed but overall positive. Go figure.

 

[GremlinZilla89]

The thing I loved hearing in Jahns review was how human Kal-El felt in his reactions to things. That is a big plus for me. That is the one thing that is essential for audiences to really grasp the character, if they can relate to how he is feeling.

 

[mayo23]

Thing is, from what I hear on here they've also said:

- Too much plot
- Too serious
- Not funny enough

It literally does sound like they wanted Batman & Robin and not like they wanted more character - just more laughs.... it's like critics are trying to doom us to the mid 90s superhero fare... studios luckily won't ever listen to critics or we'd get Batman & Robin again.

I have not seen the film so I can not say for certain what each of those criticisms mean. But from what I gather by reading the reviews is that;

- too much plot = too much time focused on little details, too much spoken exposition, not enough visual narrative (essentially the caveats and weaknesses of Nolan's involvement)
- too serious = virtually no attempt at levity for most of the film (which you have to admit films like BB and TDK had their moments) = not funny enough

But in all honesty, it seems like the illusion that this MOS is a great cbm/film and the hype surrounding it is being broken by a few negative reviews when it shouldn't at all. Comic book fans, fanboys and casual movie goers have the usual expectations of what they want from a superhero film with spectacle usually being at the top of the list. As far as I can tell, that's what they'll get in spades. But all I'm seeing are a few people trying to rationalize criticisms into overblown statements like critics wanting a campy film like Batman & Robin again. I don't think that's true. Critics have their own opinions; sometimes their opinions will align with yours, sometimes they won't.

 

[Str8 Rippin]

I'm still praying for a crawl back up to 75% or so.

 

[slimshady247]

I'm still praying for a crawl back up to 75% or so.

I'm sticking with my prediction of 70-73%.

 

[The Roach]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esKPE3v0ZX8

Just a little thing to restore the hype train for those put off a bit by the review scores.

Come on guys, we can do this. Regardless of the reviews, all we need to do is make Superman relevant again. Make him a box office hit, and have people take him seriously. Send this video to whoever, whatever, wherever.

 

[The Albatross]

A gut feeling and a hunch. A hundred million is assured, but with proper word of mouth amongst the general audience Saturday could be a HUGE day in terms of ticket sales.

 

[Herolee10]

The only thing that I hope is that this film doesn't end up being viewed by many like how people view Transformers 1, hell, let alone the latter two films in that franchise, where it makes great money and has great action scenes, but falls flat on a lot of other areas with people.