JWeinCom said:
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.
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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.
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Yes i know superhero movies nowadays should have more substance. I never went into why Man of STeel is great and has amazings substance. All i've done is compared a beloved film, to Man of Steel displaying hipocracy.
And if we expect more from Superhero movies these days, then why is Marvel rated so high. THey are cheap popcorn flicks. THeir end credit scenes are often times more important than the whole movie was.
But lets talk Man of Steel.
First we have an amazing intro. we get Krypton like nothing before. Not just a quick mom/pa sending clark on ship, we get a look at their culture, the world, technology, bioloogy, exposition like crazy. It was like we were watching a sci movie not a comic book movie. We get small teases like the codex looking like brainiacs ship.
Then we move ot earth and for the next hour and half deal with one of supermans staple backstory. His being alone in this world. He grows up in a world where he is so different he can't be like others. He can't form friends, he can't play sports, ect. I saw an article tryign to say batman was better cause he had dead parents to be all moody about for a characteristic and superman had nothign so batman was better. Batman could have lived a normal life after their death, he could have moved on. Superman can't change who he is. He wold always be hiding/pretending.
Then his dad Johnathon was also a realistic dad. THe Maybe line was amazing. His dad doesn't know everything. HIs dad is trying to protect him. I mean what woudl you do if your son was superman. THe gov finds out somethign and they take him away and experiement or turn him into a weapon, ect. He is just trying ot protect him, he dont' have answers. He is doing his best to raise this alien that defies all logic. (and dont' say gov can't hurt clark, johnathon has no idea how strong clark is. I doubt he shot him with a shotgun or something to see if he was bullet proof. he has no idea if clark can be hurt and how bad)
Then the tornado scene furthered this theme of johnathon. INstead of preachign his "the world is not ready for you" he flat out sacrifices himself and is proud to do it for his son's safety. And while I do like the heart attack lesson, i thought this was just as powerful. WHile the heart attack lesson teaches Superman he can't save everyone, this time it was clark choosing to not save someone. He could have but didn't, cause he trusted his dad. He believed in his dad and listend to him. Even though it meant his dad dying. That is more powerful than being helpless to heart attack/cancer.
NOw on to saving people. Clark saved as many people as he could in his first fight with zod/kryptonians. I don't think anyone died except those that Fiora killed while superman was fighting the other dude. Oh and pilot that the one dude squeezed his head exploding it.
But on to metroplis. Rewatch his fight with Zod. It's not as bad as people make it seem. THe first building to collapse is zod getting his vision suddenly. Hard to stop. Next big explosion i believe is the tanker blowing up on the car lot. Watch superman. He dodges the truck and then it explodes behind him. He turns around looking at it like "oh shit" then receiving a cheap shot from zod while he is dumbfounded by the casual destruction he caused by dodging something. The rest of the fight is some of him being smashed through the skyscrapers on the outside, not really causing too much damage. No buildings falling and if no one was staring out the window, no deaths. Then up to space, and back to ground and zod death.
But as for Zod's death. What was superman to do? In superman 2, superman knew of not only the power removing machine, but also of kryptonite. He had two options he could use. What does this new superman who has been wearing the suit for all of like 24 hours know? He knows of no weakness of his own. So how does he stop this guy who like himself, through all this fighting has yet to bleed even once. If he does knock him out, wherek does keep him locked up. What prison could hold Zod? The phantom zone is gone.
I thought killing him was a smart and gutsy move. Too many writers take the easy way out and don't write themselves into a corner so to speak. Superman was written into a corner. He had no choice but to kill, and so he did the only thing he could. And he killed. Cheap writing is always having some escape, or a deux ex machina to save yourself from a hard choice. Superman had a hard choice and no escape. He made the hard choice.
Now the movie isn't without fault. I would have l ike Lois to be more reportery. Remove their kiss. Have Johnathon run back to save a trapped person/kid or something and not a dog. Not sayign dogs aren't worth it, just saying no dog is the last person to leave a car or stays in it when others leave. Remove tentacles from machine that superman destroyed. OH and the bad cgi of his chest on fire at the oil plant. I assume it was from his shirt burning off, since he wouldn't burn at all, but still the cgi was bad.
Lastly, if you think SUperman returns was a good superman you are delusional. What did he do to contribute to the world? He saved one plane from falling. Then random city glass falling from when kyrptonite island formed. Otherwise he floating around wondering about being alone. The same theme as Man of Steel in a way, except executed extremely poorly. Then the kicker, his final climax of the movie is him picking up a freaking island of kryptonite and throwing it into space. Let's ignore the fact the kryptonite should have made that impossible. The feat alone is boring.
But the movie was directed by a holleywood golden boy. People love everything bryan singer does, and hates everything zack snyder does.