Man of Steel review - what a giant turd fest!

[saint]

Man of Steel review. No real plot spoilers, mild "flavor" spoilers below.

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Hate. I hate hate hate hated HATED hated HATED this movie. I declare this movie to be the worst abomination created since Battlefield Earth. It's like Michael Bay and the guys who did Independence Day took a dump in a giant bowl, stewed it for several months, then served it up in a heaping stinking pile on a platter for you. This movie spit upon almost every single bit of canon, convention, back story, and gestalt that makes Superman what Superman is. It's like they said, "what's the worst thing we could do to the Superman mythos to destroy it?" You know how they keep saying, "horrible thing happened? Still a better story than Twilight?" ... can't be said here. Not even an incredible cast of stars could save this turd. I was so angry I almost walked out. Don't pay to go see this movie. Don't even rent it. See it on your friend's dime when he rents it, then give him condolences. Argh what an utter crap heap of a movie.

[UFO]

Didn't you like it?

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[yotsuya]

Don't beat around the bush, Saint. Tell us what you really think.

[Nephasth]

Wait... there's a new superman movie?

[Howard_Casto]

Glad somebody else around here has taste in movies.  In the other thread where people listed the films that they were excited about this summer I basically said they were all going to be crap, with this one being the worst offender.  Whenever somebody utters the phrase "gritter superman" as if that's a good thing, you hit them as hard as you can, and run, just run and don't ever look back. 

[kahlid74]

The film should really be named Jesus Christ Superstar.

[wp34]

I didn't think it was that bad.  My biggest problem was the fight at the end.  I would like to thing Superman would try and get as far away from a major city as possible to limit collateral damage. 

[Vigo]

I didn't think it was that bad, but really...my expectations were very low after sperm-man returns.

After they started announcing that early screen tests had shown that it was easily gonna be the best movie of the year, I figured they were turd polishing.

When I saw it, I thought it could have been much worse. I was entertained, superman felt like the underdog, which is exactly what shmokes always complains about not existing in superman movies. Also, superman didn't seem like a ---Bad words, bad words, whatcha gonna do? Whatcha gonna do when saint censors you?--- in this flick.


Here is what I liked...

Adult superman was an idealist. Always had that friendly supman attitude. While Letting himself get arrested was original, it was still classic superman.

Jor-El on earth was well done. I always had a hard time understanding how "alive" Jor-El was suppose to be from the original movies, but it made total sense in this film. It is kinda hard to replace Marlon Brando, but russel crowe doing corny hand movements at close doors on bad guys was just too funny and entertaining.

As I mentioned before, superman was an underdog. He needed direct help, he didn't quite know what to do at all times. He didn't need to reverse time to save the day.

The fact they tried to portray Krypton.

The fact that they threw Zod in a triangle in space. 


And what bugged me


Krypton. I loved that they tried, but the fact that it became avatar world was just plain stupid.

Crystal Skull... WTF was up with that. Krypton Sucks.....

Zod....Not scary, not cool. Makes original Zod and his low cut V spandex jumpsuit look even cooler

A little less inner struggle with Superman please. At least they kept it to young superman.

Lois Lane was lame no matter how you shook it. They tried to make her look tough in the beginning, but it just didn't work. Yelling at some arctic scientists made her just look like a ---smurfette---.

That final fight with Zod, Looked like the crappy CG fighting from Matrix 2 and 3.

[Le Chuck]

Things that really upset me

Superman kills, WTF People!  Sup has killed in some non canon spin off comics (and only rarely) but as the climax to the f-ing movie! Not cool.

Sup trashing the drone - again, it doesn't go with the Big Blue Boyscout - out of character

Kryptonian air negates all of Sup's powers?!? Seriously? So 30 years of drinking in yellow sun radiation and it's all for not because the air smells funny?  He doesn't have to breathe for chrissakes!  He can't friggin drown!

Kryptonian codex.  What the ---fudgesicle---.

Trashing the log trucker's rig - funny but not Sup.

There's more but these bugged me a lot

[Vigo]

Spot on with the Krypton air thing (and all your points for that matter). First thing that came to mind was how in the world could this air be possibly worse than outer space? The guy can fly to other planets. I would have far more easily accepted some excuse like there was mild version of kryptonite in everything kryptonian, more abundant than carbon, and it kept kryptonians unavoidably weak. (or better yet, just keep with the classic yellow sun explanation) If it is the air, you would think that the minute the Krytonians invented an air purifier, you would have super strong kryptonians in hazmat suits flying all over the planet.

The part of about superman killing was wierd to me too, superman could easily have done other things in that situation. How about taking advantage of having zod in a choke hold and flying them both off away from the city?

[Le Chuck]

Spot on with the Krypton air thing (and all your points for that matter). First thing that came to mind was how in the world could this air be possibly worse than outer space? The guy can fly to other planets. I would have far more easily accepted some excuse like there was mild version of kryptonite in everything kryptonian, more abundant than carbon, and it kept kryptonians unavoidably weak. (or better yet, just keep with the classic yellow sun explanation) If it is the air, you would think that the minute the Krytonians invented an air purifier, you would have super strong kryptonians in hazmat suits flying all over the planet.

The part of about superman killing was wierd to me too, superman could easily have done other things in that situation. How about taking advantage of having zod in a choke hold and flying them both off away from the city?

I know right, you can fly straight up a gravity well but you can't fly with Zod in a choke hold.  What's Zod got, super gravity?  That and he killed all the Kryptonians, not just Zod, which was crazy to me anyway.  I thought it would be like, oh they'll be tossed back into the phantom zone, but nope.  Death.  And how the hell does that helmet prevent super vision and super hearing from affecting the Kryptonians, and how in the blue ---fudgesicle--- do they manifest within moments powers and abilities it took Kal years to develop under yellow sun exposure?  And, and, and.... arg! I just wanted so badly for this to be Superman: Earth One

this is what I get for being a diehard sup fanboy.  Will I buy it, yeah, and I'll watch it again despite all this.  I'm a die hard. 

[Howard_Casto]

There was an adult swim bump the other night that I think hit the nail on the head.

"That was the longest episode of Dragonball Z I've ever seen"

[404]

I stopped watching superhero movies because it got to the point where I've literally never seen a good one. They all suck and they all butcher the classic comics in one way or another.

[yotsuya]

I was planning to see this, but I'm a big fan of the original Christopher Reeve films (first two, at least). They were fun, funny, and didn't take themselves THAT seriously. I guess in the 1980s that we wanted different things from our superhero films than we do in the 2010s. Not saying one is better than the other, just... different. Oh, and Gene Hackman and Terrence Stamps will always be the best villains.

[fallacy]

Wierd I here reviews like yours then I see reviews like this.... guess I will have to see it for my self.

[wp34]

I thought the scene with Superman killing Zod was very powerful.  My jaw hit the floor because I never thought they would allow him to kill in a movie.  It is not quite on the level of Batman using a gun but still very powerful.

I for one don't want a classic Superman.  I have hundreds of classic Superman comics gathering dust in the basement.  While I can agree with a lot of the negative comments above I still enjoyed the movie and was very happy to see a fresh take on the legend.   After watching the Justice League animated series I find classic Superman somewhat boring without Batman to play off him. 

Even with its faults this is certainly the 2nd best Superman movie.  Superman II, III and IV are utter crap. 

[Howard_Casto]

Sorry but there is no such thing as "classic" Superman.  Lots of comic book super heroes change and evolve... all except superman.  He was the first and the prototype and thus he has remained virtually unchanged since his debut 80 years ago.  The only thing that has changed is over the years they have tacked on so many powers that he is literally a god.  So since he has unlimited power, the only way to keep him from becoming a huge jerk is for him to have an infallible moral code and perfect personality.  This means that superman can struggle with morality to be sure, but he must ALWAYS do the right thing in the end. 

Superman doesn't kill.... period...end of story.... no negotiations.  If a being with unlimited power went around killing everyone that he thought was "bad" then he would quickly become a tyrant.  There have been several "what if" scenarios written about the character to prove this.... once Superman kills... he becomes evil. 

As I said Superman's power is unlimited, so there is no such thing as a kobayashi maru scenario in his world.  In the original Superman film, he has to save the world... letting Lois die.  But guess what?  He's frikkin Superman!  A couple of laps around the earth and he reverses time so that he can save the world AND the girl.  That's just how he rolls... cause's he's a super man... I mean it's right there in the name. 

If you want dark, or complicated or conflicted there are plenty of super heroes that can be utilized for such a  story,  but leave supes out of it.  He's a special case and shouldn't be monkeyed with. 

[fallacy]

A couple of laps around the earth and he reverses time so that he can save the world AND the girl.

We all like to pretend that never happened. Along with him kissing Lous and somehow erasing all her memories of him being Superman.

[yotsuya]

A couple of laps around the earth and he reverses time so that he can save the world AND the girl.

We all like to pretend that never happened. Along with him kissing Lous and somehow erasing all her memories of him being Superman.

Says who?

[05SRT4]

From someone who doesn't follow the previous movies or comic books I thought the movie was great. A ton of action, faces getting smashed, buildings blowing up. My Wife and I had a great time.

[wp34]

To me Superman II had more "un-Superman like behavior" than the new movie.  The way crushes Zod's hand and then kills him or goes back to beat up that trucker once he gets his powers back.  Those scenes were horrible. Also being able to turn back time every time you didn't like an outcome could quickly turn you into a tyrant as well.

Sorry but there is no such thing as "classic" Superman.  Lots of comic book super heroes change and evolve... all except superman.  He was the first and the prototype and thus he has remained virtually unchanged since his debut 80 years ago.  The only thing that has changed is over the years they have tacked on so many powers that he is literally a god.  So since he has unlimited power, the only way to keep him from becoming a huge jerk is for him to have an infallible moral code and perfect personality.  This means that superman can struggle with morality to be sure, but he must ALWAYS do the right thing in the end. 

Superman doesn't kill.... period...end of story.... no negotiations.  If a being with unlimited power went around killing everyone that he thought was "bad" then he would quickly become a tyrant.  There have been several "what if" scenarios written about the character to prove this.... once Superman kills... he becomes evil. 

As I said Superman's power is unlimited, so there is no such thing as a kobayashi maru scenario in his world.  In the original Superman film, he has to save the world... letting Lois die.  But guess what?  He's frikkin Superman!  A couple of laps around the earth and he reverses time so that he can save the world AND the girl.  That's just how he rolls... cause's he's a super man... I mean it's right there in the name. 

If you want dark, or complicated or conflicted there are plenty of super heroes that can be utilized for such a  story,  but leave supes out of it.  He's a special case and shouldn't be monkeyed with.

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[fallacy]

Says who?

Even watching this movie as a kid and seeing that time travel scene I felt it was one of the biggest illogical ass pulls I had ever seen in a movie.

[Cakemeister]

Surprising. I really enjoyed this movie except for Superman crying after killing Zod.

[lordnacho]

Doh spoiler tags don't work in my rss reader at work (Outlook).  Oh well

[Vigo]

Surprising. I really enjoyed this movie except for Superman crying after killing Zod.

Yeah, it was to the point where I figured they were gonna fade in with that crappy five for fighting emo-folk superman song.

I'm only a man in a funny red sheet....And its not easy....to be......(sob)......meeeeeee.........   

[Maximus]

I thought it was a good smash blam bang movie, but it could have been about any good-guy-fights-bad guy.

The part I really had a HUGE issue with was his 2 second gratuitous Jesus pose as he dropped out of the doorway...



Religion is like a penis. I'm glad you're happy with yours, but please don't force it down my children's throats.

[Vigo]

Well, first, I really did not really see the Jesus imagery. The only thing I noticed was sups in front of the stained glass window, but I figured that was more drawing the line that he was still at his core only "human" like the rest of us.

But in honesty, who cares? It really didn't force anything down anyone's throat. I want my children exposed to Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Hindi, etc. Its not a bad thing to be more knowledgeable. If I am going to sit an rip on movies for using religious imagery, then I would have to forbid every movie from Indiana Jones to Aladdin to Star Wars.

[Maximus]

Yeah I hear you and agree on your points. I think I just got annoyed at the not so subtle subtlety of it, or maybe I'm just over-sensitive to this kind of stuff (more than likely)

[Vigo]

Honestly I think that is where we are at as a culture right now. We are all a tad oversensitive to all that stuff. Probably a bit because we have seen how that sort of thing gets abused. I know completely where you are coming from, and maybe when I watch it again, I might see it as laid a bit too thick as well.

[Maximus]

Also, coming from 20 years in the advertising and marketing industry I'm very familiar with the common techniques of manipulation that take place in all media to 'bump the numbers' so I'm also looking at it through that lens too - "Hey our testing of the new Superman-is-Jesus scenes are giving us a 6.2% lift in the 30-60 year old white male crowd!"

You wouldn't believe the ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- that gets thrown on the table in creative meetings to get people to react to a product, it's the reason I finally left the industry all together.

[Vigo]

I totally understand that sentiment. Thinking of a smiliar vein, I thought the whole Neo-is-Jesus thing in matrix 3 was just pure awful, but the religious allegories in the original Matrix were totally fine by me.

Okay...most of Matrix 3 was awful.

[wp34]

Very nice response Vigo.  After seeing Zack Snyder's other work I have a hard time thinking that was an intentional reference. Who knows though.

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[kahlid74]

Zach has done several interviews where he says very candidly that they were going for he messiah/savior and that they really wanted to explore the Christianity/Jesus links of supermans past.  So yeah, it was def implied if not outright spoken.

[wp34]

Interesting.  I have to admit I missed that but my radar wasn't up either.

Zach has done several interviews where he says very candidly that they were going for he messiah/savior and that they really wanted to explore the Christianity/Jesus links of supermans past.  So yeah, it was def implied if not outright spoken.

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[Vigo]

I didn't want to start another comic book thread, but I saw this deal today.


$15 1 year subscriptions for DC comics (Superman, Batman, etc.).
http://slickdeals.net/permadeal/97830/tanga-1year-comic-book-subscriptions

[jdbailey1206]

What really bugged me about this movie was holding my cursor over everyones spoiler alerts to completely read this thread.     

[ChadTower]

Just saw this tonight.  I was surprised at only two Jesus poses.  Superman has been borderline Jesus for 75 years. 

Didn't really like the movie.  Way too long, crappy Transformers action sequences, and Zod had no personality whatsoever.

I did like how they had his powers manifesting in elementary school almost like a form of autism.  That was a new twist and a fairly plausible appearance to others.

[RoyalScam]

I haven't seen it, and I probably won't. I hated what was done in the Last Superman Movie...Superman Returns was it? Anyway, it seems to me that we are the ones, who've read the comic books and know what to expect from them.  It's almost as if Hollywood has never really gotten a fan to write a proper script.  As I'll be turning 50 this year, I'm almost a bit ashamed to be admitting this, but I have recently watched all the Justice League cartoons on Netflix, much better than any of the super hero movies.

Regards,
Scam

[Vigo]

In all fairness though, this movie didn't destroy Superman as a character like Superman Returns did. Yeah, it kinda ruined Zod, Krypton, Lois, and a chunk of the Clark Kent backstory, but at least they made superman act like superman (with a couple exceptions).

I would watch this movie over again. I don't think I would waste the time on Superman Returns again.

[RayB]

So, is there a giant robot spider scene or not?