MAN OF STEEL - Grading & Discussion

Yeah I have to admit, in today's day and age it's really hard to imagine a superhero keeping his identity a secret for very long. Even the masked ones like Batman or Spider-Man would probably be tracked down and figured out pretty quickly, once the media or feds decided to put all their attention and resources on it.

 

It has to be said that fooling the public in general, strangers with whom you would have limited contact, and fooling someone you work closely with day in and out are different things.

There have been and continue to be people who lead double lives and people close to them are often none the wiser to it. That said those leading those double lives are trying to remain unnoticed and out of sight. That doesn't apply to a superhero who by nature will inevitably come into contact with the public.

A disguise does go beyond mere appearance. For Batman, he operates mostly at night in the shadows and usually ill lighted environments. His other disguise is making certain the Bruce Wayne persona comes across as mostly self-centred and highly unlikely as someone willing to inconvenience himself and certainly not to the extent of endangering himself for the sake of others.

Spider-Man's persona is supposed to be quite different than Peter Parker. Parker is a socially awkward nerd while Spidey is a confident, wise-cracking extrovert. The full face mask doesn't hurt either.

Superman basically hides out in the open. The Clark persona isn't be that different from Peter Parker's other than Clark being a good reporter. Clark just needs to come across as one of the last people who could bring himself to be openly brave and capable. Now that could cut it with most, but not likely with someone like Lois with whom he has a lot of contact with. That's why I think it works in MOS that they got that element out of the way.

 

I once took a bus downtown. I got on and took a seat near the back in an isle facing seat. One other person was there when I got on, across from me in the first forward facing seats after the aisle facing seats opposite me. We exchanged friendly greetings but I could tell he wasn't interested in small talk so I just minded my own business along the trip.

About a block away from my stop I pulled the notification cord and started gathering my things to exit. A casual glance his way caught him in a very stark profile and I froze - after a moment of my mind racing he noticed I was staring and looked straight at me and then my suspicion was confirmed. "You're... You're..." I stammered, not remembering his real name. Emotion totally took over, a great gushing of admiration swelled in me, I was about to shout out alerting everyone on board to whom we were in the presence of but I still couldn't remember his name. Then, as if sensing my imminent outpouring about to blow his cover, he put his finger over his lips and quietly shushed me. Suddenly feeling conspiratorial, knowing something no one else on the bus knew I began feeling I had been made a confidant & composure took over. Still not able to remember his name I finally whispered the end of the sentence hanging on the tip of my tongue for the last few incredible moments

Spoiler: who it was

"...Batman." Micheal Keaton

He nodded and got up extending his hand for a shake, which I did. I just stood there smiling at him, hadn't noticed the bus had stopped. "I think this is your stop." he said in character voice. I somehow managed to pull myself away and stumble off the bus left with a memory of a lifetime.

 

In our lives we can notice a lot of people can look very much alike. And a person's appearance can change drastically in our perceprions simply by changing attire, hairstyle and general demeanor.

 

For me, ultimately, it's just willing suspension of disbelief. I agree with those who say that in our world, eventually Clark Kent or Bruce Wayne would be outed as the alter-ego of Superman or Batman. But ultimately, I don't really care, so long as the film is immersive enough for me to put aside niggles like that.

 

Photo of Henry Cavil, Gina Carano and fans in an airport.




They look so ordinary! Blink and you miss them in a crowd.

 

That is an awesome story.

 

^ I was just about to say that.

 

Saw this again last night.

I enjoyed it when I saw it in the theater and enjoyed it more last night.

The writers take on Krypton was awesome I think; probably better than any of the other movies. Visually stunning and the idea behind the Codex was fine. I'm not into "Superman canon" so this didn't bother me.

I thought everyone's performance was outstanding aside from Amy Adams as Lois Lane. She's pretty blah.

I thought Michael Shannon as General Zod was outstanding! .. as was his story.

Folks can make hay out of how he got off Krypton ... but Superman getting off while everyone else can't has always been a "problem".

Couple moving moments in this one. I didn't expect to be moved going into the movie.

I rated this an "A".

 

Five....four....three.....

 

Two.....one.....??????

 

I sensed an imminent necro-thread chastisement on the horizon.

 

I do not see the harm in reviving this thread. There is a sequel. People's opinions on the first might be changed.

I generally really liked Man of Steel with some misgivings. I was very happy with that last scene setting up future movies with a more positive and traditional stories.... I wish Batman v Superman lived up to that hope. It did not at all.

 

It's a grading and discussion thread, I don't think it really matters when you grade it.

By the way, if you wanna discuss the neck-snapping scene there's an active discussion every three days about it in one of the other DCEU threads...

 

Yes, Zod's neck-snapping gets discussed to death and nobody ever changes their mind. So what's the point?

Kor

 

Same here, although I don't know that I judge SvB as tough. I enjoyed that one too, just not as much as MoS.

I don't think he had a choice, and we all saw how it affected him. It obviously wasn't something he wanted to do.

 

Yeah that last scene definitely seems to set up a much more positive and optimistic kind of sequel than we got with BvS. Which now makes me wish Snyder had just ignored all the criticism over the end of MOS after all, so that he wouldn't feel such a huge need to justify it and "explore its consequences" in the next movie.

Because all he really ended up doing in my view was make things even worse, and undo all the great work Cavill did to humanize the character in MOS.

 

Personally, I wish he had ignored any idea he ever had for the MoS final scene (which was ridiculously flippant in comparison to what came right before it) and had simply made an actual effort to explore the consequences of MoS, rather than trying to shove all the blame off on others and act like Superman never made a mistake. Or at the very least give Batman a more fleshed-out and believable arc.

 

Well I think the movie needed a fairly bright and positive ending after all the death and destruction we saw earlier; the problem was more that we didn't get a much smoother transition between the two moments and some scenes of Superman helping to pick up the pieces or rebuild first.

Still though, I would have rather just had that one odd moment in MOS versus an entire sequel that wallowed even further in all the grim and depressing destruction.

 

I agree. But some viewers insist that it makes him some kind of murderer. And neither side ever changes their opinion, no matter how much this topic gets discussed.

Kor