irstupid said:
Not justifying a movie by comparing it to another of a different age, just pointing out hypocricy. THe love for Superman 2 and how it portrayed superman PERFECTLY is widely known. Everyone wants that superman. THey love that superman. It's the only superman they know. First superman has not been like that superman in the comics in like 30 years. Secodn that very superman you love so much is more sadistic and sick than the man of steel one. As I said he flat out goes back days later to get revenge on a trucker. He smiles and kills a defenseless/powerless zod and has no remorse. Then lets get on the bs story. Lois figures out his secret, so to hide it he nearly lets her drown in the river. Then all of an hour later he "accidently" trips into a fire spilling his secret for real this time. Oh and then he just up and removes his powers asap so he can shag her, all without even informing her what he is doing or any regard to the world now not having a superman.
Oh and the kicker to all Rotton Tomatoes. Superman Returns has an awesome score. Let that sink in. |
Again, we expect more from super hero movies nowadays. First of all, Zod's death was a bit more vague in Superman 2. There was also a TV edit that showed the villains alive, and this is the version a lot of younger people (like me) have seen. They go with the classic "villain falling down a huge hole" thing that they like to do to avoid showing death. Since this is a comic book movie, and comic characters frequently like through that kind of shit, a lot of people probably didn't even think of it that way. Zods death in Man of Steel however is clear and violent.
And while people complain about Zod being killed (which I didn't have a problem with personally as they never established Superman as a character as a character with a strong moral opposition to killing people, and Superman has I believed killed kryptonians in the comics), that's not the real issue. The issue is that the movie is relentlessly grim. Superman (probably) killing Zod in Superman 2 was a weird moment from an otherwise fun movie. Superman killing Zod in Man of Steel is the last depressing moment in a string of increasingly more depressing moments. There's simply not one good thing that happens in the film aside from things getting less fucked up than they possibly could have. By the time we get to the end, it's just too much.
As for the trucker guy, you're just reaching there. Clark comes to him rather innocuously allowing him the chance not to be a douche. He decides to be a douche, and then punches Clark hurting himself. Then Clark makes him dizzy and slides him across a bar. The guy is clearly a bully (he also shoves the server for no real reason), and Clark teaches him a lesson. Not saying I love the scene, but sadistic is a huge stretch.
While they've tried to add some edge to Superman and he's not quite as boyscouty as he was, he's never been that bleak either. Snyder shouldn't, and couldn't, go back to the 1970s-80s Superman, but he also shouldn't have gone to the opposite extreme. He's bullied like Peter Parker, hated and feared like the X-men, overwhelmed by his senses like Daredevils, and morose like Batman. He's more a composite of what made other heroes interesting than a unique take on Superman.
I don't really remember the rest of the plot well enough to comment. But, I will say that Man of Steel has more than enough plotholes of its own.
As for Superman Returns, it definitely doesn't deserve a 76%, but it was still a way better movie than Man of Steel. In the same way that a shit sandwich is better than eating shards of broken glass. It at least moderately felt like a Superman movie with Clark actually contributing to the world in some way and not being a somber little bitch.
