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MAN OF STEEL - Grading & Discussion

Grade the movie...


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I can't wait for Man of Steel 2, and I can't wait to see what direction they go for it!

My prediction: Citizen Luthor rebuilds Metropolis into the shining City of Tomorrow for the good of mankind, while Evil Genius Luthor reverse-engineers the Kryptonian wreckage to fight the alien Superman and his ilk--for the good of mankind.
And Real Estate Luthor buys low and sells high.
 
Like it or not Lex in the next movie could have a monopoly on real estate and housing due to so much damage.

He'll rebuild the skyscrapers and high rise apartments.....but at a steep cost and higher rent payments.
 
it's just that screenwriters forced a scenario in which he couldn't so that the stakes could be portrayed heavier--It's poor screenwriting.

It made perfect sense to me. Just because you don't like something doesn't make it "poor screenwriting."

With this, I really hope David Goyer doesn't come back to write the screenplay and sticks to coming up the stories like did for the last two Batman movies.

With this, I hope Goyer writes every fucking DC Comics movie from here on out. :techman:
 
Like it or not Lex in the next movie could have a monopoly on real estate and housing due to so much damage.

He'll rebuild the skyscrapers and high rise apartments.....but at a steep cost and higher rent payments.
Nah, Wayne Enterprises outbids LexCorp for the reconstruction contracts. (Synergy!) Luthor's too busy telling people Superman can't be trusted while developing weapons to destroy him.
 
Like it or not Lex in the next movie could have a monopoly on real estate and housing due to so much damage.

He'll rebuild the skyscrapers and high rise apartments.....but at a steep cost and higher rent payments.
Nah, Wayne Enterprises outbids LexCorp for the reconstruction contracts. (Synergy!) Luthor's too busy telling people Superman can't be trusted while developing weapons to destroy him.


But Luthor could be the "man of tomorrow" by getting on peoples good side and helping with the reconstruction.

Lex- Where was this superman when I was lifting rubble to help this little old lady out? He was hiding!

He helps the public and works with the government to make weapons to control this alien.

Might even get him elected president if they go that route.
 
Kal would have done search and rescue, X-Ray vision superburrowing, deaths would have been minimalised and no one would have been in a 132 Hours situation.

Even if he cleared away a lot of the debris, judging from his efforts on the rig, I don't think he could lift a chunk of Kryptonite the size of Manhattan into orbit. This Superman is barely stronger than a locomotive.

If they really wanted to pose a shout out... One of the companies bankrolling the rebuild should be queen industries... When abouts Arrow should be starting season 5 bu the time Man of Steel II comes out.
 
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If they do Lex in the next movie, the only thing I would like to see from it is that they don't over act him like they have done in the past. The old dime store novel evil genius is old. Bring his to reality like they have Superman and it'll be good. I would really rather they stay away from Lex, he has been overdone in the movies.
 
Get ready, boys - feminist treatise on Lois Lane coming up...

I had heard of the show but never seen it and don't know much about it.

So the idea isn't unprecedented. The question stands: would such a film have been a good vehicle for the reboot?

It's hard to sell any superhero movie/ comic/ story where the superhero isn't the main character. Such things are mostly deep riffs on established franchises and only work in the original format - i.e. the Astro City and Gotham Central comics. They have a niche appeal so I'm not sure it'd work for a summer blockbuster tentpole reboot of a character like Superman.

That said, I've always thought that Superman's is a very romantic story and that Lois is essentially as important to the mythos as Supes himself. If you don't buy that she's the equal of this god-like being, so challenging to him that she, alone among mortals, could be his partner in life - then the whole thing falls apart. In other words, I'd go see it - I just don't know if anyone else would.

A bit off topic but I must add: few weeks ago there was such a hullabaloo about the Dr. Carol Marcus underwear scene in STiD and certain feminists and male apologists were up in arms about it. Yet when they show a kick-ass female character in Faora-UL in MoS, who was IMO cooler and much more badass than Gen. Zod himself, not a peep from any woman who says they are happy about it. The silence about Antje Trau's amazing performance is defeaning and absolutely hypocriticial.

Believe it or not, women aren't exactly looking for warrior chicks as evidence of the gender equality creds of a movie. A female character built on a male ideal (badass fearless warrior) is fine and all, but it's still a female character built to please men, not one designed to represent the strengths of women as women. However, a great deal has been said about the smart, capable Lois Lane presented in this film, who is an active player in the saving of humanity, rather than a passive damsel in distress.

Did anyone else like/love Amy Adams take on Lois Lane over Kate Bosworth's in SR?

Kate Bosworth as LL was one of the two things I simply could not stand about SR. Way, waaaay too far removed from Kidder's version, imo. Her 'risk taking' felt forced.

Amy's version was so good, I wonder what she knows about me that I am unaware I revealed to her! :lol:

I frankly thought both were great as Lois. I've never understood the criticism Bosworth got in the role, and thought she not only had plenty of spunk but played the emotion in her scenes with Routh beautifully (yeah, she was a bit young, but SR was clearly taking place in a more idealized comic book world so that never really bothered me).

Bosworth was horrible. She was entirely unbelievable as a tough and effective reporter - she projected absolutely no strength, no courage, no intelligence.

Not that anyone in this crowd is the slightest bit interested, but as a woman, every time any portrayal of Lois is praised as "spunky" I want to throw up. "Spunky" is how you describe a precocious seven year old girl and it's insulting to see it applied to an adult woman as if it's a compliment. Lois is supposed to be an intelligent, effective, tough professional who can get stories through tenacity and ingenuity that no one else has. She's courageous enough to print things that are so challenging that the powers that be would like to see her dead - and she prints them anyway. That is not "spunky" - it's a person of such moral integrity that we might all wish we had her strength of character. The entire problem with Bosworth's portrayal is that the best that can be said of it was that she was "spunky".
 
If they do Lex in the next movie, the only thing I would like to see from it is that they don't over act him like they have done in the past. The old dime store novel evil genius is old. Bring his to reality like they have Superman and it'll be good. I would really rather they stay away from Lex, he has been overdone in the movies.

The greatest criminal mind of our time, over done?????!!!!!
 
Nerys, over used is a better term, particularly as they have played him as a dime store novel evil genius every time. IMO, your use may vary. Look, I cringed when they said Zod was going to be the villain in this one, due to Superman II, but, they did him right. If Lex is done, I just ask to make him more "real" like the other characters.
 
If they do Lex in the next movie, the only thing I would like to see from it is that they don't over act him like they have done in the past. The old dime store novel evil genius is old. Bring his to reality like they have Superman and it'll be good. I would really rather they stay away from Lex, he has been overdone in the movies.

The greatest criminal mind of our time, over done?????!!!!!

Campy Lex was fine in the Reeve Superman movies since they were going for silver age Superman for those movies.

But it is time to move on to more modern badass Lex. I really enjoyed John Shea's Lex from Lois and Clark, Michael Rosenbaum from Smallville, and the best portrayal of Lex is still by Clancy Brown in the DCAU. I would prefer a mix of businessman/inventor Luthor.
 
If they do Lex in the next movie, the only thing I would like to see from it is that they don't over act him like they have done in the past. The old dime store novel evil genius is old. Bring his to reality like they have Superman and it'll be good. I would really rather they stay away from Lex, he has been overdone in the movies.

The greatest criminal mind of our time, over done?????!!!!!

Campy Lex was fine in the Reeve Superman movies since they were going for silver age Superman for those movies.

But it is time to move on to more modern badass Lex. I really enjoyed John Shea's Lex from Lois and Clark, Michael Rosenbaum from Smallville, and the best portrayal of Lex is still by Clancy Brown in the DCAU. I would prefer a mix of businessman/inventor Luthor.

Clancy Brown? Yeah we got him. I think he's playing geskana with Trip and Archer in the desert atm.
 
I know what you mean. I really like this version of Superman and it's been on my mind a lot over the last week. The next installment can't get here soon enough. I was also thinking that it would be nice if they could put out a well written comic that takes place in this world, the way they're doing with Star Trek and Smallville, just so I can have my Man of Steel fix. I don't see what stories it could tell though since they're just getting started and there probably isn't much they could use as a follow-up that would be better on the page than in a sequel.

Yeah I'd love to see a Man of Steel comic (a new one, I mean), but it would probably be a bit tricky at the moment.
 
Bosworth was horrible. She was entirely unbelievable as a tough and effective reporter - she projected absolutely no strength, no courage, no intelligence.

Not that anyone in this crowd is the slightest bit interested, but as a woman, every time any portrayal of Lois is praised as "spunky" I want to throw up. "Spunky" is how you describe a precocious seven year old girl and it's insulting to see it applied to an adult woman as if it's a compliment. Lois is supposed to be an intelligent, effective, tough professional who can get stories through tenacity and ingenuity that no one else has. She's courageous enough to print things that are so challenging that the powers that be would like to see her dead - and she prints them anyway. That is not "spunky" - it's a person of such moral integrity that we might all wish we had her strength of character. The entire problem with Bosworth's portrayal is that the best that can be said of it was that she was "spunky".

Sorry, no offense meant. I only used the word because I know it's a favorite one that's been used to describe the character for awhile now.

Although I still disagree about Bosworth. Obviously she wouldn't pass muster as a reporter in the real world, but again, this was clearly intended to be a fairly romanticized comic book world (where everything is art deco and has a warm golden glow to it, and the actors look impossibly young), so I thought it actually made sense in that context.
 
Say the filming began in 2005, maybe 2004 for a 2006 release... Kate was born in 1983. Which made the actress playing the mother of a 7 year old only 21 or 22 years old. Which means that she gave birth to the kid at 14, and got knocked up at 13, and then had all her Donner era adventures, say between five and 12 years, but she was already the great Lois Lane when Clark showed up, which is three or 4 years on the staff pary roll and maybe an internship before that. So roughly... And I do mean roughly that Lois Lane must have got her journalism degree from college roughly at about the same point that she was being born.

Lois in Superman Returns should have been played by a well preserved 40 year old. Brandon, young as he was could still play Superman, I like Brandon, but the script and direction, the poor boy, but between time dialation from the journey to krypton and back plus his solar charged immortality, Lois should be aging a lot faster than Clark. Earth II Superman used to have to wear make up to pretend he was as old as his wife.
 
Zoey Deschanel should have played Lois Lane in Superman Returns. Since they were going for a channeling of Christopher Reeves with Brandon Routh, I think Zoey Deschanel would have channeled Margot Kidder decently (before Zoey became this hipster chick icon that she is now)


As for the new movie, I just came back from seeing it. I was going to write up a huge review, but instead I'll do a quick outline.

I gave it a C. The movie felt wayyyyyyyyy too alien. From all the Krypton scenes (which were far longer than was necessary) to all the time spent aboard the alien ships, it just took away from the movie being a "Superman" movie, and turned it into "Independence Day" with Supes a minor character.

My other gripe is that the trailers promised us a more grounded Superman, one that we would get to see a solid origin story. The actual movie touched on this, but only lightly skimmed thru it all. There needed to be more time spent in Smallville, fleshing out all of Clark's problems, as well as his human parents helping him overcome them. And there needed to be more fleshing out of Clark living as a nomad, unsure how to use his powers to help. Again, the movie only skimmed lightly thru these topics.

I would have been perfectly fine if the first hour of the film focused on the humanization of Clark thru his earth parents, and his first few years of adult life. The movie was so desperate to get to the action, that it only skimmed these points, and in erratic flashbacks.

And as for the action, wayyyyy too many special fx! Most of the movie was spent with Superman and Zod's baddies throwing each other around with no real damage to either one. Most of the fights happened in alien environments, like the Kryptonian ships. The fx themselves seemed reminiscent of Transformers. I kept waiting for Optimus Prime to show up and fight along Superman.

There are other things that I didn't like, like the total absence of other human characters that weren't just cameos (Perry White could have been anybody, since he had like 3 scenes in the whole movie. Jenna Olsen's entire reason for existence was to get trapped under some rebar?)

I liked Lois Lane's portrayal (except for the "are we measuring our dicks?" line. It totally went against character). I would have preferred to have her actually figure out about Clark without meeting him first.

I liked Faora. I thought I was going to hate her character, but I loved how the actress portrayed it. I think she was better than Zod. Zod just came across as an automaton, bent on rebuilding Krypton like a programmed machine. Faora actually came across as feeling superior to humans, which Zod didn't really portray.

I would have liked the military to fully distrust Superman at first, but realizing he's a friend, throw the full weight of military forces to aid Superman defeat Zod. What the movie portrays is a half assed attempt at showing distrust, then a half assed attempt at helping Supes.

The music was completely uninspiring as well. There was no motif. No hook. It was background wallpaper, like practically all Star Trek after TNG S3.

I was underwhelmed. I thought it was going to be a movie I'd be dying to own on Blu-Ray. As it stands it felt like watching an underdeveloped video game, and it saddens me. I agree with the Rotten Tomatoes score.
 
I had heard of the show but never seen it and don't know much about it.

So the idea isn't unprecedented. The question stands: would such a film have been a good vehicle for the reboot?

It's hard to sell any superhero movie/ comic/ story where the superhero isn't the main character. Such things are mostly deep riffs on established franchises and only work in the original format - i.e. the Astro City and Gotham Central comics.

Also The Green Hornet, where the title character is the protagonist but Kato is the real superhero.

They have a niche appeal so I'm not sure it'd work for a summer blockbuster tentpole reboot of a character like Superman.

Has anyone ever really tried stepping out of this box? It's tough to say it never works if it's never been tried.

ETA: It just occurred to me that it's kind of like E.T. with grownups. Elliott is now an adult woman and E.T. spends his time working and performing superheroics instead of scarfing Reese's Pieces and watching brain rot on TV.


I suppose the freshly dead do smell quite a lot if all their bowels opened and released upon death.

I mean if you kill a hundred 50 thousand people at once in such a small area, that's going to be a hundred and 50 thousand people farting all at the time.

Think how loud the compounded noise would be.

I saw the movie on Sunday and my ears are still ringing.


Speaking of Amy Adams. Can anyone name the 3 other actors who previously had roles on "Smallville"?

Mike Dopud, Alessandro Juliani and Tahmoh Penikett

Ian Tracey was also on Smallville.

A complete list of overlaps, courtesy of IMDB:


1. Amy Adams
Actress, Enchanted
2. Tahmoh Penikett
Actor, Trick 'r Treat
3. Mike Dopud
Actor, Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol
4. Mackenzie Gray
Actor, Man of Steel
5. David Paetkau
Actor, Final Destination 2
6. Alessandro Juliani
Actor, Man of Steel
7. Carmen Lavigne
Actress, Watchmen
8. Ian Tracey
Actor, Insomnia
9. Brad Kelly
Actor, X-Men: The Last Stand
10. Elizabeth Thai
Actress, Man of Steel
11. David Lewis
Actor, Man of Steel
12. Aaron Pearl
Actor, X2
13. Jerry Siegel
Writer, Superman Returns
14. Revard Dufresne
Actor, Sucker Punch
15. Chad Krowchuk
Actor, Man of Steel
16. Mark Gibbon
Actor, The Chronicles of Riddick
17. Joe Shuster
Writer, Superman Returns
18. Kwesi Ameyaw
Actor, Capote
19. Hugo Steele
Stunts, Watchmen
20. Wayne Dalglish
Stunts, Alice in Wonderland
21. Clint Carleton
Stunts, 300
22. Fraser Aitcheson
Stunts, Watchmen
23. Robert Moloney
Actor, Man of Steel
24. Raj Lal
Actor, 2012
25. Jackson Berlin
Actor, Man of Steel
26. Michele Cummins
Actress, Grave Encounters
27. Darryl Scheelar
Stunts, Rise of the Planet of the Apes
28. John MacDonald
Stunts, The Incredible Hulk
29. Rob Hayter
Stunts, Watchmen
30. Malcolm Scott
Actor, Watchmen
31. Howard Siegel
Actor, Man of Steel
32. Sabine Varnes
Stunts, Live Free or Die Hard
33. Brian Ho
Stunts, X-Men: The Last Stand
34. Adrian Hein
Stunts, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1
35. Dan Rizzuto
Stunts, Stargate SG-1
36. Krista Bell
Stunts, X-Men: The Last Stand
37. Jason Bell
Stunts, Man of Steel
38. Matt Granger
Miscellaneous Crew, X2
39. David Goyer
Camera and Electrical Department, X2
40. Jim Rowe
Production Manager, Watchmen
41. Alexander Mandra
Stunts, Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol
42. Anji Bemben
Make-Up Department, Watchmen
43. Céline Godeau
Make-Up Department, Man of Steel
44. John Dale
Art Department, Watchmen
45. Monte Thompson
Stunts, I, Robot
46. Kim Howey
Stunts, Watchmen
47. Joel Whist
Special Effects, Watchmen
48. Steve Au
Visual Effects, Life of Pi
49. David Rose
Visual Effects, X-Men Origins: Wolverine
50. Keith Woods
Camera and Electrical Department, TRON: Legacy
51. Dan Cervin
Special Effects, Life of Pi
52. Milena Zdravkovic
Art Department, X2
53. Ryan Cronin
Visual Effects, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
54. Kelvin Yee
Visual Effects, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
55. Scott Wallace
Camera and Electrical Department, Watchmen
56. Michael Aaron Keith
Miscellaneous Crew, Man of Steel
57. Scott Andrew Armstrong
Camera and Electrical Department, Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol
58. Gary Young
Visual Effects, Titanic
59. Ana Oparnica
Miscellaneous Crew, Sucker Punch​
 
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Something that has been bothering me.

Kyptonians in MOS are bred for specific roles.
Scientists will be the best scientists possible.
Soldiers will be the best soldiers possible.

What the hell is Jor-El bred for exactly? Being a superhero?

How was scientist Jor-El kicking so much ass and killing the legions of bad guys? He even managed to fight off Zod, who should realistically be the deadliest man on the planet if he was bred for war and to be a General and the Defender of Krypton. It was poor/lazy writing to me.
 
Jor-El was the First Kryptonian in a hundred years to put his penis inside a real woman.

He had broken his programming.

There has to be more footage about the friendship between Jor-El and Zod.

Talking Politics and sparring.

Late at night, candle light.

Maybe even making out a little?

Can you imagine the homophobes?

"LOOK! LOOK! Two men kissed and the planet blew up! God did that! God did That! God doesn't just hate Human fags! He hates Alien Fags too! You show'em God!"

18 thousand years.

Um?

Did the kryptonians modify monkeys? Modify primates? Give culture to early man? Interbreed with early man or just outright replace the human population? Is man what happens to a Kryptonian Colony after 18 thousand years?
 
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