Man of Steel...now with SPOILERS!

[Sarlon]

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So after the rather rough start as noted here We have now moved into the theater....

I'm seating next to this charming little boy...couldn't be older then 10, and making small talk. We have a laugh at a small group several rows ahead of us who are taking an arm's length group photo...and a random person sitting near them and behind them (not sure if she was with that group or not...) gave one of the guys "bunny ears".

The theater is slowly filling up, the boy's mom gets up to go....somewhere...concession/bathroom and asks if he wants anything? he rather firmly (but politely) says no a few times since she asks a few times, then mutters to me after she left "whats the point of soda and candy, during a long movie like this? means I'd miss half just waiting to go pee"

I tried SOOOOO hard to keep a straight face.

So...now the lights have dimmed, and the standard fire marshal thingy comes up with where the exits are, then the previews roll....

The new hobbit looks vaguely interesting....got to see a more full of smaug, and Legolas, and promises to be another 3 hour movie filled with more fluff then the original book EVER could remotely produce....due to some mixup upstairs we saw the same two previews...and the little boy next to me says that looks AWSOME! I lean over and say (quietly), that the book was better......I don't think he batted an eye when he restored a small semblance of faith in humanity with this simple sentence...."I know...I've read the book 4 times already." I think I almost cried....remember I don't think this boy could of been more then 10...

Pacific Rim looks REALLY good....especially since we saw the preview in 3d and looks REALLY promising!

And now we have the movie....

The first complaint I have over the entire thing, was in the beginning there was a lot of flashing back over the age, from Clark in elementary school with his powers starting to manifest (or at least this is the first major indicator).

Casting:

Russell Crowe plays an AMAZING Jor-El, poignant and gripping, with AMAZING delivery, and just WOW...no he doesn't sing.

Kevin Costner is getting old and ugly, and reminds me to much of uncle ben from the first spider man movie with how he came across.

Henry Cavil (superman) I think has the wrong bone structure for the part, but was otherwise AMAZING, humble and self effacing but still shows the caring side.

Laurence Fishburne has lost A LOT of weight and looks really good, and did a great job with playing the daily planet's news editor Perry White.

Amy Adams as Lois Lane....I think she's to old to be playing the part, but her acting was rather good....not ALWAYS the damsel in distress, but a nice build up of the crush to the full blown kiss at the end.

Michael Shannon as General Zod was AMAZING, equal parts bad and ass. I personally have never heard of him, but he played a great bad guy, really socked it to Clark....both literally and figuratively.

Christopher Meloni was annoying the hell out of me since I knew his face and voice but I couldn't tell you where I've seen him before....and while he only had a miner part, the few big scenes he did have were REALLY good too.

Diane Lane, as Ma Kent was almost perfectly cast in my opinion. Regal and wise, and just the right amount of sass.

Plot:

as stated above the flashbacks get a bit annoying after a bit, but the opening on Krypton with Zod, and the council, the cypher. I'm honestly surprised one thing got through, a VERY VERY VERY naked male baby....you see everything...if you catch my drift.

The fight scenes between Zod and Superman are of course city flattening, both smallville, and Metropolis. The views of Krypton were incredible, and breathtaking, even when the planet was destroying itself. The world gate was good too....literally terraforming earth into a new krypton.

Clark finding the "alien" ship in the arctic.....I wonder about our military....a MAN walking around...when its already been noted that it gets -40 at night....in a light t-shirt and jeans....and no one seems to notice, or CARE that hes melting the ice around the "Russian cold war era submarine"?!

Course that's when he meets the memory of his father and we learn that kryptons had come here exploring 100s of thousands of years ago and crash landed on earth leaving the ship there.

The story line, leading up to the whole thing was well played out, a lot of things are left kind of open for future movies along this "story line". Be sure to keep your eyes peeled for the 2 rather ingenious product placements courtesy of Lex Corp, and Wayne Tech (watch for the satellite in the space part of the fight....you might miss it if you're not looking.)

This last part might just be me of course....but if Lois Lane has met Clark Kent....interviewed him as a "normal" person, met his mother, and everything...then why does she act surprised like she's never met him when at the end of the movie when he shows up for his first day at the daily planet?

Great line spurned from that meeting too..."Welcome to the planet..."

I'll write more later...I'm to tired to think more now.

[Sheldonrs]

Damn it! Why didn't you tell me there were spoilers?!!! LOL

Just channeling SCs that don't read signs.

I'm going to see it Saturday morning by Universal Studios City Walk in Los Angeles.

[mjr]

Damn it! Why didn't you tell me there were spoilers?!!! LOL

Just channeling SCs that don't read signs.

I'm going to see it Saturday morning by Universal Studios City Walk in Los Angeles.

I'm thinking about going to see this myself on Saturday.

Unfortunately, I'm probably going to subconsciously compare it to the 1978 original.

Is this supposed to be a complete "reboot" of the series/franchise? That's my understanding.

I still need to see "Superman Returns", also.

[AnaKhouri]

I'm not sure how a naked baby is a problem (well, I guess I can, thanks to pedophilia-hysterics), and in the Christopher Reeve movie there is a very naked toddler climbing out of the Kryptonian ship.

Is the entire movie as dingy and grimy-looking as it is in the trailer? To me, Superman is a beacon of brightness and hope, and the ugliness of the color palette in the trailer was turning me off.

Also, no Kryptonian overpants.

My husband wants to see it so I guess I will see it, eventually. I'm just not super-excited about it.

[fireheart]

I'm not sure how a naked baby is a problem (well, I guess I can, thanks to pedophilia-hysterics), and in the Christopher Reeve movie there is a very naked toddler climbing out of the Kryptonian ship.

Is the entire movie as dingy and grimy-looking as it is in the trailer? To me, Superman is a beacon of brightness and hope, and the ugliness of the color palette in the trailer was turning me off.

Also, no Kryptonian overpants.

Male schlong is male schlong no matter how old.

I think the dinginess is meant to be indicative of a more "darker" more "adult" film...a LOT of films seem to be getting this treatment lately...guess they want to REALLY focus on making themselves more "adult."

And I actually had to Google Image "man of steel" to find out what you meant. He looks SO bizarre without them.

I wonder if the Superman Escape ride at Movieworld will rename itself to "Man of Steel, Escape!"

[Sarlon]

From what I understand its kinda a reboot, since we're now working towards the justice league movie, much like marvel did with the lead ups to avengers.

I don't think it was all that gritty scene wise...I do honestly think its one of the darker ones though...

[Aethian]

Henry Cavil reminds me of the original Superman, George Reeves.

[AnaKhouri]

And I actually had to Google Image "man of steel" to find out what you meant. He looks SO bizarre without them.

When we saw the first photos, my husband and had this conversation about how without the overpants, the actor's unit was right out there for everyone to see. Like, in the pictures it was REALLY obvious. I mean, he is Superman, so I guess the overpants hold it in or something.

And why does 'adult' have to equal 'dirty'?

[Ironclad Alibi]

Henry Cavil reminds me of the original Superman, George Reeves.

The original Superman was Kirk Alyn in the movie serials Superman (1948) and Atom Man vs. Superman (1950).

George Reeves was the second actor to play Superman in Superman and the Mole Men (1951) and the Adventures of Superman (1952-1958).

[Aethian]

Sorry I didn't know he was the second actor. I was always told he was the original actor whenever I got to see one of the movies with Mom.

[shopgirl15]

I'm amazed this is getting lower reviews than Superman Returns. I wasn't expecting a great film, but anything is better than the embarrassment that was Superman Returns.

[Aethian]

I liked Superman Returns...

Why do I feel like I need to hand over my geek girl card every time I like one of these movies?

[Sapphire Silk]

Is this supposed to be a complete "reboot" of the series/franchise? That's my understanding.

I still need to see "Superman Returns", also.

Yes, this is a complete reboot. A sequel is planned, and eventually a Justice League film. They're trying to capture Marvel's success with the Avengers.

I thought Superman Returns to be a superior film to Man of Steel story wise, though there was a bit of the camp as a nod to the Christopher Reeve movies that I didn't care for.

Man of Steel was OK, 3 of 5 IMHO. I hated the shaky cam and lens flare, the story was too familiar. However, I really like Henry Cavill as Superman. He was constrained by a bad script, IMHO.

Zod was good. Faora was awesome. Lois was boring (the Lois in SR is far superior). Jor-El was excellent. Perry a disappointment.

Chris Melloni was good; I liked his character. You probably remember him from L&O: SVU. He was the lead role.

[mjr]

Yes, this is a complete reboot. A sequel is planned, and eventually a Justice League film. They're trying to capture Marvel's success with the Avengers.

I thought Superman Returns to be a superior film to Man of Steel story wise, though there was a bit of the camp as a nod to the Christopher Reeve movies that I didn't care for.

Man of Steel was OK, 3 of 5 IMHO. I hated the shaky cam and lens flare, the story was too familiar. However, I really like Henry Cavill as Superman. He was constrained by a bad script, IMHO.

Zod was good. Faora was awesome. Lois was boring (the Lois in SR is far superior). Jor-El was excellent. Perry a disappointment.

Chris Melloni was good; I liked his character. You probably remember him from L&O: SVU. He was the lead role.

Actually got back from seeing this a few hours ago. In D-Box 3D.

I'll try to discuss things without giving away too much.

Zod in Man of Steel vs Zod in Superman The Movie/Superman II:

Both ruthlessly evil, but in different ways.

Jor-El = Bad Ass.

The change in the Kryptonian back story from Superman The Movie grew on me. Though it did seem a little too actively high-tech.

No Jimmy Olsen.

Laurence Fishburn did a good job of portraying Perry White.

LOL at one of the things Clark does after he's taunted by someone.

Henry Cavill did a GREAT job portraying Superman.

The Kents were surprisingly younger than I recall from Superman The Movie.

There's more, but I don't want to give away anything.

[Jetfire]

This last part might just be me of course....but if Lois Lane has met Clark Kent....interviewed him as a "normal" person, met his mother, and everything...then why does she act surprised like she's never met him when at the end of the movie when he shows up for his first day at the daily planet?

Great line spurned from that meeting too..."Welcome to the planet..."

I'll write more later...I'm to tired to think more now.

She acted like she hadn't met him before because she dropped the story after finding out who Clark was (so no one else but her has seen her line of investigation), and she was quick enough on the uptake to realize he was undercover, so she played along. And yes "Welcome to the Planet" was a nice double entendre.

Having Lois be In from the beginning was a nice touch. I liked how they set her up in this movie in general.

Christopher Meloni gave me a horrible case of "That guy". I knew him, but I couldn't remember where I'd seen him before. With the ease he played the military guy, I figured it was a Stargate thing or something like that. Now, as I read this thread, it finally clicked; he's one of the Law and Order stars. (Haven't watched any of the series in years but used to watch them a lot)

Most of the military folk gave me a "That guy" moment; not enough to make me start digging in IMDB, but most of them were familiar from someplace or another.

I liked the handling of the military in this. They weren't shown as incompetant, but they also weren't shown as rolling over completely either. It felt very natural how they were set up (Other than the "Let's put all our eggs in one basket" scene where you get all the military equipment bunched up for one guy. At least spread them out so you don't domino too much. )

The fights were good, both in Smallville and in Metropolis. They were truly a fight between supers.

All in all, this movie felt like it concentrated more on the Super than the Man, whereas older movies often did the reverse (for better or for worse).

Lots of hooks for sequels and Movie Universe additions; it'll be interesting to see how they expand. You can be sure that next movie will probably have Lex involved, maybe not as a badguy, but in the rebuilding of Smallville and Metropolis. I missed the Waynetech nod, and I was hoping (but didn't see) any possible Green Lantern or Flash teases. (Or teases for other DCU people).

All in all, a good movie. I really enjoyed it.