What are your complaints? What would you do differently? *SPOILERS*

[BH/HHH]

^^^shots fired

 

[Doctor Jones]

I'd inject a bit more humor. The movie was somber already The humor that was used was good, but there were times where I wished for some levity in some of the scenes.

 

[RoughNTumble]

i would get a writer who understands superman, and a director who can tell a story

 

[Asr]

I just re-watched the 3-part pilot of STAS ("The Last Son of Krypton") to refresh my memory of it, and thought it had better pacing and flowed better in a less span of time. It was also way better-written! Heck, I can't help but think that the folks in WB's Animation department (Timm, etc) could probably write a better film script than Goyer did. At least they have years of experience writing Superman stories! I also just re-watched the pilot of Lois & Clark, which admittedly has a terrible Superman, but I still think that show got a lot of CK right (including his relationship with his parents).

I really liked Cavill's Superman persona but his CK fell a bit flat to me compared to the personality in L&C and STAS (and even Smallville - for all of his faults, Welling certainly got the farmboy persona down). If there are sequels, I hope Cavill gets to develop CK more. Hell, the guy was naturally all smiles & charm in all of the TV interviews I saw with him, how come so little of that was translated to the movie screen?

I sure as hell want at least the reporter rivalry with Lois in sequels. That was one of the best aspects of L&C and STAS and would be a great way to add levity & humor, which I think is needed.

 

[BatBat]

I wouldn't change much. My first slight let down was that Crowe didn't execute his farewell to Cal El as well as Marlon Brando did. But I can forgive that understanding that he was probably thinking to be scared sh**less because his planet's about to blow the f**k up and he'd probably want to save his wife too. Russell still imo played a damn fine Jor El.
I honestly felt there was just enough humor in the film to have fun with. They're trying to portray a realistic take on "What if Superman actually lived on earth?". Life ain't always that funny, folks. I would imagine, especially for a guy who KNOWS he's an alien and looking for a purpose.
Cavill played Superman as I hoped he would. He was a great and honorable homage to both comics/animated Superman AND To Reeve's Superman. He wasn't just a guy trying to play a role as Brandon Routh came off in Returns and as Bale came off in the last two Nolan Batman movies. He put himself into the role. He didn't try to forcefully fashion the role around himself as Bale did. To me he was just Superman being Superman.
Yeah some of the action could have been done a lot better. But overall the film let's you feel what it's like to BE Superman. That's one of THE main reasons we want to watch Superhero movies, right? That's why we love them. Not only do we want to see them come to life. We want to BE these heroes.

 

[IncognitoWalrus]

I would place all the flashbacks in chronological order before Clark becomes Superman and shorten fights while lengthening conversation scenes. Also, the Smallville fight would take place before Supes turns himself in (maybe Zod discovers the location of Clark's home by hacking into the world's computers and finds Lois Lane's files on the story). That way the audience has a nice breather.

 

[Supa]

The complete and utter destruction of Metropolis.

Spoiler

I mean, holy crap. I like flashy set pieces, and when your characters are all but invincible, you can spring for a little destruction but they went WAY overboard. Before Zod pops back up it's like "Oh look, Superman and Lois are kissing~"
Yeah, well, MILLIONS ARE DEAD!!! Seriously, it doesn't feel like "Oh Superman won" when he's standing around in the burning wreckage of Metropolis. It looked more like an apocalypse movie at that point. We saw alot of Clark directly saving people, but when he puts on the tights, it's apparently "**** property damage, I'm gonna smash through ALL THE BUILDINGS." And then everyone's like "Superman saved us!"
It doesn't feel like it. Combine that with him killing Zod(!) and he doesn't even seem like a hero at all.
Maybe if he had stopped a building from collapsing, or lifted some rubble off some trapped people, it'd feel like he's saving the day. But he seems totally unconcerned with civilians at all. And after that huge battle, that killed millions, and had unmeasurable amounts of damage to the city, what do we cut to?

Superman destroying a government satellite,and a scene at the Daily Planet like nothing happened.
For being the embodiment of Superhero, Superman feels more like an anti-hero.
At best.

Also, that huge terraforming machine had no lasting effect on the environment? Didn't they say penetrating the core caused Krypton to become unstable or something like that? Because the machine went right though. Not to mention it was making the atmosphere poison to humans. It apparently happened enough to give Supes trouble when he tried to destroy the machine, but what, it just all...goes away?
It wouldn't bother me as much if Superman didn't completely destroy everything around him.

Flashbacks and weird pacing

Spoiler

It keeps jumping around, and it's weird to follow.
Okay, here's Krypton!
*everything explodes*
Now here he is, going to Earth in his rocket! Whoops, now he's grown up!
*everything explodes*
Whoops, now he's a kid!
*everything is angst*
Whoops adult!
*everything explodes*
Whoops, teenager!
*Everything is explosion of angst*

Stop jumping around! Is this the present now?! Did he become a waiter before or after he was on that boat? Just go chronologically, or pick a set!

The whole movie is constantly dark and dreary, the lightest part is when he destroys that one guy's truck and it's not that light (also more damage from our hero) and then there's this light-hearted ending where he joins the Planet. You can't just cut to that!

Lois Lane's bigger role in the film.

Spoiler

I liked that she got a bigger role and all, but...why was she here? Why does Zod want her? For questioning? They already got Superman.And then the military keeps her around for no reason. Why are they bringing this random civilian on the front lines? And in the ending/blow up all of Metropolis sequence, she's on the plane carrying the space ship! Why?! It's not like "Oh, she has experience with Kryptonian tech because she was on that ship" She doesn't! And the tech was pushing Superman's button thing inside the pod. Which she didn't even end up doing!! She falls out of the plane, and then Superman saves her. Which felt dumb to me, considerign he already saved her, and that machine just killed like everyone within a mile of it, and it landed in a densely populated downtown area. Then she pops up after Superman killed Zod(!) even though the two were flying at superspeeds across the city. How did she get there!?
Also, why does she already know his identity, and why does she keep calling him Clark in public? I get the glasses are stupid and all, but c'mon!

And then there's that cliche little gem where he "thanks her for believign in him.
Number 1)When did she "believe in him"? They just met, and there was no point yet where they tested whether or not she "believed in him." It comes out of nowhere.
Number 2)It's such an overused line and I just wanted to stand up and and yell "God, just shut up!" It's such a dumb line.

Bigger roles are fine, but she has no reason to be here. Was there a throwaway line amongst all the explosions and people dying that I missed that explained why she was there?

Jonathan Kent and his death.

Spoiler

Why did Pa just randomly decide to commit suicide? Why does he not let Clark help at all? Why can't Clark just pretend to be a normal person and still help, even though Pa did it? Why does the tornado just, gently sweep around Pa instead of throwing him like a rag doll? Why did Ma close the door on the dog in the first place? Why why why why?

Despite all this, I didn't hate the movie, I rather liked it. But dammit, these things brought the whole movie down for me. Here's hoping for a better sequel.

 

[pr0xyt0xin]

The complete and utter destruction of Metropolis.

Spoiler

I mean, holy crap. I like flashy set pieces, and when your characters are all but invincible, you can spring for a little destruction but they went WAY overboard. Before Zod pops back up it's like "Oh look, Superman and Lois are kissing~"
Yeah, well, MILLIONS ARE DEAD!!! Seriously, it doesn't feel like "Oh Superman won" when he's standing around in the burning wreckage of Metropolis. It looked more like an apocalypse movie at that point. We saw alot of Clark directly saving people, but when he puts on the tights, it's apparently "**** property damage, I'm gonna smash through ALL THE BUILDINGS." And then everyone's like "Superman saved us!"
It doesn't feel like it. Combine that with him killing Zod(!) and he doesn't even seem like a hero at all.
Maybe if he had stopped a building from collapsing, or lifted some rubble off some trapped people, it'd feel like he's saving the day. But he seems totally unconcerned with civilians at all. And after that huge battle, that killed millions, and had unmeasurable amounts of damage to the city, what do we cut to?

Superman destroying a government satellite,and a scene at the Daily Planet like nothing happened.
For being the embodiment of Superhero, Superman feels more like an anti-hero.
At best.

Also, that huge terraforming machine had no lasting effect on the environment? Didn't they say penetrating the core caused Krypton to become unstable or something like that? Because the machine went right though. Not to mention it was making the atmosphere poison to humans. It apparently happened enough to give Supes trouble when he tried to destroy the machine, but what, it just all...goes away?
It wouldn't bother me as much if Superman didn't completely destroy everything around him.

Flashbacks and weird pacing

Spoiler

It keeps jumping around, and it's weird to follow.
Okay, here's Krypton!
*everything explodes*
Now here he is, going to Earth in his rocket! Whoops, now he's grown up!
*everything explodes*
Whoops, now he's a kid!
*everything is angst*
Whoops adult!
*everything explodes*
Whoops, teenager!
*Everything is explosion of angst*

Stop jumping around! Is this the present now?! Did he become a waiter before or after he was on that boat? Just go chronologically, or pick a set!

The whole movie is constantly dark and dreary, the lightest part is when he destroys that one guy's truck and it's not that light (also more damage from our hero) and then there's this light-hearted ending where he joins the Planet. You can't just cut to that!

Lois Lane's bigger role in the film.

Spoiler

I liked that she got a bigger role and all, but...why was she here? Why does Zod want her? For questioning? They already got Superman.And then the military keeps her around for no reason. Why are they bringing this random civilian on the front lines? And in the ending/blow up all of Metropolis sequence, she's on the plane carrying the space ship! Why?! It's not like "Oh, she has experience with Kryptonian tech because she was on that ship" She doesn't! And the tech was pushing Superman's button thing inside the pod. Which she didn't even end up doing!! She falls out of the plane, and then Superman saves her. Which felt dumb to me, considerign he already saved her, and that machine just killed like everyone within a mile of it, and it landed in a densely populated downtown area. Then she pops up after Superman killed Zod(!) even though the two were flying at superspeeds across the city. How did she get there!?
Also, why does she already know his identity, and why does she keep calling him Clark in public? I get the glasses are stupid and all, but c'mon!

And then there's that cliche little gem where he "thanks her for believign in him.
Number 1)When did she "believe in him"? They just met, and there was no point yet where they tested whether or not she "believed in him." It comes out of nowhere.
Number 2)It's such an overused line and I just wanted to stand up and and yell "God, just shut up!" It's such a dumb line.

Bigger roles are fine, but she has no reason to be here. Was there a throwaway line amongst all the explosions and people dying that I missed that explained why she was there?

Jonathan Kent and his death.

Spoiler

Why did Pa just randomly decide to commit suicide? Why does he not let Clark help at all? Why can't Clark just pretend to be a normal person and still help, even though Pa did it? Why does the tornado just, gently sweep around Pa instead of throwing him like a rag doll? Why did Ma close the door on the dog in the first place? Why why why why?

Despite all this, I didn't hate the movie, I rather liked it. But dammit, these things brought the whole movie down for me. Here's hoping for a better sequel.

I won't begin to start in on the majority of your complaints, but this one:

And then there's that cliche little gem where he "thanks her for believign in him.

In case you missed it, she believed in him by giving up her story on him. He wasn't in the papers and he wasn't discovered, because she didn't make a quick buck on his story.

 

[Keyser Soze]

I have a complaint: Superman's alpha-male chest hair, poking up like wild foilage out of the top of his costume. It was eerily distracting in IMAX high definition, and I kept thinking "Don Draper Superman." Manscape those suckers!

 

[Sundancer]

Not bleed the color so much. And really bring down the lens flares and back lighting. This is the only movie I've ever seen were they were constantly noticeable to me. When he was hovering, surrendering to the military his head bobbed and the sun blocked him from view. Seriously???

 

[Sundancer]

-

-how did Clark get a job at the daily planet, when he has no experience or college back round or anything?

I assumed Lois hooked up him. Your other points I concede.

 

[113]

I give it a 9/10. It's my 2nd favorite CBM of all time after Batman Begins.

Here are why it doesn't get a perfect score:

1) PACING - It's horrendous. The editing is so subpar that I think the reason why many a left bored with the movie is because there is no build up of momentum. This is inexcusable because everyone knows the build-up of momentum and then the emotional payoff is incredibly important for a story.

2) Yes, there is TOO MUCH ACTION. I'll say this I'd rather have too-much action, than too-little (ala Superman Returns) but it gets repetitive and ridiculous at time. Scenes that should have been completely cut or scaled down:
-The battle against the tentacles should be completely gone
-The final battle should have been a bit shorter
-While I understand two superpowered beings going at it would cause a lot of damage, the fact that half of Metropolis gets destroyed was really overkill

3) Some of the dialogue (a minority of it) is truly terrible.

Other than those problems I think the film is pretty much flawless. This is the Superman for the 21st century.

 

[Bruce Malone]

I have a complaint: Superman's alpha-male chest hair, poking up like wild foilage out of the top of his costume. It was eerily distracting in IMAX high definition, and I kept thinking "Don Draper Superman." Manscape those suckers!

That may have been more of Snyder's fetishization of male physiques that's been around since his 300 days.

The only other shot that reminded me of that was when we got a random close-up shot of cavill's abs when he was lifting that tanker.

 

[conan69]

^ You know, when I saw that, I was like... huh?

 

[TheFlamingCoco]

I give it a 9/10. It's my 2nd favorite CBM of all time after Batman Begins.

Here are why it doesn't get a perfect score:

1) PACING - It's horrendous. The editing is so subpar that I think the reason why many a left bored with the movie is because there is no build up of momentum. This is inexcusable because everyone knows the build-up of momentum and then the emotional payoff is incredibly important for a story.

2) Yes, there is TOO MUCH ACTION. I'll say this I'd rather have too-much action, than too-little (ala Superman Returns) but it gets repetitive and ridiculous at time. Scenes that should have been completely cut or scaled down:
-The battle against the tentacles should be completely gone
-The final battle should have been a bit shorter
-While I understand two superpowered beings going at it would cause a lot of damage, the fact that half of Metropolis gets destroyed was really overkill

3) Some of the dialogue (a minority of it) is truly terrible.

Other than those problems I think the film is pretty much flawless. This is the Superman for the 21st century.

The tentacle fight was kind of dull. As for Metropolis, it feels weird that he doesn't seem to try to pull Zod into the sky where less people would be hurt/killed. As far as overkill, I find it oddly fitting that Metropolis is in a shambles. The Earth is safe, but at a price.

 

[Obi Wan Kenobi]

I just re-watched the 3-part pilot of STAS ("The Last Son of Krypton") to refresh my memory of it, and thought it had better pacing and flowed better in a less span of time. It was also way better-written! Heck, I can't help but think that the folks in WB's Animation department (Timm, etc) could probably write a better film script than Goyer did. At least they have years of experience writing Superman stories! I also just re-watched the pilot of Lois & Clark, which admittedly has a terrible Superman, but I still think that show got a lot of CK right (including his relationship with his parents).

I really liked Cavill's Superman persona but his CK fell a bit flat to me compared to the personality in L&C and STAS (and even Smallville - for all of his faults, Welling certainly got the farmboy persona down). If there are sequels, I hope Cavill gets to develop CK more. Hell, the guy was naturally all smiles & charm in all of the TV interviews I saw with him, how come so little of that was translated to the movie screen?

I sure as hell want at least the reporter rivalry with Lois in sequels. That was one of the best aspects of L&C and STAS and would be a great way to add levity & humor, which I think is needed.

They are trying too hard to get away from the Donner universe. Maybe its just me, but I enjoy the loveable bumbling clumsy Clark Kent vs this brooding angry Clark "Bruce Wayne" Kent.

 

[Adder]

just saw MOS.
I think the RT reviews are mostly right. this is an entertaining but very flawed movie. The more you think about it the more events fall apart. here are some issues I had.
1. why is zod staging a take over right as the planet is about to blow up? why not just steal the codex thing like jor el did single handedly and escape?
2. after escaping the "phantom zone" and gaining access to the world engine why did zod not terraform another planet? hell terraform dozens.
3. why did zod even try to terraform earth in the 1st place? doing so according to the movies logic takes away their powers right? wouldn't having a super powered race be great for the survival of this rebuilding race?
4. the tentacle fight was totally ridiculous and should not be in this movie.
5. half of the fight scenes you're watching very fake looking CGI cartoon characters punching each other.
6. zod was a weak villain, in some scenes I felt Shannon was phoning in his performance. faora was the best villain in the film.
7. I have no problem with superman killing zod. the way it was executed was very weak though. breaking his neck was not absolutely the only way out of that situation.

over all I give MOS a 6/10. I would like to see a sequel but it needs a total creative team make over.

 

[TheFlamingCoco]

^ The Daily Planet Kent remains to be seen. As for "trying too hard to get away from the Donner universe." I actually agree. I want his spitcurl, I want more metropolis (hopefully for the sequel). And a SLIGHTLY lighter tone for the sequel, though I found the film to have a warmness that TDK and TDKR lack.

 

[Obi Wan Kenobi]

I give it a 9/10. It's my 2nd favorite CBM of all time after Batman Begins.

Here are why it doesn't get a perfect score:

1) PACING - It's horrendous. The editing is so subpar that I think the reason why many a left bored with the movie is because there is no build up of momentum. This is inexcusable because everyone knows the build-up of momentum and then the emotional payoff is incredibly important for a story.

2) Yes, there is TOO MUCH ACTION. I'll say this I'd rather have too-much action, than too-little (ala Superman Returns) but it gets repetitive and ridiculous at time. Scenes that should have been completely cut or scaled down:
-The battle against the tentacles should be completely gone
-The final battle should have been a bit shorter
-While I understand two superpowered beings going at it would cause a lot of damage, the fact that half of Metropolis gets destroyed was really overkill

3) Some of the dialogue (a minority of it) is truly terrible.

Other than those problems I think the film is pretty much flawless. This is the Superman for the 21st century.

Totally agree with 1 and 2. The tentacles should have been edited out. He should have flown straight to the gravity beam, got knocked on his ass, then struggled to even stand up only using all his super strength to fly up through it.

The battle with Zod should have been shorter and Metropolis' destruction should have come at the hands of Doomsday. It should have been skyscrapers severly damaged but Metropolis looked like what I'd envision Supes battling Doomsday toe to toe.

As for dialogue my problem is the huge plot hole at the end. When Superman throws the spy satelite to earth and tells Swanick "I'm just as American as you I was raised in Kansas." If Synder and co wanted to bring realism to Superman why are they basically giving major clues who he is and nobody in the federal government or a genius like Lex Luthor can't figure it out in jeopardy time? That made no sense.

 

[TheFlamingCoco]

If I can't have a Spider-I'm gonna have another multi-limbed creature!-

 

[Longshot777]

I would stop shaking the camera on the Pa Kent and Teen Clark part and on some other dialogue non action parts. That was just terrible.

Less fighting and building destruction at the end.

More of Superman being shown as an inspiring figure to the earthlings.

And dam, just reading in here and I just found out that the girl with Perry was Olsen. Hmmmm ok

Have a Better musical score....man John Williams kills this!!!!

Then it would be great

 

[the last son]

The Pa Kent thing just made no sense at all. One why would you go into the storm instead of Clark? Makes no sense. Everyone knows Superman is Clark Kent. Lois shows up with about 5 cops to their home. Agree with taking the tentacles scene out. Also, some CGI looks really bad. The destruction was ridiculously huge. Again half of Metropolis is gone. There is no topping that. Superman did come off looking more like a problem rather than hope or whatever else. The whole handling of Clark Kent though was just a mess

 

[Adder]

If I can't have a Spider-I'm gonna have another multi-limbed creature!-

LOL, exactly. his influence was clearly felt. horrible scene

 

[Polaris23]

Begins was Nolan coming out of his indie and celebrated momento era. Begins was also first to really do it and precluded the status quo of hard to please fan's this side of 2012..

Not to discredit the gripes, but this is an element of what's going on I think.
Personally I would have put that Jon Kent flash back after the big india explosion and maybe had us address martha's thoughts on it. Perhaps she has some blame in her...

Nah, I don't even think it's that. Begins genuinely had a beautiful structure to its story that still holds up & always will. MoS's issues were apperant right away

 

[TheFlamingCoco]

Begins was groundbreaking in the way it dealt with a superhero from the inside out. It served as the "model" for the new film reboots. MOS is more structurally flawed, but I personally feel is more rewarding because of all the little character moments. And the action, but they stretched it out like Taffy.