I really enjoyed the movie, it was a lot of fun to watch and managed to bring a different enough take on superhero films imo. That being said, I want to blame the suits for holding this movie back from being as awesome as it could have been. It really felt like they wanted more story but ultimately the in your face action was crammed in because that's what sells tickets for a summer blockbuster.
The pacing is all kinds of strange as it jumps all over and barely manages to tie everything together. Once it starts it's in your face action right until the end with only a few moments to catch your breath. I always felt like I needed just a few more minutes with "clark" and the other non kryptonian characters to really be engaged on the emotional level they were aiming for.
I would say the film wasn't bad, but by the end of the film I felt as if my eyes had been assualted with an onslaught of 3D that the movie could have done without. Less is more in this case. It definitely deserves it's 57% though I feel it is worth the watch and most laymen/women will be content with what they get.
I wished there was more of an emphasis on character development and dialogue, the relationship between Kal and Lois in this film felt superficial to say the least I didn't believe their relationship was genuine and seemed false or at least far fecthed given the amount of time they had with one another. I hated the part where she conveniently turned up to console Superman at the end..I know they did it to further re-affirm and solidify their relationship to the audience but it felt soo contrived and once again false.
The film felt like a series of carefully put together action sequences one after the other with very little time for the audience to settle and become immersed into the story or characters.
I mean can anyone explain to me why Zod even wanted Lois onboard the ship in the first place?.....If not but to be used as a clear and yet again convenient plot device for Clark's escape off the ship in the first place.
Then we had the constant barrage of advertising. The battles started at IHop and ended the night at Sears .
The best parts were at the beginning where they showcased Krypton to us and the segments with Kevin Costner who I flet stole the show. The best part in the film was when Michael Shannon said
"Release the World Engine!!!" I actually burst into laughter as I initially thought he said "Release the Game Engine!!!!"
Frankly I'm a bit taken aback that this is the best Nolan and Goyer could come up with..
The masses are easily pleased with the Cg fest spectacle...alas I grow weary of it and crave more substance beyond the aesthetic veneer.
I would say the film wasn't bad, but by the end of the film I felt as if my eyes had been assualted with an onslaught of 3D that the movie could have done without. Less is more in this case. It definitely deserves it's 57% though I feel it is worth the watch and most laymen/women will be content with what they get.
I wished there was more of an emphasis on character development and dialogue, the relationship between Kal and Lois in this film felt superficial to say the least I didn't believe their relationship was genuine and seemed false or at least far fecthed given the amount of time they had with one another. I hated the part where she conveniently turned up to console Superman at the end..I know they did it to further re-affirm and solidify their relationship to the audience but it felt soo contrived and once again false.
The film felt like a series of carefully put together action sequences one after the other with very little time for the audience to settle and become immersed into the story or characters.
I mean can anyone explain to me why Zod even wanted Lois onboard the ship in the first place?.....If not but to be used as a clear and yet again convenient plot device for Clark's escape off the ship in the first place.
Then we had the constant barrage of advertising. The battles started at IHop and ended the night at Sears .
The best parts were at the beginning where they showcased Krypton to us and the segments with Kevin Costner who I flet stole the show. The best part in the film was when Michael Shannon said
"Release the World Engine!!!" I actually burst into laughter as I initially thought he said "Release the Game Engine!!!!"
Frankly I'm a bit taken aback that this is the best Nolan and Goyer could come up with..
The masses are easily pleased with the Cg fest spectacle...alas I grow weary of it and crave more substance beyond the aesthetic veneer.
SPOILER ALERT:
Wasn't Lois needed aboard the ship for the mind probe and they basically used her to find out about Clark's home to look for his missing ship?
I thought it was pretty awesome, superman has never felt as alien in any format than in that movie, which was pretty cool. pacing was intense and there was a definite moment where I was like whaaaat?! the CG was pretty nice and the soundtrack/score was tight.
For me, all I wanted from a Superman movie was Superman actually doing super things. i.e punching and destroying things. This movie delivered that in spades. I couldn't give a hoot about how they portrayed lois and clarks relationship. Who cares about that shit? Isn't that what ruined Superman Returns? I suppose if you want that you could watch also watch Louis and Clark.
We all know what Superman is about. Everyone knows his origin stories, no one wants to see Superman cry and moan..because then we'd get Spiderman 3. This movie was FUCKING AMAZING. Who gives a shit about the plot holes, about the over acting. This movie was literally the closest we will EVER get to a comic book brought to life. Comic books have had rushed pacing and plot holes since the dawn of time. This movie had what I wanted. TWO FUCKING GODS beating the shit out of eachother. This movie encapsulated the power and strength behind Superman. Every punch I felt in my bones (see it at a nice theatre).
LIKE. THIS WAS DRAGONBALL Z ON THE BIG SCREEN. AMAZING!!! Some of the best action I have ever seen.
I understand the sentiment from you all but the film just threw these scenes in front of us that were at most superficial neither the audience nor the movie earned those spectacles that we got so the emotional gravitas wasn't there... That is something character development and good dialogue does. This is my major complaint alongside a few other things
I wanted to invest my 2 and half hours and hard earned money into that emotional ride..But found that Nolan and Goyer had no intention of taking me on that kind of ride at all.
The film didn't earn those spectacles and instead Synder was giving it out willy nilly.
For example we randomly cut to a scene where a bus just randomly topples off a bridge. 5 seconds later we had Clark pulling everyone bus in tow to safety. There needed to be a build up to that scene something which would make us care about what was happening to the kids in that situation.
This happened consistently throughout the film we had Clark just randomly saving people. It was like all they wanted to do was showcase his powers and overall nature.
I wanted to become emotionally invested in the film but once I scratched beneath the visuals the story wasn't all there the characters felt under used and strung on a tight leash. This film felt more about Synder showcasing his amazing art direction than retelling us the story of Big Blue.
We already know he's an AMAZING visual director. I personally felt let down by Nolan and Goyer considering Goyer is meant to be a comic book fan.
I mean when he fought the World Engine, that scene dragged on for far too long they could have easily narrowed that portion of the film down considering we still had the fight with Zod to follow.
It just went on and on and on like this from start to finish. Also did anyone of you take a look at the state of the city after the dust had settled. The taxpayer is going to have a hell of a time paying for that mess ¬_¬.
If you want emotional cosplay, then the Animated/Toon movies should serve you well for all your needs. There isn't a single episode in which 3/4 of the time Superman is moping, romancing, or having some kind of moment about something, before they have a 5 minute battle scene and call it ends.
Seriously, the movie was a breath of fresh air in that regard, I could finally see Superman being...you know, a super man, a man of...steel, not a weapon of mass seduction.
I did watch the justice league cartoons actually......I didn't mind the action I just wanted more of a story....Is that too much to ask these days?
You guys are gamers you should be able to relate to my perspective imagine a game getting made where the visuals are totally stunning but the gameplay is the pits I doubt you guys would be on here saying that said game was amazing.
well , for me all I want is the movie should unleash all superhero and supervillain potential just like in comic .
the movie full of things that already defying human common senses, but that exactly I wanted in hollywood, to be faithful to comical imagination, instead of trying too hard to make everything make sense and eventually fail to deliver core theme of superhero vs supervillain, alien etc just like what I think a gameplay in videogame.
I did watch the justice league cartoons actually......I didn't mind the action I just wanted more of a story....Is that too much to ask these days?
You guys are gamers you should be able to relate to my perspective imagine a game getting made where the visuals are totally stunning but the gameplay is the pits I doubt you guys would be on here saying that said game was amazing.
It what they call 'IP-Homogoney-Stress', if an IP (super-hero cartoons) almost always put story beforehand of action, because it's too expensive to animate action scenes, then people will get used to it, and get tired of that trope (kinda like Dragonballs, 3 episodes of talking, 1 of actual 5 minute combat), and as a kid, that kind of stuff that burns you out.
When a movie like this had Zacky boy in it, it's clear what they wanted to do from the offset, which was action, because they knew people wanted to see that in their super-hero, not another cartoon which skipped out on action scenes because they're "too expensive to animate" and spend the next hour doing the Yogy bear animation (EI: moving lips and head, body stays in place).
If anything, this tells us the state of the industry, it's pretty bonkers to think it's cheaper on a big budget of things to have a real super-hero film which has the core element that every small kid wants to see, vs. that of cartoons, which have too much talking story line issues that would drive even the most high-brow critic to fall asleep.
I'm not against stories in movies, that's the entire point of movies, I agree with you, but you have to take into consideration how much crap as kids we had to sit through, stuff like this are a breath of fresh air because they do what alot of people wanted to see when they were younger, hero's being hero's, not debating about the complexities of a black hole, human nature, corruption of the good guys and why wonder-woman wants to bone batman.
Especially the scenes showing Zod and friends scavenging lost colonies.
Kevin Costner.
Krypton technology and costume design.
Fight scenes.
All the "pre-suit" flashbacks. (Clark as boy and bearded man.)
No like:
"Give puny human a job" trope. This bugs me in so many movies these days. A perfect example is Transformers. The movie is about giant space robots, but the soldiers and Shia somehow get tasked with doing their little part to save the day. In Man of Steel, showing
Mr Scientist "struggle" to put the key in the space pod thing was just painful. They seriously should have edited all that out. Having Zod's second hand show up on the plane was tension enough.
Morpheus and friends conveniently being where all the action was taking place and being completely unharmed when literally everything around them was destroyed.
The impression I'm getting from reviews so far is that the action and visuals are excellent, and the plot and acting is mediocre, possibly leaning toward bad.
One point in particular that seems to get a lot of emphasis is that the film is quite heavy on angst, and almost devoid of humor or levity. A combination like this strongly indicates that the movie is targeted toward a teenage crowd. (who are much more likely to eat up a show with plenty of angst and action)
I'll be going to see this tonight with my siblings. I can forgive a half-baked overly serious story so long as it isn't insulting to my intelligence. (I'm looking at you, Transformers 2)
Great effects and art, average acting, terrible directing / pacing. Quite a disappointment. Maybe they're try rebooting the series again in a few years and finally get it right.
Great effects and art, average acting, terrible directing / pacing. Quite a disappointment. Maybe they're try rebooting the series again in a few years and finally get it right.
nope, they're already working on sequel. It's making LOTS of money. I think current figures for the weekend are around 200mill or just under. It's doing well.
Morpheus and friends conveniently being where all the action was taking place and being completely unharmed when literally everything around them was destroyed.
That was the part of the movie I HATED the most. There was literately no point in having them in the movie beyond the office scenes.
They served no purpose to the movie beyond making it longer and annoying to watch those scenes.
Having worked on the halloween costumes, I got to see quite a few atills and concepts for this film, and I have been aching to see it ever since. I really enjoyed the film itself, and it did a great job of explaining the situation and story to those who know nothing about it (my girlfriends questions ceased about 10 minutes in).
The film put a wonderful emphasis on Supermans emotion struggle between his family and his people really did a superb job of bringing the viewer in that conflict.
All in all my biggest dissappointment in the film was the almost total lack of obersation/explanation of kryptonian arms and armor. Alot of work and design was put into those things especially, and not once did I get a good glimpse of the weapons really in depth, nor did I get a chance to really admire thw kryptonian armor.
I have high hopes of the concept art that I worked from being released
All in all my biggest dissappointment in the film was the almost total lack of obersation/explanation of kryptonian arms and armor. Alot of work and design was put into those things especially, and not once did I get a good glimpse of the weapons really in depth, nor did I get a chance to really admire thw kryptonian armor.
I have high hopes of the concept art that I worked from being released
Your hopes will most likely be realized. The film is doing very well at the box office so far, and will likely earn the studio a nice, tidy profit. That means that a sequel is much more likely, and it also increases the chances that this film will get a nicer, more complete DVD/Blu-Ray release. And that means lots of special features, behind-the-scenes, commentatires, and concept art galleries.
So yeah, it's looking pretty good that there will be a making-of video eventually that highlights some of the subtleties in the visual design of the film.
Yes the interaction between Pa/ma Kent and young Clark were wounderful it would been great if more of this was used in order to draw us in more.
The way some of the people round here are talking. It's almost as if they want a brain dead action blockbuster every summer.
Also why would there be any significance on their armor or weaponry as lovely as they were it would seem inappropriate for this film to dedicate too much time into addressing them and to be honest they are just props.
Maybe in the making of documentary which I'm sure we are going to get in the near future they can certainly dedicate time to the cg/and set props there.
The significance lies entirely in the form and functionality. My first glimpses at the weapon props and concept art over my coworkers shoulder lead me to believe them to be oddly shaped coral formations. It wasnt until I was assigned to the project that I got a good look at them. They look plausible, they look functional, they also look like coral/crystal formations. A short shot of zods cohorts arming or charging a salvaged rifle during a scavenging run would have been enough for me.
The armor itself imho deserves a much more in depth look, the composition, the color, etc, its all very striking, but that beauty didnt seem to come across in many of the sequences, that failure of expectation was almost anticlimactic for me. The only sequence that really portrayed the initial "oomph" that I saw, was the fight between zod and papa el.
Just my two cents, obviously a bit out of context for the film itself, but completely appropriate for a behind the scenes reel.
@Wildhunt - yeah i thought the art direction was top notch, maybe there could be extended footage as some of the others have mentioned previously which could appear in the DVD/blu ray footage. The armor was slightly covered in the film as the glyph's on the kryptonian chestsplates were given some attention in the film.
If you don't mind me asking how much control did Synder have over what you guys were generating I know certains directors tend to have a vice like grip over what's constructed.
If you don't mind me asking do you work for Blur Studio? Some of my friends worked on the visuals for the previous Singer film.
I think you misunderstood my role in the "costumes", I worked for Rubies costuming for the halloween costumes. I sincerely wish I had the chance to work on the actual film.
Well, I went and saw it. The plot was adequate, if rather uninspired. The acting was wooden. Of all the characters, the villain, Zod, had the greatest emotional presence. The rest of the characters might as well have been mannequins. Perhaps the worst part of the film was the dialogue. At times it was almost painful to sit through. Just awful dialogue.
The action and visuals were very good. I think they could have stepped back on the sheer amount of volume for the sound effects. I almost felt deafened walking out of the theater. But that might have just been because I opted for Imax 3D.
I'd rate it as mediocre. While there were several inspired moments, there were long sequences that were quite flawed. For Zach Snyder, this was an above-average effort, but still not quite touching classic status. As campy as the original Superman film is, it will still probably be remembered more fondly.
I have no idea why people are nitpicking in this movie. My first thought was; Mind = Blown + the part where I constantly had chills to the bone while watching the movie but perhaps its because I am a huge fan of DC.
The plot was inspiring
as in they finally managed to settle Zod's background in it.
Although I would still love the classic superman movies and animated DC videos. I will be getting this on DVD to watch it over and over again. They actually managed to establish the characters in to reality and give a fair understanding of all characters' backgrounds. The sound is how it should have been.
I would recommend it a watch.
EDIT: Looking forward to see how they will pull off Darkseid, Brainiac, Lax, Ultraman, and so on.
meh, I still think the world would hate Superman after everything that happened in this movie. After all kryptonians just killed about 50-100k metropolis folks. If he cared so much about humans why wouldn't he take Zod and the gang out to the desert to fight or to space.. and why introduce the 40 hour a week job Clark Kent at all in this day and age.. I need to keep my ear to the ground, you have super hearing.. makes little sense..
I have no idea why people are nitpicking in this movie.
(Shrug) I nitpick EVERY movie. You can't expect me to give this one a pass just because its Superman. All the impressive visuals in the world can't distract me from the fact that most the actors never change the expressions on their faces. Zod was the most engaging character by default just because he varied the tone of his voice. Every other actor was competing for the blandest portrayal award.
I was also a little unsettled by the implied body-count. I know wholesale urban destruction has kind of become a thing in some action movies, but I always felt like preserving human life was one of Superman's "things." The devastation in this film would have racked up tens of thousands of deaths, minimum. If I were the humanity from this film I would still be absolutely terrified of Superman.
I don't see why people have issues with him having a job. Stores aren't just going to give him food/clothing, just because he's superman. Not to mention, Clark Kent has always been part of the Superman story, so they are just satisfying the classic storyline.
And it's not like he had a choice where to fight them.
The ships placed themselves over major cities.
As far as Lois
on the Zod's ship: yeah, she was probably added there for story purposes, but Zod also knew Superman had a connection to her. She would/could be leverage.
Yeah, the story could have been stronger, but I think that could be said about most movies. The same could be said about the Nolan versions of Batman, but everyone seemed to love those. Why would this be different?
And, who says the humans are happy with Superman? I'm sure there are plenty that are glad he protected them, but there are probably those who have lingering anger, and a lack of trust. The US has taken in refugees from other countries, which resulted in conflicts with their home countries. We don't get upset at the refugees. Superman is essentially the same thing, but at a larger scale.
Anyway, I thought it was a great movie. I wouldn't call it the best superhero movie, but definitely up there on the DC scale of superhero movies. I'm excited for the next one, now that we have the origin BS out of the way. That's my only issue with reboots, is they never just assume we know the origin story, and carry on.
I liked it a lot more than I thought I was going to. I really felt like Zod carried it though since Superman's character is so emotionless half the time. It was a fairly big cast too, which was a treat.
I'd say the only thing I didn't like very much was the over-the-shoulder building turns and the over the top building explosions. The over-the-shoulder bits actually made my head spin for a moment, and that's a first for me in games/movies. And the building rubble explosions and effects where overdone wayyyy too much. But hey, it comes with the territory I guess :thumbup:
Kevin Costner's death was so needless though as well. Again, I reeeeeally enjoyed the movie just had some nitpicks with how some of the stuff was handled.
Pa always dies. It's so Clark can learn one very important lesson.
Just meant needless as Clark could have easily just jogged back to the car and zoomed out with the dog the opposite direction. There was no need for Johnathan to go get the dog was just random.. at least if he had a heart attack or something that's not something Clark could have prevented.
Just saw it today, and really it's awesome. The writing was tight, the plot was gold for a summer blockbuster, there were only a few facepalm worthy scenes, the effects were great, and the acting was solid (for the most part). I watched a real superhero fight scene for the first time, and left the theater with hope that Hollywood has realized that superhuman fights do not have to be souped up kung-fu.
What I liked:
-The Krypton backstory actually gave a plausible beginning both in terms of action and motivation, and it carried the whole movie forward. You get enough of a religious/philosophical vibe to understand the cultural motivation for Jor-El and Zod, and to explain the state of Krypton and its colonies in a very efficient manner. When Zod yells, "Heresy" at Jor-El, that one word provides a foundation which stabilizes the plot. Very good writing which turns a complete bullshit situation into a plausible one you don't have to think too hard about.
-Was nice to see Superman's costume was also worn by his father.
-Was funny to see Jor-El wave his hand and have a suit appear. "Here son, I bequeath to you my suit. Keep your pimp hand strong."
-The backstory and flashback sequences were very good. People complained about the part where his dad died, but you missed the part where he specifically said he trusted his father, which is why he let him go, and why he let him die. Doesn't entirely pass the bullshit test, but it's not terrible either.
-Henry Cavill actually worked out and looks like superman, not some random dude from the beach.
-Laurence Fishburn classes up any scene he's in.
-The fighting, oh that wonderful fighting... It's sad that with so many movies it took this long for Hollywood to do proper superhuman fight scenes when DBZ was showing everyone how it had to be years and years ago. This movie finally took things up a notch and showed you the true consequences of having Superman "save" you. Just fighting in Smallville he trashed the whole town, and Metropolis got smashed up with multiple office buildings destroyed and most likely thousands dead, because that's what would really happen when gods decide to have fistfight. The choreography wasn't perfect, but some sequences damn near were.
-They also showed actual death (although they shied away from showing too many civilian casualties) with soldiers being pulverized by the Kryptonians, and the one sequence where the female lieutenant quickly moves from soldier to soldier and kills them was a proper way to show the differences in power level.
-Superman kills Zod. I find the longstanding tradition of having major superheroes be complete pansies who always allow mass-murdering psychos to go free to be infuriating. It's a tired and stupid trope that makes no sense and pretty much makes your hero look like a mentally ill sociopath. Superman is always portrayed like this and to see him actually do the right thing just felt right. Zod was a menace, he was a killer who would not stop and Superman had to kill him. It's just smart writing.
-Clark is a bit of a dick in his Superman alter-ego. It's nice that they didn't go with the US flag waving boy scout character.
-My suspension of disbelief was not pushed very far, by superhero standards. Only in one or two places did I snort in disbelief, which is fully acceptable when one considers I was facepalming my way through all of Transformers 3.
-Zod was well cast. A bad actor would have ruined the character, but Mike Shannon killed it.
What I didn't like:
-While the Kryptonian backstory was tightly written, it isn't without holes. Why does a hyperspacing civilization need to die out on it's home planet, and why are the colonies with terraforming machines dependent on supplies from home? It's covered enough that you can wave it away as the product of some religious or cultural restriction and just get on with the plot, but it smells like someone thought up a story and then needed to bridge it together.
-The entire Kryptonian army looks like Necris rejects from UT3. I'm curious if artists from Epic were working on this film.
-Laurence Fishburn classes up far too many scenes in this film. Perry doesn't matter, and he shouldn't be in the last half of the film, except to show that he survived.
-Louis is in way too much of the movie. She must have a tracking beacon on Supes, because he can't land anywhere without her dramatically entering.
-Some dialogue and acting was a bit painful. Especially in the last fight where superman lands and looks around just like man told by his director, "Ok, now jump here and look around in bewilderment."
-Despite what I said about Superman's suit, it's also kinda dumb to find out that his father's gift to him was a pair of Kryptonian pajamas.
-Superman freaks out about Zod trying to laser a few people when he was just part of a fight that killed thousands, which came in the aftermath of a xenocide attempt that might well have killed a half a million people. Eh....?
-Clark goes to work as a reporter in a Metropolis that seems pretty damn clean considering that the center of it was completely trash compacted, and the rest was turned into swiss cheese by Superman and Zod.
-When Zod and co are sentenced to the Phantom Zone, they get encased in giant flying dildos that penetrate a big spaceship between it's legs. I laughed, but not entirely in a good way. Also I might be a pervert.
-And the worst one of all... The line "Kneel before Zod" was conspicuously absent!
Went and saw it last night by myself. I loved the visuals. The design of everything on Krypton was awesome. I loved how they were so organic, but still resembled the metal. The dialogue was super cheesy, but whatever, I was entertained so the movie did it's job.
I enjoyed it. I can't say I know the formula for what makes a good action movie story-wise, but there was enough going on to hold my attention from explosion to explosion. I liked how Zod wasn't just a mindless, evil douche. I mean, in terms of motivation, I could see why he was angry lol.
I really liked the physically of superman - how everything didn't look so effortless, and hope they expand on his personality some in the sequel(s).
Replies
The pacing is all kinds of strange as it jumps all over and barely manages to tie everything together. Once it starts it's in your face action right until the end with only a few moments to catch your breath. I always felt like I needed just a few more minutes with "clark" and the other non kryptonian characters to really be engaged on the emotional level they were aiming for.
I wished there was more of an emphasis on character development and dialogue, the relationship between Kal and Lois in this film felt superficial to say the least I didn't believe their relationship was genuine and seemed false or at least far fecthed given the amount of time they had with one another. I hated the part where she conveniently turned up to console Superman at the end..I know they did it to further re-affirm and solidify their relationship to the audience but it felt soo contrived and once again false.
The film felt like a series of carefully put together action sequences one after the other with very little time for the audience to settle and become immersed into the story or characters.
I mean can anyone explain to me why Zod even wanted Lois onboard the ship in the first place?.....If not but to be used as a clear and yet again convenient plot device for Clark's escape off the ship in the first place.
Then we had the constant barrage of advertising. The battles started at IHop and ended the night at Sears
The best parts were at the beginning where they showcased Krypton to us and the segments with Kevin Costner who I flet stole the show. The best part in the film was when Michael Shannon said
"Release the World Engine!!!" I actually burst into laughter as I initially thought he said "Release the Game Engine!!!!"
Frankly I'm a bit taken aback that this is the best Nolan and Goyer could come up with..
The masses are easily pleased with the Cg fest spectacle...alas I grow weary of it and crave more substance beyond the aesthetic veneer.
SPOILER ALERT:
Wasn't Lois needed aboard the ship for the mind probe and they basically used her to find out about Clark's home to look for his missing ship?
LIKE. THIS WAS DRAGONBALL Z ON THE BIG SCREEN. AMAZING!!! Some of the best action I have ever seen.
I wanted to invest my 2 and half hours and hard earned money into that emotional ride..But found that Nolan and Goyer had no intention of taking me on that kind of ride at all.
The film didn't earn those spectacles and instead Synder was giving it out willy nilly.
For example we randomly cut to a scene where a bus just randomly topples off a bridge. 5 seconds later we had Clark pulling everyone bus in tow to safety. There needed to be a build up to that scene something which would make us care about what was happening to the kids in that situation.
This happened consistently throughout the film we had Clark just randomly saving people. It was like all they wanted to do was showcase his powers and overall nature.
I wanted to become emotionally invested in the film but once I scratched beneath the visuals the story wasn't all there the characters felt under used and strung on a tight leash. This film felt more about Synder showcasing his amazing art direction than retelling us the story of Big Blue.
We already know he's an AMAZING visual director. I personally felt let down by Nolan and Goyer considering Goyer is meant to be a comic book fan.
I mean when he fought the World Engine, that scene dragged on for far too long they could have easily narrowed that portion of the film down considering we still had the fight with Zod to follow.
It just went on and on and on like this from start to finish. Also did anyone of you take a look at the state of the city after the dust had settled. The taxpayer is going to have a hell of a time paying for that mess ¬_¬.
Seriously, the movie was a breath of fresh air in that regard, I could finally see Superman being...you know, a super man, a man of...steel, not a weapon of mass seduction.
You guys are gamers you should be able to relate to my perspective imagine a game getting made where the visuals are totally stunning but the gameplay is the pits I doubt you guys would be on here saying that said game was amazing.
the movie full of things that already defying human common senses, but that exactly I wanted in hollywood, to be faithful to comical imagination, instead of trying too hard to make everything make sense and eventually fail to deliver core theme of superhero vs supervillain, alien etc just like what I think a gameplay in videogame.
When a movie like this had Zacky boy in it, it's clear what they wanted to do from the offset, which was action, because they knew people wanted to see that in their super-hero, not another cartoon which skipped out on action scenes because they're "too expensive to animate" and spend the next hour doing the Yogy bear animation (EI: moving lips and head, body stays in place).
If anything, this tells us the state of the industry, it's pretty bonkers to think it's cheaper on a big budget of things to have a real super-hero film which has the core element that every small kid wants to see, vs. that of cartoons, which have too much talking story line issues that would drive even the most high-brow critic to fall asleep.
I'm not against stories in movies, that's the entire point of movies, I agree with you, but you have to take into consideration how much crap as kids we had to sit through, stuff like this are a breath of fresh air because they do what alot of people wanted to see when they were younger, hero's being hero's, not debating about the complexities of a black hole, human nature, corruption of the good guys and why wonder-woman wants to bone batman.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/global-box-office-report-man-569539
All Krypton scenes.
Krypton technology and costume design.
Fight scenes.
All the "pre-suit" flashbacks. (Clark as boy and bearded man.)
No like:
"Give puny human a job" trope. This bugs me in so many movies these days. A perfect example is Transformers. The movie is about giant space robots, but the soldiers and Shia somehow get tasked with doing their little part to save the day. In Man of Steel, showing
Morpheus and friends conveniently being where all the action was taking place and being completely unharmed when literally everything around them was destroyed.
One point in particular that seems to get a lot of emphasis is that the film is quite heavy on angst, and almost devoid of humor or levity. A combination like this strongly indicates that the movie is targeted toward a teenage crowd. (who are much more likely to eat up a show with plenty of angst and action)
I'll be going to see this tonight with my siblings. I can forgive a half-baked overly serious story so long as it isn't insulting to my intelligence. (I'm looking at you, Transformers 2)
nope, they're already working on sequel. It's making LOTS of money. I think current figures for the weekend are around 200mill or just under. It's doing well.
That was the part of the movie I HATED the most. There was literately no point in having them in the movie beyond the office scenes.
They served no purpose to the movie beyond making it longer and annoying to watch those scenes.
The film put a wonderful emphasis on Supermans emotion struggle between his family and his people really did a superb job of bringing the viewer in that conflict.
All in all my biggest dissappointment in the film was the almost total lack of obersation/explanation of kryptonian arms and armor. Alot of work and design was put into those things especially, and not once did I get a good glimpse of the weapons really in depth, nor did I get a chance to really admire thw kryptonian armor.
I have high hopes of the concept art that I worked from being released
Your hopes will most likely be realized. The film is doing very well at the box office so far, and will likely earn the studio a nice, tidy profit. That means that a sequel is much more likely, and it also increases the chances that this film will get a nicer, more complete DVD/Blu-Ray release. And that means lots of special features, behind-the-scenes, commentatires, and concept art galleries.
So yeah, it's looking pretty good that there will be a making-of video eventually that highlights some of the subtleties in the visual design of the film.
The way some of the people round here are talking. It's almost as if they want a brain dead action blockbuster every summer.
Also why would there be any significance on their armor or weaponry as lovely as they were it would seem inappropriate for this film to dedicate too much time into addressing them and to be honest they are just props.
Maybe in the making of documentary which I'm sure we are going to get in the near future they can certainly dedicate time to the cg/and set props there.
The armor itself imho deserves a much more in depth look, the composition, the color, etc, its all very striking, but that beauty didnt seem to come across in many of the sequences, that failure of expectation was almost anticlimactic for me. The only sequence that really portrayed the initial "oomph" that I saw, was the fight between zod and papa el.
Just my two cents, obviously a bit out of context for the film itself, but completely appropriate for a behind the scenes reel.
If you don't mind me asking how much control did Synder have over what you guys were generating I know certains directors tend to have a vice like grip over what's constructed.
If you don't mind me asking do you work for Blur Studio? Some of my friends worked on the visuals for the previous Singer film.
The action and visuals were very good. I think they could have stepped back on the sheer amount of volume for the sound effects. I almost felt deafened walking out of the theater. But that might have just been because I opted for Imax 3D.
I'd rate it as mediocre. While there were several inspired moments, there were long sequences that were quite flawed. For Zach Snyder, this was an above-average effort, but still not quite touching classic status. As campy as the original Superman film is, it will still probably be remembered more fondly.
The plot was inspiring
I would recommend it a watch.
EDIT: Looking forward to see how they will pull off Darkseid, Brainiac, Lax, Ultraman, and so on.
(Shrug) I nitpick EVERY movie. You can't expect me to give this one a pass just because its Superman. All the impressive visuals in the world can't distract me from the fact that most the actors never change the expressions on their faces. Zod was the most engaging character by default just because he varied the tone of his voice. Every other actor was competing for the blandest portrayal award.
I was also a little unsettled by the implied body-count. I know wholesale urban destruction has kind of become a thing in some action movies, but I always felt like preserving human life was one of Superman's "things." The devastation in this film would have racked up tens of thousands of deaths, minimum. If I were the humanity from this film I would still be absolutely terrified of Superman.
And it's not like he had a choice where to fight them.
As far as Lois
Yeah, the story could have been stronger, but I think that could be said about most movies. The same could be said about the Nolan versions of Batman, but everyone seemed to love those. Why would this be different?
And, who says the humans are happy with Superman? I'm sure there are plenty that are glad he protected them, but there are probably those who have lingering anger, and a lack of trust. The US has taken in refugees from other countries, which resulted in conflicts with their home countries. We don't get upset at the refugees. Superman is essentially the same thing, but at a larger scale.
Anyway, I thought it was a great movie. I wouldn't call it the best superhero movie, but definitely up there on the DC scale of superhero movies. I'm excited for the next one, now that we have the origin BS out of the way. That's my only issue with reboots, is they never just assume we know the origin story, and carry on.
I'd say the only thing I didn't like very much was the over-the-shoulder building turns and the over the top building explosions. The over-the-shoulder bits actually made my head spin for a moment, and that's a first for me in games/movies. And the building rubble explosions and effects where overdone wayyyy too much. But hey, it comes with the territory I guess :thumbup:
Pa always dies. It's so Clark can learn one very important lesson.
Just meant needless as Clark could have easily just jogged back to the car and zoomed out with the dog the opposite direction. There was no need for Johnathan to go get the dog was just random.. at least if he had a heart attack or something that's not something Clark could have prevented.
-The Krypton backstory actually gave a plausible beginning both in terms of action and motivation, and it carried the whole movie forward. You get enough of a religious/philosophical vibe to understand the cultural motivation for Jor-El and Zod, and to explain the state of Krypton and its colonies in a very efficient manner. When Zod yells, "Heresy" at Jor-El, that one word provides a foundation which stabilizes the plot. Very good writing which turns a complete bullshit situation into a plausible one you don't have to think too hard about.
-Was nice to see Superman's costume was also worn by his father.
-Was funny to see Jor-El wave his hand and have a suit appear. "Here son, I bequeath to you my suit. Keep your pimp hand strong."
-The backstory and flashback sequences were very good. People complained about the part where his dad died, but you missed the part where he specifically said he trusted his father, which is why he let him go, and why he let him die. Doesn't entirely pass the bullshit test, but it's not terrible either.
-Henry Cavill actually worked out and looks like superman, not some random dude from the beach.
-Laurence Fishburn classes up any scene he's in.
-The fighting, oh that wonderful fighting... It's sad that with so many movies it took this long for Hollywood to do proper superhuman fight scenes when DBZ was showing everyone how it had to be years and years ago. This movie finally took things up a notch and showed you the true consequences of having Superman "save" you. Just fighting in Smallville he trashed the whole town, and Metropolis got smashed up with multiple office buildings destroyed and most likely thousands dead, because that's what would really happen when gods decide to have fistfight. The choreography wasn't perfect, but some sequences damn near were.
-They also showed actual death (although they shied away from showing too many civilian casualties) with soldiers being pulverized by the Kryptonians, and the one sequence where the female lieutenant quickly moves from soldier to soldier and kills them was a proper way to show the differences in power level.
-Superman kills Zod. I find the longstanding tradition of having major superheroes be complete pansies who always allow mass-murdering psychos to go free to be infuriating. It's a tired and stupid trope that makes no sense and pretty much makes your hero look like a mentally ill sociopath. Superman is always portrayed like this and to see him actually do the right thing just felt right. Zod was a menace, he was a killer who would not stop and Superman had to kill him. It's just smart writing.
-Clark is a bit of a dick in his Superman alter-ego. It's nice that they didn't go with the US flag waving boy scout character.
-My suspension of disbelief was not pushed very far, by superhero standards. Only in one or two places did I snort in disbelief, which is fully acceptable when one considers I was facepalming my way through all of Transformers 3.
-Zod was well cast. A bad actor would have ruined the character, but Mike Shannon killed it.
What I didn't like:
-While the Kryptonian backstory was tightly written, it isn't without holes. Why does a hyperspacing civilization need to die out on it's home planet, and why are the colonies with terraforming machines dependent on supplies from home? It's covered enough that you can wave it away as the product of some religious or cultural restriction and just get on with the plot, but it smells like someone thought up a story and then needed to bridge it together.
-The entire Kryptonian army looks like Necris rejects from UT3. I'm curious if artists from Epic were working on this film.
-Laurence Fishburn classes up far too many scenes in this film. Perry doesn't matter, and he shouldn't be in the last half of the film, except to show that he survived.
-Louis is in way too much of the movie. She must have a tracking beacon on Supes, because he can't land anywhere without her dramatically entering.
-Some dialogue and acting was a bit painful. Especially in the last fight where superman lands and looks around just like man told by his director, "Ok, now jump here and look around in bewilderment."
-Despite what I said about Superman's suit, it's also kinda dumb to find out that his father's gift to him was a pair of Kryptonian pajamas.
-Superman freaks out about Zod trying to laser a few people when he was just part of a fight that killed thousands, which came in the aftermath of a xenocide attempt that might well have killed a half a million people. Eh....?
-Clark goes to work as a reporter in a Metropolis that seems pretty damn clean considering that the center of it was completely trash compacted, and the rest was turned into swiss cheese by Superman and Zod.
-When Zod and co are sentenced to the Phantom Zone, they get encased in giant flying dildos that penetrate a big spaceship between it's legs. I laughed, but not entirely in a good way. Also I might be a pervert.
-And the worst one of all... The line "Kneel before Zod" was conspicuously absent!
Didn't like a Krypton look at all.
Felt like Jack Carter's mars
I really liked the physically of superman - how everything didn't look so effortless, and hope they expand on his personality some in the sequel(s).
Also, this is pretty freaking hilarious for those of you who like to punch holes through paper-thin plots (Spoilers, Obviously): http://io9.com/the-most-important-scenes-from-man-of-steel-as-i-remem-516405346
//Oh, and also, HOLY CRAP, WHAT A SCORE! Zimmer is money. Everytime.