MAN OF STEEL - Grading & Discussion

[Spock/Uhura Fan]

I gave it a C+. It's a little better than Into Darkness to me, but that's only because the special effects were better and I actually felt something while watching it. Plus, I do like the new Superman.

I don't think it treated women very well, but I'll leave that be. It would be nice to see a prominent minority woman in the next film, in addition to a very smart and kickass Lois. Also, the story kind of didn't make sense. I mean, if you can terraform a planet, and you were just hanging around for 33 years, then why didn't you do this to another planet earlier? I don't know... I just walked away having a lot of questions.

I described it as grade "A" meets grade "F" to a friend who was on the fence as to whether he wanted to see it or not because he'd heard things about it. Some things in this film are fantastic, and other things are downright awful... I'll leave it at that.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

I mean, if you can terraform a planet, and you were just hanging around for 33 years, then why didn't you do this to another planet earlier? I don't know... I just walked away having a lot of questions.

Well, you have to listen to what characters in the movie say - you know, "dialogue?" You apparently missed all the explanation about the Codex.

 

[Shazam!]

It would be nice to see a prominent minority woman in the next film

Someone like Amanda Waller would be a good fit for that but with her character appearing the Green Lantern movie I'm not sure if they'd go for it. I'd like to see it though.

 

[TheSeeker]

Here's the thing: You're not a super-powered alien who has the responsibility of stopping a genocidal alien general, who at the very moment is wiping out hundreds of thousands of people of your adopted homeworld. No offense, but you and your wife comforting each after after luckily surviving a traumatic experience like that is very different from that.

Actually at that point in the story they (like the audience) assumed Zod had been sucked back into the Phantom Zone, and that the battle had finally come to an end.

If that's not a time to celebrate and comfort each other, I don't know what is.

Exactly. They thought the battle was over an in the rush of emotions they embraced.

It's not so dissimilar to the famous V-J Day Times Square Kiss where a random sailor kisses a random woman in celebration. At least Lois and Clark knew each other.

 

[Dr.H]

Here's the thing: You're not a super-powered alien who has the responsibility of stopping a genocidal alien general, who at the very moment is wiping out hundreds of thousands of people of your adopted homeworld. No offense, but you and your wife comforting each after after luckily surviving a traumatic experience like that is very different from that.

Actually at that point in the story they (like the audience) assumed Zod had been sucked back into the Phantom Zone, and that the battle had finally come to an end.

If that's not a time to celebrate and comfort each other, I don't know what is.

I don't know about you, but I wouldn't celebrating when half my city has been laid to ruins. A kiss can only go so far...

 

[TheSeeker]

Dude, you are totally missing the point of real life reactions to incredibly stressful situations. It's a natural reaction.

 

[Astraboy]

Actually at that point in the story they (like the audience) assumed Zod had been sucked back into the Phantom Zone, and that the battle had finally come to an end.

If that's not a time to celebrate and comfort each other, I don't know what is.

I thought Zod was in the old scout ship that went down after Superman tore its hull apart with his heat vision? The ones that got sucked into the phantom zone were those on the Kryptonian "base" ship or the military transport.

In any case, no big deal to me. The embrace and kiss may have been there for dramatic reasons but no big whoop.

 

[DWF]

Here's the thing: You're not a super-powered alien who has the responsibility of stopping a genocidal alien general, who at the very moment is wiping out hundreds of thousands of people of your adopted homeworld. No offense, but you and your wife comforting each after after luckily surviving a traumatic experience like that is very different from that.

Actually at that point in the story they (like the audience) assumed Zod had been sucked back into the Phantom Zone, and that the battle had finally come to an end.

If that's not a time to celebrate and comfort each other, I don't know what is.

I don't know about you, but I wouldn't celebrating when half my city has been laid to ruins. A kiss can only go so far...

I guess they all could've gotten some shawarma afterward.

 

[JamesRye]

I for one though that Man of Steel was terrible. Simply bad.

If you're interested, my review is here.

http://ryesofthegeek.wordpress.com/2013/06/16/man-of-steel-film-review/


My advice would be to go and see Joss Whedons version of Much Ado About Nothing. If you can find a cinema showing it.

 

[BillJ]

I mean, if you can terraform a planet, and you were just hanging around for 33 years, then why didn't you do this to another planet earlier? I don't know... I just walked away having a lot of questions.

Well, you have to listen to what characters in the movie say - you know, "dialogue?" You apparently missed all the explanation about the Codex.

I guess it's tougher to claim the film doesn't make sense if you pay attention to the dialogue.

 

[davejames]

I thought Zod was in the old scout ship that went down after Superman tore its hull apart with his heat vision? The ones that got sucked into the phantom zone were those on the Kryptonian "base" ship or the military transport.

Yeah his scout ship went down, but it was still in the vicinity of the Phantom Zone vortex when it opened up, so it appeared likely he got sucked up along with everything else that was Kryptonian.

 

[Spock/Uhura Fan]

I mean, if you can terraform a planet, and you were just hanging around for 33 years, then why didn't you do this to another planet earlier? I don't know... I just walked away having a lot of questions.

Well, you have to listen to what characters in the movie say - you know, "dialogue?" You apparently missed all the explanation about the Codex.

No, I know about the codex. I also know that Zod and his crew knew exactly where Kal-El was sent that 33 years while they were hanging out. Obviously if the pod the baby was sent in didn't take that long to get to Earth (after all, he was still a baby when he got there), then why did it take so long for them to get there?

Yes, they looked at the other colonies that the Kryptonians set up and saw that everyone there died too, but did that really take 33 years? That leads to another question: Why would everyone on other settlements die just because Krypton was no more? They were capable of terraforming, so the environment should have been suitable or else I'd think they wouldn't have set up camp in those places in the first place. And if the angle is that there's some genetic tie to Krypton or something (which kind of stretches credulity) then why aren't Zod and his crew and Clark affected?

If they were worried about the codex, you'd think they'd go after it right away, or at least I would, but then Clark would have been a child and no match for them, so hanging out for 33 years it was...

I don't think the problem is that I didn't pay attention. I think the problem is that I did...

I have no problems with you being happy with it, though...

I mean, if you can terraform a planet, and you were just hanging around for 33 years, then why didn't you do this to another planet earlier? I don't know... I just walked away having a lot of questions.

Well, you have to listen to what characters in the movie say - you know, "dialogue?" You apparently missed all the explanation about the Codex.

I guess it's tougher to claim the film doesn't make sense if you pay attention to the dialogue.

See above. It seems like maybe you all didn't pay attention, but that's okay.

It would be nice to see a prominent minority woman in the next film

Someone like Amanda Waller would be a good fit for that but with her character appearing the Green Lantern movie I'm not sure if they'd go for it. I'd like to see it though.

Sounds interesting.

 

[davejames]

Zod had no idea where Kal-El was sent. It's not like Jor-el or Lara was going to TELL him where to find their son. It wasn't until Clark activated the scout ship that they were able to zero in on his location.

 

[Warped9]

In fiction we often demand fictional characters behave in perfectly logical and reasoned out ways. In real life we can often ask ourselves how or why someone we hear of or know could act in an illogical manner. We often ask ourselves "Why? Wouldn't have made more sense to..?" But different people reason things out in different ways and often enough in ways we can't fathom but seem to make perfect sense to them.

 

[Spock/Uhura Fan]

Zod had no idea where Kal-El was sent. It's not like Jor-el or Lara was going to TELL him where to find their son. It wasn't until Clark activated the scout ship that they were able to zero in on his location.

I thought Zod knew, but even if he didn't have a clue until the beacon was activated, that still doesn't explain why they didn't just take Clark when they found that he held the codex in him, or even just extract it if possible. Earth didn't have to be destroyed for them to build a new Krypton somewhere, and I think Clark would have been for seeing all of the children born to preserve his race. So, it still doesn't make sense. Zod said his "programming" was to do whatever it took to protect Krypton/Kryptonians, but what he did was reckless and actually against that goal.

 

[Dr.H]

The ultimate punchline is that Jor El is indirectly responsible for all the lives lost seeing as he did put that codex thing in his son and sent him to earth in the first place.

 

[davejames]

I thought Zod knew, but even if he didn't have a clue until the beacon was activated, that still doesn't explain why they didn't just take Clark when they found that he held the codex in him, or even just extract it if possible. Earth didn't have to be destroyed for them to build a new Krypton somewhere, and I think Clark would have been for seeing all of the children born to preserve his race. So, it still doesn't make sense. Zod said his "programming" was to do whatever it took to protect Krypton/Kryptonians, but what he did was reckless and actually against that goal.

No they didn't have to rebuild Krypton on Earth, but since Zod cared only about Krypton and nothing else (and clearly didn't think much of our planet), he probably saw no point in going anywhere else.

And I imagine he also saw it as a way to further spite Jor-El for sending his son and Codex to Earth in the first place.

 

[Dream]

Was anyone else expecting Lois to completely forget about Superman being Clark Kent after the kiss?

 

[Warped9]

Was anyone else expecting Lois to completely forget about Superman being Clark Kent after the kiss?

No, particularly given how stupid that scene was in the first place.

 

[Jax]

Was anyone else expecting Lois to completely forget about Superman being Clark Kent after the kiss?

I was waiting for him to turn the planet around, which somehow can affect the space time continuum. God the 2nd half of Superman (1978) is horrendous