I guess you haven't heard that Warner Bros. has already greenlit a Superman sequel, based on the advance buzz and box-office projections.
MAN OF STEEL - Grading & Discussion
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I guess you haven't heard that Warner Bros. has already greenlit a Superman sequel, based on the advance buzz and box-office projections.
Yeah, just like they greenlit sequels to "Superman Returns" and "Green Lantern" shortly after those movies were released.
Wow. It's currently only scoring 56% at RT. I'm going to see it anyway, but the reception to the film is a bit surprising to me.
Yeah, now that I look at it, it appears most of those "rotten" critics are simply giving the movie 2 to 2 1/2 stars or a C, which only suggests they thought it was so-so, not that it was awful or an outright bomb (we're not talking about an Adam Sandler movie here or anything!).
Although still... that's way too many people thinking the movie is just so-so.
It's common these day's for studios to line up a sequel before their movie is even completed.
It's a sign they're positive about the movie
If the movie fails then they'll quietly back away from sequel talk till no one remembers.
A+
I'll have to read those reviews to see where the critics felt it went wrong. Maybe too many expectations got in the way. Maybe they expected a fun summer superhero movie and didn't get it. Maybe they even expected a Superman movie. Well, I'll tell you right now, it's not your typical summer blockbuster and it's not a Superman movie. It's an alien invasion drama/horror/action piece that just happens to use elements of Superman as dressing.
I loved it.
It wasn't a perfect movie, but I'm giving it a perfect score anyway because it radicalized Superman and succeeded. I watched and left the theatre feeling like I had seen something new. A rehash, this wasn't. Though it did have a few homages here and there.
Oh, and the suit totally works in the context of this movie. You'll see.
More tomorrow.
I'll have to read those reviews to see where the critics felt it went wrong. Maybe too many expectations got in the way. Maybe they expected a fun summer superhero movie and didn't get it. Maybe they even expected a Superman movie. Well, I'll tell you right now, it's not your typical summer blockbuster and it's not a Superman movie. It's an alien invasion drama/horror/action piece that just happens to use elements of Superman as dressing.
I loved it.
It wasn't a perfect movie, but I'm giving it a perfect score anyway because it radicalized Superman and succeeded. I watched and left the theatre feeling like I had seen something new. A rehash, this wasn't. Though it did have a few homages here and there.
Oh, and the suit totally works in the context of this movie. You'll see.
More tomorrow.
Can't wait to see this in Imax early next week. We don't have a babysitter this weekend unfortunately.
For those following the new 52 though, does this movie follow any of the new elements of Superman? Is the name Superman even used in the movie?
For those following the new 52 though, does this movie follow any of the new elements of Superman? Is the name Superman even used in the movie?
Only New 52 element is the lack of trunks on the suit and, perhaps, the suit being Kryptonian armor rather than modified baby blankets from the ship or something.
"Superman" is used once or twice in the movie but not until well into it and more of a one-off line from a side character.
A positive but slightly spoilerish in places review from MSN:
http://t.entertainment.msn.com/man-of-steel-superman-blasts-back-strong?toc=movies
So were there any midnight showings? I expected a little more buzz by now.
http://t.entertainment.msn.com/man-of-steel-superman-blasts-back-strong?toc=movies
So were there any midnight showings? I expected a little more buzz by now.
Now for a few points…
- As with Lois & Clark, Man of Steel did a fantastic job of humanizing Clark Kent/Superman. He's not a larger-than-life superhero, he's almost your avarage joe. He's enough of a good guy without being a goody goody boy scout. And Cavill too serious?!? He's the least serious version of Superman ever. He plays more of a pragmatist with a touch of self-assured smart ass than the upstanding moralist we're used to. Robert Downey Jr. has spoiled people's palette for subtler flavors of fun.
- When Superman Returns came out, it seemed like they were trying to avoid any American patriotism with the "truth, justice and all that other stuff" line. I guess we're over that now with something that Superman says at the end.
It played into the afore mentined "average joe" characterization and I found it more frank than patriotic.
- I like how the movie plays fast and loose with Superman's identity. Like… "Yeah, I'm from Kansas, but don't bother following me around to see where I hang my cape."
- The scene where Jonathan Kent suggests to Clark that he should have let the bus full of kids drown caught my attention. Character assassination? I dunno. It could have been more of a passionate offhand comment intended to make a point rather than something he actually feels.
- Amy Adams captured Lois Lane very well. I'll put her up there with the best ones we've had so far.
- I liked that Michael Shannon wasn't channelling Terence Stamp and that Zod wasn't a cartoonish bad guy (all the time).
- I'm glad they didn't forget about Chloe.
- Fun Fact: Alessandro Juliani played Dr. Emil Hamilton on Smallville and in this movie, plays someone who assists Dr. Emil Hamilton, played by Richard Schiff.
- The movie really brought Kryptonian technology to life and made use of it. I also liked how everything was Giger-esque and reminiscent of Alien, Riddick and Dune.
- I still don't like laser eyes, but they put enough effort into making it look good that I didn't mind it too much.
- Kevin Smith didn't like Superman Returns and referred to it as the arthouse version of Superman. I can't wait to hear how he feels about this one. It's even more "arthouse" in parts.
- There was a lot of setup for Lex Luthor to step forward in the next movie.
- I wonder if Earth humans are supposed to be a long lost offshoot of Kryptonians. And what if all that talk about humanity following Kal-El is a reference to him leading everyone to their full Kryptonian-like potential, like the savior/master leading others to salvation/enlightenment.
- As with Lois & Clark, Man of Steel did a fantastic job of humanizing Clark Kent/Superman. He's not a larger-than-life superhero, he's almost your avarage joe. He's enough of a good guy without being a goody goody boy scout. And Cavill too serious?!? He's the least serious version of Superman ever. He plays more of a pragmatist with a touch of self-assured smart ass than the upstanding moralist we're used to. Robert Downey Jr. has spoiled people's palette for subtler flavors of fun.
- When Superman Returns came out, it seemed like they were trying to avoid any American patriotism with the "truth, justice and all that other stuff" line. I guess we're over that now with something that Superman says at the end.
I'm from Kansas General, I'm just as American as you are.
- I like how the movie plays fast and loose with Superman's identity. Like… "Yeah, I'm from Kansas, but don't bother following me around to see where I hang my cape."
- The scene where Jonathan Kent suggests to Clark that he should have let the bus full of kids drown caught my attention. Character assassination? I dunno. It could have been more of a passionate offhand comment intended to make a point rather than something he actually feels.
- Amy Adams captured Lois Lane very well. I'll put her up there with the best ones we've had so far.
- I liked that Michael Shannon wasn't channelling Terence Stamp and that Zod wasn't a cartoonish bad guy (all the time).
- I'm glad they didn't forget about Chloe.
- Fun Fact: Alessandro Juliani played Dr. Emil Hamilton on Smallville and in this movie, plays someone who assists Dr. Emil Hamilton, played by Richard Schiff.
- The movie really brought Kryptonian technology to life and made use of it. I also liked how everything was Giger-esque and reminiscent of Alien, Riddick and Dune.
- I still don't like laser eyes, but they put enough effort into making it look good that I didn't mind it too much.
- Kevin Smith didn't like Superman Returns and referred to it as the arthouse version of Superman. I can't wait to hear how he feels about this one. It's even more "arthouse" in parts.
- There was a lot of setup for Lex Luthor to step forward in the next movie.
- I wonder if Earth humans are supposed to be a long lost offshoot of Kryptonians. And what if all that talk about humanity following Kal-El is a reference to him leading everyone to their full Kryptonian-like potential, like the savior/master leading others to salvation/enlightenment.
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I don't think the word "Metropolis" is ever used.
Yeah, it got to a point where I didn't think they'd ever say it.
I can't wait! 
ETA: I won't be seeing till next week.
ETA: I won't be seeing till next week.
Then I am sure I will love it!!
I just checked RottenTomatoes again, and while critic reviews are at 59%, the audience "liked it" rating is 82% at the moment. Which could be because film critics as a class would be less likely to enjoy the film than its target audience, or because many critics are predisposed to be negative, or because RT's binary ranking system skews the results too low, or because any statistics at this early stage are too much in flux to draw conclusions from. Or all of the above.
From the enthusiasm and abundance of people in Superman t-shirts last night at my theater, I'm going to go out on a limb and say the box office is going to be a bit bigger than they're expecting.
I live in a semi-rural area (IE, when we moved here 20 years ago we had more cows than people and now that's switched; we even have a 5th traffic light and a McDonalds! lol) and I have not seen a sell-out film in my neck of the woods since Titanic back in 1997. TDK was the biggest since with about 80% theater. Last nights crowd was about on par with what TDKR got last summer, but people where more enthusiastic and energized before+after.
My sister is not a comic-book fan, not a sci-fi fan. She likes "Voyager" because she's met the cast via going along to cons w/me, like TDK because of Heath Ledger, but otherwise she's not into the genre stuff. And even she wants to see MoS again.
I think word-of-mouth will help this film even if opening weekend box office isn't stratospheric. I think MoS will follow in the performance arena of Batman Begins, but do better money wise.
I live in a semi-rural area (IE, when we moved here 20 years ago we had more cows than people and now that's switched; we even have a 5th traffic light and a McDonalds! lol) and I have not seen a sell-out film in my neck of the woods since Titanic back in 1997. TDK was the biggest since with about 80% theater. Last nights crowd was about on par with what TDKR got last summer, but people where more enthusiastic and energized before+after.
My sister is not a comic-book fan, not a sci-fi fan. She likes "Voyager" because she's met the cast via going along to cons w/me, like TDK because of Heath Ledger, but otherwise she's not into the genre stuff. And even she wants to see MoS again.
I think word-of-mouth will help this film even if opening weekend box office isn't stratospheric. I think MoS will follow in the performance arena of Batman Begins, but do better money wise.
