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 Man of Steel 

Rate this film.
A 34%  34%  [ 15 ]
B 30%  30%  [ 13 ]
C 16%  16%  [ 7 ]
D 11%  11%  [ 5 ]
F 9%  9%  [ 4 ]
Total votes : 44

 Man of Steel 
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Extraordinary
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Post Man of Steel
Man of Steel

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A young boy learns that he has extraordinary powers and is not of this Earth. As a young man, he journeys to discover where he came from and what he was sent here to do. But the hero in him must emerge if he is to save the world from annihilation and become the symbol of hope for all mankind.


This may be a little bit rambling, as I'm exhausted.

Grade: B-

I came out pretty underwhelmed by it, and it's sinking in my estimation the more I think about it. There's a 20 minute opening on Krypton that's completely pointless (and the bastard child of the STAR WARS prequels and AVATAR), and there's only so much "Kryptonian flies into Kryptonian and crashes into building" that one can take before it's completely stale.

Cavill's fine, but he isn't actually given much to do.

I'm bothered by the fact Superman is never given a really heroic moment. His big reveal to humanity is to surrender to Zod. So basically, the first anybody on the planet sees him in the classic costume is when he's getting slapped in handcuffs. Absolutely nothing here compares to Routh's saving of the plane in SUPERMAN RETURNS. (Considering the inevitable collateral damage from his battle with Zod, I have trouble seeing people looking at Superman as a hero after this flick. They'd be terrified of him.)

Lane and especially Costner are aces. Crowe does well, but his role is pretty silly ("I'm dead but still a totally sentient conscience"). The film can be summed up rather easily as needing more Kansas and less Krypton.

People joke about the overuse of lifts in RETURNS, but this movie could just as easily be titled SUPERMAN FLIES INTO STUFF.


Tue Jun 11, 2013 12:27 am
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Post Re: Man of Steel
So... Not as good as Batman Begins.

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Tue Jun 11, 2013 1:58 am
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Post Re: Man of Steel
Considering I respect your reviews for films more than quite a few others (mainly because we seem to agree a lot), I am definitely worried about this one now.

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Tue Jun 11, 2013 2:22 am
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Post Re: Man of Steel
I'll chime in tomorrow.

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Tue Jun 11, 2013 10:08 am
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Post Re: Man of Steel
Your tomorrow? Or my tomorrow?

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Tue Jun 11, 2013 10:28 am
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Post Re: Man of Steel
Mine and yours.

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Tue Jun 11, 2013 10:51 am
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Post Re: Man of Steel
Chippy wrote:
So... Not as good as Batman Begins.


No. And what hurts is that there's a run from the reveal of adult Clark (which is sort of a clunky reveal, as we spend twenty minutes on Krypton, see Clark sent off, see the planet destroyed, see the capsule land behind a farmhouse... and then cut immediately to a fishing boat where he's already grown up) to just before Zod shows up that it seems like it's going to be as good as BATMAN BEGINS.


Tue Jun 11, 2013 10:57 am
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Post Re: Man of Steel
The lukewarm reviews all seem to be coming from folks who generally dislike Supes.

If you read the ones from more normal movie goers, they're excellent. Like, "perfect", "one of my favorite films of all time", etc.

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Tue Jun 11, 2013 11:46 am
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Post Re: Man of Steel
How did you feel about the other Zack Snyder films? As someone who's hated his resume/style, should I be worried?

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Tue Jun 11, 2013 11:51 am
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Post Re: Man of Steel
I give this movie a D, based on the boring trailers.


Tue Jun 11, 2013 11:52 am
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Post Re: Man of Steel
Excel wrote:
The lukewarm reviews all seem to be coming from folks who generally dislike Supes.

If you read the ones from more normal movie goers, they're excellent. Like, "perfect", "one of my favorite films of all time", etc.


the "perfect" reviews are coming from some nerdy superhero sites. they don't even qualify as real critics.


Tue Jun 11, 2013 11:57 am
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Post Re: Man of Steel
I didn't like TDS review so now I'm anxiously waiting for DL's.
Don't let me down, Doc!!!

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Tue Jun 11, 2013 11:58 am
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Post Re: Man of Steel
Heinrich Himmler wrote:
Excel wrote:
The lukewarm reviews all seem to be coming from folks who generally dislike Supes.

If you read the ones from more normal movie goers, they're excellent. Like, "perfect", "one of my favorite films of all time", etc.


the "perfect" reviews are coming from some nerdy superhero sites. they don't even qualify as real critics.


No, it is either

Quote:
At once vaster in scope than any superhero movie yet produced, and as intimately, crushingly emotional as any other entry in the genre, Man of Steel lands with the precise, explosive weight of a true historical milestone.


or

Quote:
There is too much action

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Tue Jun 11, 2013 12:07 pm
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Post Re: Man of Steel
Heinrich Himmler wrote:
Excel wrote:
The lukewarm reviews all seem to be coming from folks who generally dislike Supes.

If you read the ones from more normal movie goers, they're excellent. Like, "perfect", "one of my favorite films of all time", etc.


the "perfect" reviews are coming from some nerdy superhero sites. they don't even qualify as real critics.


viewtopic.php?p=1872416#p1872416

I'm still waiting.

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Tue Jun 11, 2013 12:22 pm
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Post Re: Man of Steel
Probably unfair comparison since the first and second Superman have very outdated FX but anyhow how does it compare to those two? Just pretend your a kid in the 70s that would have a heart attack over the graphics of a PS1.


Tue Jun 11, 2013 1:08 pm
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Post Re: Man of Steel
It's been awhile since I've seen the others, but I'd rank SUPERMAN and SUPERMAN RETURNS above this, and maybe SUPERMAN II.

The film is missing any sense of warmth. Cavill has the authoritarian down, but Superman has nothing in the way of a comforting presence in this film. That could by why nerdy Clark Kent is needed for the character, and he's not in 99.9% of this film.


Tue Jun 11, 2013 2:46 pm
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Post Re: Man of Steel
It's been a few days since I've seen it, and I'm left with generally positive thoughts and a desire to watch the film again. There are editing issues and moments where more contemplative character drama was probably cut out for the sake of making the second half a nonstop action film. IMO Batman Begins weaved the origin story into the main villain stories cleaner because pretty much everything in that film was told linearly. There was no reason we couldn't have gone straight from the action on Krypton to Clark as a child. If you need to segway to him on the oil rig as an adult, that's fine, I'd still like to see everything with Kevin Costner first (and more of that, because he's awesome and gets the best scenes in the movie). I wanted more successful Lois/Clark banter and some more of Zod's motivations for destroying Earth in favor of the survival of his own race. When he tells Superman late in the film that he's fought all this time to protect his people and that now he has no people, it's such a human moment for Zod and a great dramatic beat for Shannon. I just wanted more of a buildup to that moment.

So yeah, too much action (even though it's mostly well done) and not enough character development (even though it's great when they have it). Seemed like WB was overcorrecting in the aftermath of Superman Returns.

But hey, I cannot deny this movie is for the most part a hell of a ride. It glides from one setpiece to the next, and as standalone scenes they work strongly. I think Snyder and Goyer know what works for this franchise and I have faith that they're going to make an even better sequel.


Tue Jun 11, 2013 11:20 pm
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Post Re: Man of Steel
Cool.

OK Lecter. Now you go.

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Wed Jun 12, 2013 10:32 am
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Post Re: Man of Steel
Definitely not. Even the flying shots had almost no depth.


Wed Jun 12, 2013 11:10 am
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Post Re: Man of Steel
It is a conversion, right?

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Wed Jun 12, 2013 11:11 am
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Post Re: Man of Steel
Yeah. It's not terrible like CLASH OF THE TITANS, with weird images everywhere. But there simply isn't any depth for nearly all of the running time. Russell Crowe jumps on a giant grasshopper and flies hundreds of feet with explosions going on all around him, and it looks 2D.


Wed Jun 12, 2013 11:15 am
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Post Re: Man of Steel
Maybe I'll write a full review, maybe not. I still need for this to settle in and I am sure a second viewing will help my assessment. But for now this will do:

B/B+

I liked the movie, undeniably so. But Yet, I find myself more in The Dark Shape's camp than not, though with a less harsh grade. It is a rally solid film, but it is immensely important to keep your expectations in check. I thunk, looking back, what might have helped Batman Begins was how lousy its marketing was and how good the actual film was compared to it. Man of Steel's marketing is brilliant. I have neever been a real fan of the Superman character and yet, impossibly, the marketing made me excited for the film. A lot.

So, seeing it, I was let down. Not much, considering I heard some negative stuff about it right beforehand and lowered my expectations just at the right moment. But still let down.

The movie's biggest issue (and it's a HUGE one) is that its pacing is TERRIBLY off. It starts off with some great balls-to-the-wall Star Wars-action. Then there is a large chunk of the film with no action at all and instead laced with many many flashbacks. And then at the end it is Action Only Zone. And that just doesn't feel right.

I had no problems with the flashbacks. Diane Lane and Kevin Costner are the film's emotional center and they work very well. But I wouldn't have used the flashback form for that at all. Wrong presentation, especially with the flashbacks not even being in chronological order. I loved Adams as Lois Lane, she was great. Cavill was good, but as said before, the film captured only one side of his Superman. Clark Kent the Reporter has a smaller cameo than Samuel L. Jackson in the first Iron Man.

Michael Shannin underwhelmed me. He was just your generic villain that could have been out of any Avenger-centric films (which usually suck villains-wise).

There were some great touches (Lana Lang, LexCorp). But on the downside, this was the most humorless big blockbuster in a long time and made your really appreciate Nolan's humor. It makes TDKR seem like 21 Jump Street. I felt like there was a total of one joke in the entire film.

The 3D was absolutely and incredibly useless. iron Man 3 had better 3D, so you know what I mean...

The effects were shaky. Some terrific, but some early scenes of Clark flying looked quite green screen-y to me. As for the action...well, this is my problem with Superman once again. Watching two invincible guys duke it out and throw each other into skyscrapers gets tiresome after a while. Some action-setpieces however gave me goosebumps, so that part was a mixed bag too. I loved the ending of the film, though.

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Wed Jun 12, 2013 12:31 pm
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Post Re: Man of Steel
I can live with that.

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Wed Jun 12, 2013 12:40 pm
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Post Re: Man of Steel
You, excel and Rev will probably give it an A anyway.

Though Excel might also hurt himself. I'm not sure.

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Post Re: Man of Steel
The Dark Shape wrote:
It's been awhile since I've seen the others, but I'd rank SUPERMAN and SUPERMAN RETURNS above this, and maybe SUPERMAN II.

The film is missing any sense of warmth. Cavill has the authoritarian down, but Superman has nothing in the way of a comforting presence in this film. That could by why nerdy Clark Kent is needed for the character, and he's not in 99.9% of this film.

I hope you are wrong. I absolutely hated Superman Returns. It had no sense of fun. The characters constantly did stupid things. The action was dull and the movie was emotionally flat. I could of care less about Lois Lane and Superman.
I just saw it on TV the other day I got bored about 30 minutes in and changed the channel. I only do that to Superman 4. 3 is a bit of a guilty pleasure.
Unless you happened to really like Superman Returns. I realize that is presumptuous of me but I can't see how anyone liked that film.

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