What are your complaints? What would you do differently? *SPOILERS* - Part 1

[Batmannerism]

Thanks for the comment.

Actually, regarding one and two...the only thing that I really wanted more of was a better looking "CGI background".

As I mentioned above, when we saw Superman and Zod flying throughout Metropolis, I wish that they would have used the type of colorful background like you see in the picture of Iron Man as their CGI background instead of the gloomy and dark one that we got in the film.

And Idk why, but it just felt so weird to see them fighting on a street where nothing was real at all..not the street..the extras...or buildings...all green screen and floor. I think it felt weird because Snyder has used so much "on-set" location for most of the film before this that it just felt like it didn't belong there.

It didn't bug me so much, but I know what you mean. Sometimes you see a location that's all CGI, and something in your head just goes " That's not real." That was something that occurred to me about the StarWars prequels. Whatever Del Toro did in Pacific Rim really worked, maybe it was because, as you suggest, they used a lot of colour in the Hong Kong urban battle scenes.

The bit of the first Hobbit movie that I was in (for all of 7 seconds) used a ton of green screen, even if I hadn't seen all the green screens when it was being filmed, when I saw it on the big screen I would still have known it was fake (well, okay, besides being in Middle Earth, but the thing is
that when they use real locations down here, they look amazing, and when they use total CGI environment it looks pretty, but something's slightly wrong about it).

Anyway, maybe part of what makes the battle of Smallville such an awesome sequence is that they use a real location, and then augment it with CGI.

What did you think about Krypton ? Personally, I thought it was the one of the best alien worlds in any film. At least as good as Avatar - but I thought the use of colours was fantastic, you really get the sense that it's a dying world. If you watch the flying scenes in slow mo, the incredible detail of the city is really impressive.

Especially the bit where you see Black Zero descending over the council
chamber, against the background of the huge Kryptonian sun. You see it on the big screen and you feel like you're there.

Love that bit where Jor El comes racing out of the council chamber and stops and stares at the full scale civil war has broken out. I call that bit "Sh#$ gets real on Krypton."

Anyway, I haven't heard anyone complain about Krypton (or Jor El for that matter). So I will assume that there's some consensus that Snyder got that bit 100% right - taking into account your comment about the armour, which is fair. I'm really glad that they didn't go anywhere near the crystal technology from Donner ( which had a big influence of the comics) and did
something original with Krypton.

cheers.

 

[sf2]

Ya. Krypton looks fantastic.
But crystal looks magical n futuristic. It wouldn't go dated.

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

Ya. Krypton looks fantastic.
But crystal looks magical n futuristic. It wouldn't go dated.

I know you are being sarcastic, but as somebody that adores MOS... Yeah I think Donner and the production design crew of SUPES' 1978 had a good idea about that. Anyway, that Superman film is more the fantasy/fairy tale aspect of the character. MOS is the mythological/scifi Hercules side of Superman.

 

[smallville fan]

Man of Steel had two dudes punching each other without ever really getting hurt until one of them murdered the other.

The fact that it was like that reflected just how relentless Zod was and showed that he would never stop a lot like when this guy came to town:

It showed that they were evenly matched.

The reason Superman actively saving people while Zod tries to kill him would make the fight more interesting is because it would introduce tension and stakes into the fight. The fight as we got it was two indestructible people punching each other for five minutes and looking no worse for the wear because of it right up until the moment one killed the other. It had little tension up until that moment. Bane and Batman are different because A) Earlier in the film we saw Bane beat the **** out of Batman in a pretty one sided fight, so there's a boxing movie comeback thing going on, and B) They're just two non super dudes and every punch thrown feels like it hurts and could kill either one of them.

Having Superman bob and weave to save civilians during the fight would have made the fight much more dynamic and motivated, especially if he failed at least once. That would have only contributed to the notion or ratcheting up the tension and desperation for Superman in the fight.

If Superman broke off from the fight, what would a guy like Zod who literally has nothing to lose would end up doing? Part of being Superman is that he's forced to triage his obstacles. Taking out Zod should take a much bigger precedence.

 

[sf2]

I think it's understandable. We were so longing to see superman doing some saving deeds physically during the last fight. U know something like the matrix... scooping people up from dangers...
It would put a smile to many faces.

 

[BH/HHH]

Superman couldn't break away from that fight. The second he swoops down to save some people (who may have not even been there in the first place) Zod would be killing others. Its as simple as that really.

 

[Alex_Spider]

My biggest gripes are:

1. Mutated colour palette for the film
2. llens flare orgy
3. alien invasion cliche
4. The total absence of a traditional FOS, with the servant robots and all
5. generic armoured design of the evil Kryptonians.
6. Lack of magic and charm, that you get when you watch the Donner movies.
7. hologram concept for Jor El. I mean come on, a hologram that walks like a living person? That's just too much and takes away from the drama that he is long gone dead.
8. No trunks. Nuff said.

 

[sf2]

Superman couldn't break away from that fight. The second he swoops down to save some people (who may have not even been there in the first place) Zod would be killing others. Its as simple as that really.

i got that. actually i would love to see that happen. superman managed to save some but indirectly got others killed by Zod because he broke away from the fight. the complaint on the zod killing will be much lesser. but then again. it will rise another complaint. how could superman not save all of them? he is freaking superman!!! it's a big screw up!!!

i guess you just can't please all.

 

[Herolee10]

What did you think about Krypton ? Personally, I thought it was the one of the best alien worlds in any film. At least as good as Avatar - but I thought the use of colours was fantastic, you really get the sense that it's a dying world. If you watch the flying scenes in slow mo, the incredible detail of the city is really impressive.

Especially the bit where you see Black Zero descending over the council
chamber, against the background of the huge Kryptonian sun. You see it on the big screen and you feel like you're there.

Love that bit where Jor El comes racing out of the council chamber and stops and stares at the full scale civil war has broken out. I call that bit "Sh#$ gets real on Krypton."

Anyway, I haven't heard anyone complain about Krypton (or Jor El for that matter). So I will assume that there's some consensus that Snyder got that bit 100% right - taking into account your comment about the armour, which is fair. I'm really glad that they didn't go anywhere near the crystal technology from Donner ( which had a big influence of the comics) and did
something original with Krypton.

cheers.

I really enjoyed how Krypton came off, but then again, that's not surprising considering that WETA were the ones primarily responsible for that section of the film.lol

As you said, I'm glad that we got a Krypton where it wasn't an ice/crystal like planet.

If anything, I would have enjoyed it if we got to see some of the streets/regular citizens of Krypton on film, along with a sequence of seeing people reacting to the horror of the planet blowing up.

 

[Batmannerism]

I really enjoyed how Krypton came off, but then again, that's not surprising considering that WETA were the ones primarily responsible for that section of the film.lol

As you said, I'm glad that we got a Krypton where it wasn't an ice/crystal like planet.

If anything, I would have enjoyed it if we got to see some of the streets/regular citizens of Krypton on film, along with a sequence of seeing people reacting to the horror of the planet blowing up.

Hmmm...personally, I quite liked the image of Lara standing there quietly calmly resigned to her fate as the planet is exploding around her.

In one of the numerous versions of Superman the Movie, there's an extended sequence of Krypton's destruction, which for me got old really fast. I liked the way Snyder portrayed Krypton's doom, tragic, but mercifully quick and final.

But that's just personal taste.

I didn't realise WETA did the Krypton setting, one of my wife's friends works for WETA as a digital artist. He did a bunch of backgrounds and things for LOTR and the Hobbit, next time I see him I'll have to ask if he did any work on Man of Steel. That's the thing about living in New Zealand, it's a small country, particularly where I live in Wellington, you don't have to go very far before you run into someone who either worked on LOTR or the Hobbit, or some other Peter Jackson movie.

I will say this, WETA take an incredible level of care and detail in every costume or prop. I was a dwarf soldier extra, and there was detailing on the leather straps of my gauntlets - now I don't care what resolution you watched the film at, there was no way you could pick that up, but that kind of effort went into everything. So, yeah, now it's no surprise at all Krypton looked so amazing.

cheers.

 

[Herolee10]

Hmmm...personally, I quite liked the image of Lara standing there quietly calmly resigned to her fate as the planet is exploding around her.

In one of the numerous versions of Superman the Movie, there's an extended sequence of Krypton's destruction, which for me got old really fast. I liked the way Snyder portrayed Krypton's doom, tragic, but mercifully quick and final.

But that's just personal taste.

I didn't realise WETA did the Krypton setting, one of my wife's friends works for WETA as a digital artist. He did a bunch of backgrounds and things for LOTR and the Hobbit, next time I see him I'll have to ask if he did any work on Man of Steel. That's the thing about living in New Zealand, it's a small country, particularly where I live in Wellington, you don't have to go very far before you run into someone who either worked on LOTR or the Hobbit, or some other Peter Jackson movie.

I will say this, WETA take an incredible level of care and detail in every costume or prop. I was a dwarf soldier extra, and there was detailing on the leather straps of my gauntlets - now I don't care what resolution you watched the film at, there was no way you could pick that up, but that kind of effort went into everything. So, yeah, now it's no surprise at all Krypton looked so amazing.

cheers.

Indeed. To be honest, I had met one of the designers from WETA that had worked on the project back in 2012, and he told me then on how the film would have a very alien look when it came to their krypton scenes before we got our first shots at Krypton later on.


And yeah, you can see why I really wish WETA would have been in charge of most of the film.

 

[doobie]

I found it strange wondering if Jor El's hologram actually had a conciousness and emotions, or whether it was like a very advanced type of chat bot that didn't have any inner life and only did a replay of what the real Jor El would do and say. I remember Zod asking him if he had feelings and him not answering. Seemed a little like Rimmer from Red Dwarf.

 

[BH/HHH]

He says he's Jor El's conciousness. I think you just have to accept that Kryptonians can have advanced AI that ineracts with you, which isn't far fetched in this reality when you see the stuff they have created.

 

[Batmannerism]

He says he's Jor El's conciousness. I think you just have to accept that Kryptonians can have advanced AI that ineracts with you, which isn't far fetched in this reality when you see the stuff they have created.

Yeah, if they can transform the environment of entire worlds, and have starships that travel through hyperspace, perhaps downloading your consciousness into a mechanical receptacle isn't so far fetched.....if far fetched even matters in a film about Superman.

I sort of see it as a back-up copy of Jor El's mind and personality, so for me it worked.

One thing I wish they'd done is do the same for Lara, it would have allowed her to appear in subsequent films.

 

[sf2]

ya. selfish Jor-el is. lol.
remember seeing it in the superman batman cafe youtube.

 

[BH/HHH]

Yeah, if they can transform the environment of entire worlds, and have starships that travel through hyperspace, perhaps downloading your consciousness into a mechanical receptacle isn't so far fetched.....if far fetched even matters in a film about Superman.

I sort of see it as a back-up copy of Jor El's mind and personality, so for me it worked.

One thing I wish they'd done is do the same for Lara, it would have allowed her to appear in subsequent films.

I think Doobie nailed it when he compared it to Rimmer in Red Dwarf. He has all of Rimmers memories and his conciseness but Rimmer is still did.

 

[Human Torch]

It really bugged me that they call him "Kal" and not the full "Kal-El".

It doesn't help that Shannon sounds like he's calling him "Cow".

 

[Batmannerism]

It really bugged me that they call him "Kal" and not the full "Kal-El".

It doesn't help that Shannon sounds like he's calling him "Cow".

Director's choice I guess.

Back on Krypton, Jor El calls his wife "Lara", Zod calls Jor El "El"
Lara calls Jor El "Jor" and of course everyone calls General Zod
by his surname.

Sort of looks like in intimate or friendly relations its first name, and in
more formal settings, it's surname. That's how they rolled on Krypton
back in 1980.

The novelization gives a bit of perspective on Jor El and Zod's relationship.
I suppose they might have put more of that into the film - it was obvious that Zod believed Jor El's warnings about Krypton's imminent destruction, but differed on the appropriate measures to preserve its existence.

Does sound a bit like "Cow" when Shannon says it, but not so much when Crowe says it in the scoutship.

When you say that "really bugged " you, does that mean it was one of your chief gripes, or just one that stands out ?

I loved MOS, but there are a couple of lines I would have cut out (if Snyder was taking my calls), that "You're trying to find out where I hang my cape." was a bit too ridiculous, well for me anyway, especially compared to the very straightforward dialogue between Superman and Swanwick.

And of course, when they're trying to start up the escape ship phantom drive. "It's supposed to go in all the way." I'm sure I heard a few groans in the audience there - was Goyer trying to be funny, if so, wrong place, wrong time in the story.

I suppose in STM, the dialogue was goofier, but Reeve carried his lines off brilliantly. "Don't let this put you off of flying Miss, it's still statistically the safest way to travel." if anyone else said that, we'd all be like WTF ? But Reeve's just magic. He might not have had a huge career outside of Superman, but he certainly did create a portrayal of the character that's stood the test of time (to my mind creating one immortal character, as an actor is at least as good as having a huge career with lots of good roles, but none that are as memorable - I guess the same could be said for Mark Hamill).

 

[Thundercrack85]

To be fair, that is sort of arbitrary.

I mean, why do people call Zod... Zod, and not Dru-Zod?

If anything, the movie's way makes sense to me. Zod calling Kal-El, "Kal", is sort of a way of talking down to him, or depending how you view Zod, him being nice / familiar.

So, I actually think the movie did something right here.

 

[Batmannerism]

To be fair, that is sort of arbitrary.

I mean, why do people call Zod... Zod, and not Dru-Zod?

If anything, the movie's way makes sense to me. Zod calling Kal-El, "Kal", is sort of a way of talking down to him, or depending how you view Zod, him being nice / familiar.

So, I actually think the movie did something right here.

I think "Zod" just sounds cooler. Don't know which writer gave him
the first name "Dru" but it doesn't strike me as a particularly great choice.
"Thaal" Sinestro has a nice ring to it (and of course avoids all the somewhat ridiculous alliteration you get in Marvel names....Bruce Banner, Reed Richards, Sue Storm, Matt Murdoch, Peter Parker, you get the idea. In fact Superman is probably one of the few DC characters who has a semi-alliterative name, Clark Kent, but it's not perfect alliteration by any means.

Although these are comic book characters so ridiculous alliteration is no biggie, well Otto Octavius was a bit much for me, but really who cares
- that's a great moment in Spider Man 2, when JJ Jameson muses " Guy named Otto Octavius winds up with eight limbs." it's Raimi taking the piss out of the subject matter. Nice.

Anyway, when you're screaming out a villain's name as he's threatening everything you love, or doing something dastardly and apocalyptic, shouting "you're a monster Dru !" just doesn't seem as cool as "You're a monster Zod !"

You're probably right about Zod making a brief attempt to be friendly.
I suppose he didn't really want to kill Jor El (well not initially, as he wanted him on side), and given that there are only 12 Kryptonians in the universe
that we know of (Zod and his goons number 11, although I might have missed one or two, and of course Kal El) given that Zod was probably in a good mood, since finding Kal represents a chance to carry out his mission and re-start Krypton.

Either way, it worked for me.

 

[Senator Pleasury]

To be fair, that is sort of arbitrary.

I mean, why do people call Zod... Zod, and not Dru-Zod?

If anything, the movie's way makes sense to me. Zod calling Kal-El, "Kal", is sort of a way of talking down to him, or depending how you view Zod, him being nice / familiar.

So, I actually think the movie did something right here.

I think thy call him Zod because of Superman II.

 

[Thundercrack85]

I liked the internal consistency. Full name is rarely used, second part of the hyphenated name is used when you're being formal, first part of the hyphenated name when you're being informal.

 

[Human Torch]

When you say that "really bugged " you, does that mean it was one of your chief gripes, or just one that stands out ?
.

More one that stands out.I think it's because Kal sounds too "human".It could be short for Calvin or something.If Zod had just called Jor-El "Jor",I could understand him being non-formal,and it still sounds "other-worldly".

 

[Batmannerism]

More one that stands out.I think it's because Kal sounds too "human".It could be short for Calvin or something.If Zod had just called Jor-El "Jor",I could understand him being non-formal,and it still sounds "other-worldly".

Not much anyone can do about that, Kal has been Superman's kryptonian first name for decades.

Mind you, Faora refers to him as "Son of El", she's pretty formal (wonder if that factored into their casting choice, a German actress) so she'd probably do that regardless of the situation, considering at the time she's kicking the **** out of him.

 

[Thundercrack85]

I think it mimics our own naming customs, for the most part. When someone is being rude, they will call people by their last names, with no honorific / title.

Maybe back when they were on better terms, Zod and Jor-El were on first name basis.

Personally I prefer them just using the full names, a la TAS.