My thoughts on Man Of Steel!

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I came back from the cinema last night feeling like an utter child after seeing Man Of Steel. It was an enjoyable summer blockbuster and I liked the new direction and tone they took with the new Superman. To me, it felt like two movies in one. The first movie being an OTT sci-fi epic and the second being a story about a tortured boy trying to find relevance in this world. I preferred and enjoyed the latter more so than the headache inducing finale. I do feel they could have shaved a good fifteen minutes off the running time because a lot of the third act contains a seemingly endless array of explosions, buidlings falling over, and apocalyptic doom. I understand that critics are divided over the new revamp but I for one believe that change is good, not always, but in this case, definately yes. The new cast managed to carry some of the weaker parts of the script and the choice to present Clark Kents growing up in flashbacks was emotionally effective. I believe it is a great start to a new series of DC films and worth a watch for those who enjoy the likes of The Avengers or The Dark Knight. Despite my usual appetite of indies, experimental, arthouse and all of the usual stuff my college course feeds me, I always enjoy a good summer flick that makes me feel like a kid again. I give it a 7/10. If anybody else has seen the movie, I'd love to here your thoughts! :)

Comments

Man Of Steel!

with it's darker, gritttier feel is far different from the comic biik feel of the Christopher Reeves series of movies. Man Of Steel will become another block buster film.

    Stanman
May Your Light Forever Shine

Man of Steel

I saw this film last night in 2D and went into the cinema with a totally open mind.I came out after two and a half hours (including adverts)having had an enjoyable and entertaining experience.I liked the darker mood and dual story showing his earlier life.The cast were good and carried the plot over the few weaker parts and seemed to bond well together.All in all a good night out.

devonmalc

Well, Damn!

Ole Ulfson's picture

When everyone was panning Man of Steel, I decided that I wouldn't have to see it. Now people who's opinion I respect have come out for and against. which means I'll have to see it and go to the trouble of actually making up my own mind. Grumble, grumble...

On other issues: I'll see it in 3D because the glasses fit over mine.

I like The Batman better. The Batman taught me to read when I was 3. Well, my dad did because I wanted to know what The Batman was saying in those funny balloons.

Ole

We are each exactly as God made us. God does not make mistakes!

Gender rights are the new civil rights!

Having grown up with

Having both grown up with both comics and George Reeves (re-runs) and Christopher Reeves I have to say that I really enjoyed this version.

It gives the history of Superman a fresh version in how they portrayed Superman and his history. Not wanting to divulge to much it was an interesting take of re-writing. Yes there was a lot of needless action at the end but given the cost of what it would be to the studio's to port over to other countries that is what a lot of them are doing.

The story discards a lot of needless trivia that had plagued the original history. You can't help it when you suddenly have a Superboy, Superpets and other characters along with meaningless history that other writers in the comic-books had entered. They had tried on several occasions to limit Superman's powers only to fall prey to the easy way once more.

Anyone who has the final stories of Superman before George Perez took over will understand when I say they did a great job of killing Superman back then. I still have them placed in mylar bags for protection.

This is a fresh reboot of the franchise. What will really make or break the series is what they do for the next movie.

I agree about the ending...

It was too long and overdone. A good editing job could have hinted at the destruction without going into each building being damaged or destroyed. That said, I too liked the character development. I especially liked Amy Adam's Lois Lane. She gave a good, fresh, approach to a character who, too often, only served as someone for Superman to rescue. She was smart, and creative and is a good match for this Superman. Overall, a very positive start to a reboot, and certainly way better than the derivative "Superman Returns."

Suzij

Superabs

Ok, I finally saw it and could read your reviews. Yer all crazy! Except I generally agree with you all too! Here's my two bits :-)

It warn't perfectly even, but I thought it was generally entertaining throughout. So it's above the pass/fail line right there, by a lot. I liked the plot, it was long, yes, but only by a few seconds here and a few there, not by three hours, like a famous Middle Earth epic I won't mention...

It did the Krypton origin story as required (a little long, but it set Zod up very well). And the ol' home world had a newish sci-fi look, so kudos - that's hard to pull off! Almost steampunk! Shadows of Pandora, too!

btw, I can't understand why they keep bringing Zod back, but they did it very well this time. Great, sympathetic villain. His henchmen and women might as well have been robots. Bad writing there. Or perhaps bad editing.

Childhood through flashbacks: better than The Dark Knight series by far. Bravo. We all know the backstory. There's a whole television series!

The new Superman: Woof! I smiled at the beauty of the guy in practically every scene! Not a lot of men could carry off that physique and not look like a steroid-abusing parody. But he done it. Super-bly!

The new supporting cast: excellent. They put the right people on screen and they were well-directed. Their roles were just what we expected, and the characterizations were spot-on, without being pulp cartoons.

I liked it. I cared what would happen. I wasn't sure at all about how it would end (aside from being confident Zod wouldn't shrink-crush us all) and I got a great laugh out of the final punchline.

I give it a firm... B+. And I plan on buying the DVD, which will be a first for the DC comics universe.

So maybe a weak A!