Now, the movie was...adequate. Henry Cavill was delicious. Seriously...
Look at that. Gorgeous. So it was well worth it to me to shell out the money required to see this movie. I've loved him since The Count of Monte Cristo, in which he played Albert. Now THAT movie was disgusting, but whatever. He was adorable. And even more so in The Tudors, all the more because he got the most beautiful costumes and because I could stare at the screen and hope beyond hope that he and Jonathan Rhys Meyers would be shirtless on the same screen. Alas...
Now, on from this brief reminder that I am a full-blooded female. Henry Cavill was awesome.
The rest of the movie...meh. It wasn't horrible, but considering as the movie is fricken Superman, I wanted so much more from it. I wanted, and I acknowledge that this was probably asking too much, another Dark Knight. Batman got the serious treatment, and I was hoping that Superman would, too. And...yeah, this Superman was quite serious. But it wasn't a serious treatment. No...Man of Steel was just a good, old-fashioned action flick...with a guy in a red cape and an S on his chest. (No, excuse me, hope.)
Now, despite what some of my friends think, a red-headed Lois Lane did not ruin the movie. In fact, Amy Adams was quite brilliant in a role that really had almost nothing going for it. People asked why she went out into the freezing cold and whatnot...well, she's an investigative reporter. That's kind of what she does. So that's probably not the problem with her character. No...the problem with Lois Lane is the problem with every human character in this movie: who they hell are they? There's no development, there's no history...they're just kind of there, reacting to the plot. And with Lois...well, I felt like the writers decided that LOIS NEEDS TO BE IN THIS MOVIE! So she just kept getting pulled along for the ride.
And do not get me started on that kiss. It was just so damned forced. Blech.
OK, so the acting wasn't the problem. The effects weren't the problem. Russel Crowe definitely wasn't the problem, and neither was the (*drool*) beautiful Henry...
Nope. Definitely the script. The secondary characters were basically just cardboard cutouts to fulfill the necessities of the plot. Whatever Kevin Costner was doing just felt weird. And I really hope Jenny isn't supposed to be Jimmy...but I'm going to let that one go since there was nothing to indicate that she's supposed to be Jimmy Olsen except that she was there and her name was Jenny. I had to call the army dude Stabler because I actually had no idea who he was. Scientist dude...who's actually pretty important to the Super Universe...well, yeah...
Zod was created to defend his people. But that's as far as they go to develop him and the Kryptonians. There's this theme there about choice, which is something that Clark gets because he grows up on Earth and whatnot...and Kryptonians have no choice and blah blah blah. It actually ends up working to the disadvantage of the Kryptonians, since "this is their destiny, this is who they are and what they're meant to do and be" and that is all they needed to do to develop those characters. There's a great line about morality and Superman's weakness, but they didn't go anywhere with that. Of course, they could go somewhere with that whole theme in further movies, but that doesn't make this one any good.
The problem with movies is that, unlike books, there has to be closure in each outing. Books have to have some closure, of course, but a series of books will answer one question while bringing up fifty more and there's an overarching story that won't end until the last book. It's why Lord of the Rings took so much work to make; and why I remember so many people complaining about the end Fellowship of the Ring, which had a very abrupt ending...
Ultimately, I think the makers of this movie made this film banking on making more in the future. So I wouldn't be surprised to see all this wanton destruction was just the means by which Lex Luthor is brought into the story. The problems of consequence and Superman's trustworthiness, which they sort of glossed over in this movie (with that silly scene at the end that showed the US government still wasn't really sure of him), can be fully addressed with Lex in movie two. So...it's likely that this movie will seem better when it has another one to carry on certain themes.
I think the second one will be better. Because Lex Luthor is a better villain for Superman; a brain to Supe's brawn, so to speak. Someone to call into question Superman's trustworthiness and whether or not he is actually any good for Metropolis. The sort of stuff no one was going to ask when Superman seemed to be the only thing standing between Earth and crazy ass aliens trying to effectively destroy humanity. And we'll just sort of see Man of Steel as a prologue, of sorts...an introduction to Superman.
Also, Supe needs to smile more...because Henry Cavill has the most beautiful smile.
Now, the real reason I wrote this blog. I read an article earlier today that espoused disappointment in the ultimate fate of Zod and what Superman had to do to get there. You know...
SPOILERS
The fact that Superman sort of snaps Zod's neck, killing him.
It seems that people are up in arms about Superman killing someone. And while there are a lot of problems with this movie (as I just mentioned above), this is absolutely not one of them. In fact, this scene provides one of the truly emotional scenes in the movie. Actually, it provides one of the best characterization scenes in the movie, especially when combined with the line about Superman's mortality being his weakness. Superman was forced to do something awful, to step outside his own moral code and murder someone. And it hurt him deeply to do it, as evidenced by that scream.
Now, the essay I read condemned this moment in the movie as evidence that Faora was right: Superman's morality was a weakness. And only in giving it up was he able to overcome Zod.
To this I reply: like Batman, Superman has a code that overwhelms all the others. And for Superman, it is this: to defend humanity. To fight for them. Truth, justice, and the American Way and all that (and I mean...Americans totally aren't about shooting first and asking questions later, or anything). In killing Zod, Superman actually upheld his code...at a great personal cost to himself. He took the suffering onto his own shoulders that he might defend the people and planet that he loves so much.
And more, it's not as if Superman hasn't killed before. Lord...he's killed Metallo, Zod (in both the comics and the '78 movie), at least three criminals in the Phantom Zone, Mxyzptlk at least once...I mean, seriously. Superman kills when he has to in order to defend humanity and the planet Earth. He takes that pain and that guilt unto himself because that is what Superman does.
That's also what Batman does, of course, at the end of The Dark Knight. The problem is that so many people seem to think of Superman as the happy superhero...the light, fluffy bunny superhero who never does anything hard, dark, or even slightly questionable. Which just simply isn't true.
Batman doesn't kill. Well...he has, actually. But that's his one rule. Superman only kills when there's no other choice. You've got to remember, he isn't Bruce Wayne...he of ultimate cleverness and wealth and decidedly human-ish villains. Superman hasn't killed Lex Luthor, but he has killed a being from the 5th Dimension and fellow Kryptonians...AKA people for whom death is the ONLY WAY.
In this movie, it was kill or see that family die. It was his own code or the death of an innocent family. And Superman is totally the kind of person to sacrifice his own moral code to save a group of innocents. That's what makes him so amazing, and why I love Superman so much. He is willing to sacrifice everything--even his own well-being--to keep the innocents safe. And that is what makes hum such a hero.
That's what makes any hero a hero. And it is definitely not what is wrong with Man of Steel. In fact, it's one of the few moments of that movie that they got really, really right. And if they show us the consequences of that choice in the sequel, well...I think Man of Steel will actually get better the more times we watch it instead of worse.
As it stands, it's an OK movie. It's watchable. I'd even go see it again, if only for Henry Cavill being...well, you know. And I'll add it to my collection come Blu-Ray time.
After all, at least it's better than Green Lantern.
That's also what Batman does, of course, at the end of The Dark Knight. The problem is that so many people seem to think of Superman as the happy superhero...the light, fluffy bunny superhero who never does anything hard, dark, or even slightly questionable. Which just simply isn't true.
Batman doesn't kill. Well...he has, actually. But that's his one rule. Superman only kills when there's no other choice. You've got to remember, he isn't Bruce Wayne...he of ultimate cleverness and wealth and decidedly human-ish villains. Superman hasn't killed Lex Luthor, but he has killed a being from the 5th Dimension and fellow Kryptonians...AKA people for whom death is the ONLY WAY.
In this movie, it was kill or see that family die. It was his own code or the death of an innocent family. And Superman is totally the kind of person to sacrifice his own moral code to save a group of innocents. That's what makes him so amazing, and why I love Superman so much. He is willing to sacrifice everything--even his own well-being--to keep the innocents safe. And that is what makes hum such a hero.
That's what makes any hero a hero. And it is definitely not what is wrong with Man of Steel. In fact, it's one of the few moments of that movie that they got really, really right. And if they show us the consequences of that choice in the sequel, well...I think Man of Steel will actually get better the more times we watch it instead of worse.
As it stands, it's an OK movie. It's watchable. I'd even go see it again, if only for Henry Cavill being...well, you know. And I'll add it to my collection come Blu-Ray time.
After all, at least it's better than Green Lantern.
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