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

[Skrilla31]

Actually his choice was when Zod came looking for him and protecting the entire planet Earth...but yeah. Like I said it was obvious he was still lost, alone, angry, and confused about his existence at the point...hence him wandering all of those years searching for meaning and answers.

Lol, wouldn't you be with a father like that? Now wonder he's a head case. His father taught him not to act on every natural instinct he's ever had.

 

[Rock Sexton]

Exactly. Pa Kent even said that "one day" Clark was going to have to make a choice. Well it looks like Clark had already made the choice. Clearly he wants to save the people even if it matters exposing who he is. So I don't understand why his father wants him to continue hiding from it.

And if Pa Kent envisioned a day where his son would in fact eventually reveal himself... then could there have POSSIBLY been a better opportunity than the moment he found himself about to be engulfed by a tornado? Clark was old enough at that point. It's not like he was a kid who needed to be protected. Clearly Clark was ready and willing to save his father... but for some RIDICULOUS reason, Pa Kent tells him to fall back.

It just doesn't make any sense. It was force fed. That's why the drama isn't there. Bad writing.

I can just see the Smallville headlines ..... "Man saves father from massive tornado, FEAR HIM IMMEDIATELY!"

 

[Skrilla31]

i can just see the smallville headlines ..... "man saves father from massive tornado, fear him immediately!"

"I told you not to save me son!! They don't understand!!"

"Stay back everyone! I swear to you there is nothing special about my son! He's a loner and a recluse! Just leave him be!"

 

[RedIsNotBlue]

Lol, wouldn't you be with a father like that? Now wonder he's a head case. His father taught him not to act on every natural instinct he's ever had.

Yeah his father taught him that he had the unlimited potential, the ability to do greater things, and was better than exposing himself by acting selfish when the world might not have been ready and able to understand him and made him an outcast or a freak. And that one day he could change or save the world. Yeah you are right...Pa Kent was a ****** father.

 

[Skrilla31]

Pa Kent and his son are exiting a supermarket. A lady comes to them crying.

"Please help! My baby is trapped in a moving car! I can't get in! Someone help!"

:: Pa Kent looks at his son, then looks back at the lady ::

"Tough s***. Come on son. The game's almost on."

 

[Rock Sexton]

Yeah his father taught him that he had the unlimited potential, the ability to do greater things, and was better than exposing himself by acting selfish when the world might not have been ready and able to understand him and made him an outcast or a freak. And that one day he could change or save the world. Yeah you are right...Pa Kent was a ****** father.

Pa Kent suggested children's lives were ok to be sacrificed in that bus accident (that's fatherly?) ..... all to conceal his sons abilities based on the notion that the world wasn't ready. Why was the world NOT ready? It's just one of those things where the movie force feeds you that ideology and you're just supposed to go "Ohhhhh oh ok. They're not ready. Clark let your father get ripped to shreds by a tornado."

 

[RedIsNotBlue]

Pa Kent and his son are exiting a supermarket. A lady comes to them crying.

"Please help! My baby is trapped in a moving car! I can't get in! Someone help!"

:: Pa Kent looks at his son, then looks back at the lady ::

"Tough s***. Come on son. The game's almost on."

You know you just completely just wrote your own version of Pa Kent and not the one we got in the film right? Because you essentially described what happened in the tornado scene and added your own ending. When Clark told Pa Kent that their dog was still back in the truck did he say "Tough s***. Come on son. The game's almost on."? No...he went himself to save the dog because he didn't want Clark to potentially expose himself. So going by simple logic and basing it on what I saw in the film in that scene Pa Kent would have tried to have done something himself.

 

[Skrilla31]

Lol it was a joke. Relax.

 

[RedIsNotBlue]

Pa Kent suggested children's lives were ok to be sacrificed in that bus accident (that's fatherly?) ..... all to conceal his sons abilities based on the notion that the world wasn't ready. Why was the world NOT ready? It's just one of those things where the movie force feeds you that ideology and you're just supposed to go "Ohhhhh oh ok. They're not ready. Clark let your father get ripped to shreds by a tornado."

-Sigh- I think I am done with this debate because it is going around in circles because like I said it is more of a morality issue and not really a FLAW. When Clark asked I just should have let those kids die? Jonathan replied maybe....just letting him know that he had a choice and that maybe exposing himself to save a handful of people would be more harmful than helpful in the end because it was obvious that the mom of that kid was freaking out saying it was a miracle from god. And the world was not ready because you could see obviously from the film that even when Clark exposed himself as a friendly the military still attacked wanting him dead but considering the situation and the BIG CHOICE he made that he was there to protect the world and humans that they accepted him.

 

[RedIsNotBlue]

Lol it was a joke. Relax.

I have been relaxed this entire time just responding to your points.

 

[DarthPollo]

is this legit i have seen a couple people say this

do people here actually have a problem clark taking those clothes?

I don't know about the rest of people, but my 11 year old son did asks me this, while watching the movie... I just kinda nod...felt weird..I don't know why!!

 

[hopefuldreamer]

Exactly. Pa Kent even said that "one day" Clark was going to have to make a choice. Well it looks like Clark had already made the choice. Clearly he wants to save the people even if it matters exposing who he is. So I don't understand why his father wants him to continue hiding from it.

And if Pa Kent envisioned a day where his son would in fact eventually reveal himself... then could there have POSSIBLY been a better opportunity than the moment he found himself about to be engulfed by a tornado? Clark was old enough at that point. It's not like he was a kid who needed to be protected. Clearly Clark was ready and willing to save his father... but for some RIDICULOUS reason, Pa Kent tells him to fall back.

It just doesn't make any sense. It was force fed. That's why the drama isn't there. Bad writing.

TBH, you could even argue that it would have been better for him to come out to the world SOONER, rather than being forced out of the closet by Zod and hence having to deal with people's mistrust even more.

Though for all their talk about how they wanted to show how people would really react, seemed like they accepted him pretty damn quickly.

 

[kedrell]

So given how different Zod is in this film from Stamp's Zod it's clear they didn't want another megalomaniac type villain and I'm fine with that. But if you're going to do that you still have to make it make sense. If it was Zod's preprogramming that kept him going with his brainless plan then I think a scene or two of just how warped this programming can make a person should have been shown. And also if that's the case then Zod really isn't responsible for his actions. But if he has free will then the problematic scheme needs to be addressed. But you can't have it both ways.

 

[Daybreak_st]

No you are human....that is my point. We all make different decisions and you saying Clark should have acted a certain way and that is just not how it works especially, like I said, if you are going through all those kinds of emotions at that point in your life and your father, who has hammered home the point NOT to do something your entire life tells you once again DON'T DO IT.

And it wasn't the fact that Clark would have DEFINITELY exposed himself but it was potential. You deny that?

If I may interject some simple logic...Clark should've gotten the stupid dog. That is all.

 

[The Guard]

I don't think Jonathan wanting Clark to hold back was so much about the world not being ready as it was Clark not being ready, and not understanding his place in the world yet.

As far as the dog goes, Clark was getting his mother and others to safety while his father got the dog.

And can I just point out that when Jonathan indicated to Clark not to save him...

There's nothing to suggest that either of them knew at that point whether Clark could even survive the force of the tornado.

It's not necessarily just "Don't save me". It could well be "Don't risk yourself, period. You're too important."

 

[Ozymandias]

Writer Mark Waid (Superman: Birthright) thought Pa Kent's death worked:

I think you’d be surprised to find that I loved everything about Jonathan Kent. I loved his protectiveness, even when it made him sound like an *******. (“Maybe.”) And I loved, loved, loved that scene where Clark didn’t save him, because Goyer did something magical–he took two moments that, individually, I would have hated and he welded them together into something amazing. Out of context, I would have hated that Clark said “You’re not my real dad,” or whatever he says right before the tornado. And out of context, I would have loathed that Clark stood by frozen with helplessness as the tornado killed Jonathan. But the reason that beat worked is because Clark had just said “You’re not my dad,” the last real words he said to Pa. Tearful Clark choosing to go against his every instinct in that last second because he had to show his father he trusted him after all, because he had to show Pa that Pa could trust him and that Clark had learned, Clark did love him–that worked for me, hugely. It was a very brave story choice, but it worked. It worked largely on the shoulders of Cavill, who sold it. It worked as a tragic rite of passage. I kinda wish I’d written that scene.

 

[Iron_Madrigal]

Disagree. The scene felt forced and awkward.

Anyways, anyone find it funny that the brainy, scientist caste can kick the crap out of the genetically altered warrior caste?

 

[blumatic]

HISHE is gonna have a field day with this film. LOL.

 

[Comics N' Toons]

Disagree. The scene felt forced and awkward.

Anyways, anyone find it funny that the brainy, scientist caste can kick the crap out of the genetically altered warrior caste?

I did find that odd!

 

[KalMart]

Y'know what.......


.....they should have somehow revealed that the gravestone said 'Jonathan Kent' after the flashback when he dies. Like we see it's a graveyard and that Lois is there...mystery man shows up, then the flashback, then back to the present with the gravestone.

Obviously, any would predict that the dad has died so it's not like it would have been complete mystery beforehand, but I think poetically, a reveal like that would have worked better as an emotional end punctuation instead of showing the gravestone beforehand...I think they did, right? That may be a pure editing decision right there.

 

[Sundancer]

I wish either the Kents or Jor-El instilled the sanctity of life in Kal-El. That would have worked better as a theme than Kryptonians vs. Earthpeople. It also would have made killing Zod more thematic, a stronger denoument, and I think it would have resonated more strongly with the audience.

 

[Daybreak_st]

As far as the dog goes, Clark was getting his mother and others to safety while his father got the dog.

You always make valid points and I respect that. I will say though on this one Johnathan could've easily taken the little girl and Martha to safety while Clark got the dog. EASILY. That's what bothers me. It was a simple thing but illogical reasoning won out. Took me right out of the film and made his death less tragic for me and more...well

Death by heart attack always struck me as a lot more poignant because teaches clark that despite all his gifts there are some things he can't prevent. That is a more valuable lesson for someone like Superman I would think because it will never change. He has to accept that. The lesson in this film is that his death came about through Clark's failure to act. That's much more like Spider-man to me. He's already saved I don't know how many people in the years before and although people knew the government didn't come after him. all while he's in the same small town. Then later in life he does the same thing. So how important is that lesson really? It's not a lesson that seemed worth his death. To me at least. And the circumstances, the tornado all the confusion, seemed like he could've easily gotten away with masking his powers. The structure of the whole scene just didn't work for me.

 

[The Guard]

It's not really a logical moment, though. It wasn't supposed to be, not for the most part. You don't go after a dog because you weigh the logic of leaving your family behind with the potential of saving a dog. You go after a dog because you have an emotional reaction to the fact that the dog is trapped in the car. The scene isn't supposed to make Jonathan look 100% right in his actions. It's supposed to show how much Clark trusted him in the end.

 

[Senator Pleasury]

You always make valid points and I respect that. I will say though on this one Johnathan could've easily taken the little girl and Martha to safety while Clark got the dog. EASILY. That's what bothers me. It was a simple thing but illogical reasoning won out. Took me right out of the film and made his death less tragic for me and more...well

Death by heart attack always struck me as a lot more poignant because teaches clark that despite all his gifts there are some things he can't prevent. That is a more valuable lesson for someone like Superman I would think because it will never change. He has to accept that. The lesson in this film is that his death came about through Clark's failure to act. That's much more like Spider-man to me. He's already saved I don't know how many people in the years before and although people knew the government didn't come after him. all while he's in the same small town. Then later in life he does the same thing. So how important is that lesson really? It's not a lesson that seemed worth his death. To me at least. And the circumstances, the tornado all the confusion, seemed like he could've easily gotten away with masking his powers. The structure of the whole scene just didn't work for me.

Completely agreed.

There's no way anyone who knew themselves capable would have never let his father die like that. there's no lesson to be learned there, except that dad was wrong. And, as you say, the chaotic situation was the perfect environment to act without being noticed.

 

[KalMart]

You always make valid points and I respect that. I will say though on this one Johnathan could've easily taken the little girl and Martha to safety while Clark got the dog. EASILY. That's what bothers me. It was a simple thing but illogical reasoning won out. Took me right out of the film and made his death less tragic for me and more...well

Death by heart attack always struck me as a lot more poignant because teaches clark that despite all his gifts there are some things he can't prevent. That is a more valuable lesson for someone like Superman I would think because it will never change. He has to accept that. The lesson in this film is that his death came about through Clark's failure to act. That's much more like Spider-man to me. He's already saved I don't know how many people in the years before and although people knew the government didn't come after him. all while he's in the same small town. Then later in life he does the same thing. So how important is that lesson really? It's not a lesson that seemed worth his death. To me at least. And the circumstances, the tornado all the confusion, seemed like he could've easily gotten away with masking his powers. The structure of the whole scene just didn't work for me.

It's almost as if Jon Kent made one last sacrifice to protect his Son's privacy....like with a tornado such as this, it'd be nearly impossible to keep hiding or deflecting the questions of his being 'different' like when he was growing up. And maybe Jon still felt that Clark needed time before taking the initiative of revealing himself to the world...like it was crucial now more than ever. That's possibly what he saw in Clark when he said 'you're not my real father', and why instead of being hurt by it, he posed it back as a challenge. Maybe he knew that Clark would have lifted a few cars and shown his super-strength...but it was better to keep it under wraps at least a little while longer.

So he decided to go do it himself, knowing that it could kill him, but he did it to protect his son....poignantly proving to Clark that he is indeed his father. I think there's something beautiful and heartbreaking in that.