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MAN OF STEEL - Grading & Discussion

Grade the movie...


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

Mike Dopud, Alessandro Juliani and Tahmoh Penikett


And all 3 in BSG also!

I did notice some of the shakey camera zoom ins of the World engine looked like scenes from new Battlestar galactica too.

And Mackenzie Gray who played one version of Lex in "Smallville" was one of Zod's advisors
 
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).

In fact to be honest I actually get a better and more complete picture of her Lois than the MOS one, since there really isn't much time to dig into her character with all the fighting going on.

Although I do like the way Adams' Lois seems genuinely interested in Clark as a person, and isn't just obsessed with his superpowers and good looks like many Lois's of the past.
 
I saw the movie Monday. It was actually better than I was expecting. They DID go over the top with the fight scenes and destruction though. If they cut about 40 minutes of that out, the movie would be even better, particularly since it went on and on and on without let up for 15 years straight.....

The ONE advantage to it though, was that at the point when Superman and Farora tossed each other into Pete's IHOP, I took a bathroom break, and when I can back 10 minutes later, even MORE fight scenes and destruction was going on. I saw the film with my girlfriend and two friends, and after it was over, I asked them if I had missed anything when I went to the bathroom, and all three shook their heads, "Hell no!", they said.

But, despite the over the top action, the story (when there WAS story) was pretty good. I was impressed with Krypton in this film. Almost every version (with the exception of the excellent Lois & Clark TV show) has used a riff on Richard Donner's Krypton (with good reason admittedly, it WAS a classic), but for once, I was happy to see a Krypton that looked less like the artic wastes, and more like the movie DUNE.
 
I really love the fact that despite the fact the insane amount of collateral damage that Supes actually participates in most likely kills tons of people the surviving bystanders of the city of metropolis go like"He saved us!" when reacting to Supes. It was a moment that was pointed out by Mark Waid, and that took me out of the film with how unrealistic it was. I mean, I wasn't expecting a gritty, realistic flick(it's the story of a white alien from another planet that has superpowers.) but a little more believability wouldn't have hurt. I thought this film was all about"What if Superman existed in real life?" The film kinda short-changes that question a lot by doing that.

In the heat of battle it's kind of hard for Superman to pause and have a soliloquy bemoaning all the loss of life. It's not like comic books where we can have thought balloons either, and a voice-over of his inner monologue would have been awful. The fact is he was in a fight for his life, and for every other life on the planet. If he'd been able to do it any other way he would have. He even directed the fight into space at one point but got dragged back down to earth.

Still, an acknowledgment of all the collateral damage would have been nice after the fact. Maybe a few shots of Superman helping to rebuild the city. Not sure if that would have really worked either though.
You honestly think that's the only way they could have done that?
They could still easily showcase him taking strides to to protect folks or even making a speech or something in regards to those lives slain to Zod just to show he cared. And there were a ton of ways he could have diverted the fight, 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. You say he didn't have time to mourn but he sure did have time to make out with ginger Lois while buildings were being decimated and warm corpses was being piled on, I mean he could have used that time to attempt to save some lives, or even scream for folks to evacuate. 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.
 
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You say he didn't have time to mourn but he sure did have time to make out with ginger Lois while buildings were being decimated and warm corpses was being caused, I mean he could have used that time to attempt to save some lives, or even scream for folks to evacuate.

Yeah, Lois making out with Superman over the thousands of dead bodies was pretty dumb and over the top! :lol:
 
Please, it was just a kiss; they weren't making out.

And as unlikely as it is, I think we're probably meant to assume most of those buildings had been emptied or evacuated as well, since the movie doesn't make much of it afterwards. Although I agree, the writers should have done a much better job thinking out the consequences of such epic destruction, and anticipating the questions the audience might have about it.

It's not a dealbreaker for me like it is with others, but it is a flaw with the storytelling.
 
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.
 
And as unlikely as it is, I think we're probably meant to assume most of those buildings had been emptied or evacuated as well, since the movie doesn't make much of it afterwards. Although I agree, the writers should have done a much better job thinking out the consequences of such epic destruction, and anticipating the questions the audience might have about it.

Even if most of the buildings were evacuated, thousands would have been crushed when the buildings started falling.

I think people are noticing it so much more because Superman wisely took the fight to a less crowded location in Superman II while fighting Zod. Fans are simply asking why he didn't do the same in this movie since the two major fights took place in crowded locations. In fact Superman seemed to have more brains in Superman II, especially with how he defeated Zod.

Superman is treated more like a brute in this movie, with murder being only solution to end the fight with Zod.
 
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They weren't making out. It was more an act of comfort. Just look at how Lois's hands were shaking. She was scared shitless and needed some reassurance. I'm sure Clark wasn't feeling much better.
 
The Flash actually grabbed everyone and carried them to safety before they could come to harm. He just moved so fast that no one saw him. :p
 
Remember when Superman was screaming "NOOOO! THE PEOPLE!" in Superman II" while fighting the three krypton criminals?

We should have had something like that in MOS.
 
They weren't making out. It was more an act of comfort. Just look at how Lois's hands were shaking. She was scared shitless and needed some reassurance. I'm sure Clark wasn't feeling much better.

Eh, I would say that moment really was trying fulfill the usual Hollywood romance. Its really a generic romantic payoff coded under a grim situation. That scene could have worked if the stakes at that moment weren't so high. He just wasted his time--along with many lives with that little ''comfort. '' Not to mention the bad dialogue from that scene which is utterly out place considering the gravity of situation. They kissed at the worst possible time.
 
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I think people are noticing it so much more because Superman wisely took the fight to a less crowded location in Superman II while fighting Zod. Fans are simply asking why he didn't do the same in this movie since the two major fights took place in crowded locations. In fact Superman seemed to have more brains in Superman II, especially with how he defeated Zod.

Um, they actually spend quite a lot of time fighting in and above Metropolis in Superman II. It's not until Superman gets his ass kicked that he suddenly decides to lure Zod and the gang to the Fortress-- in what appears to be more of a fall-back plan for Supes than a desire to spare Metropolis.

Obviously the level of destruction wasn't nearly as great as in MOS, but the point is Superman still spends quite a lot of time there duking it out with the supervillains before flying off.
 
I have to admit, I haven't felt this energized after a movie in quite a while.
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.
 
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