Superman: Man of Steel


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When it comes to movies spoilers really don't bother me either. I can pretty much predict what's going to happen in a big summer blockbuster before I go in anyway.

The idea that someone would want to read a spoiler-filled review of a movie BEFORE IT COMES OUT boggles my mind.

It seems like there are a lot of things that people do regularly that boggle your mind.

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I'm kinda with Des on this one.

*re-reads above sentence*

*again*

*again*

Apparently I typed that and it was a true statement. Weird.

It's one thing to look at officially-released materials, but to purposely spoil a movie for yourself is almost disrespectful to the people who made it. Granted, I've read spoilers before, but never actively sought them out.

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I'm kinda with Des on this one.

*re-reads above sentence*

*again*

*again*

Apparently I typed that and it was a true statement. Weird.

It's one thing to look at officially-released materials, but to purposely spoil a movie for yourself is almost disrespectful to the people who made it. Granted, I've read spoilers before, but never actively sought them out.

I had to read that sentence a couple times too.

Maybe I'm old, but the idea of finding out so much about stuff that I have yet to see bothers me. I want to be surprised going into a film, not connecting the dots on five main spoilers I heard. The very thing that pisses me off the most, for example, is the first 7 minutes of a movie being posted online as a promotional tool.

That's fucking ridiculous. Why would I want the first seven minutes of my theatrical experience to be boring because I'd already seen it? The heist in The Dark Knight still stands as probably my favorite part of that movie. I'm glad I didn't see it beforehand.

Shit, I don't even watch trailer anymore.

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So this movie now has a much lower rotten tomatoes score than Superman Returns (and unbelievably the same score as Attack of the Clones) - 67%. :( Whatever, that won't stop me from seeing it. I often times don't agree with the rotten tomatoes score, but my expectations have been somewhat lowered. I'm sure it will not rank with Superman (1978) which is one of my favorite movies of all time.

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It's WAY too early to give Rotten Tomatoes ratings a lot of thought. Early scores are always either way too high or way too low. Once more reviews come in (specifically top critics, because there's an awful lot of Fred's Movie Review and Digimon Fanfic Blogs that can be safely ignored on there) you get a clearer picture.

Also, 67% for a big summer tentpole pic is not terrible.

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If you read the reviews the critics that like it like it for the same reasons the ones who hate it hate it. So basically a matter of taste. Mostly the ones who are complaining say the movie takes itself too seriously and the ones who like it say that is what it needed to do.

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One thing that makes Man of Steel particularly odd in terms of its Rottentomatoes score is the fact that it's got so much critical hype surrounding it. At some point, especially with remakes, reboots, and sequels, movies develop a kind of air about them where critics end up criticizing the movie's reputation rather than the movie itself. Flipping through a lot of the negative Man of Steel reviews, many of them are criticizing the fact that this Superman is no longer bright-eyed, constantly smiling, and endlessly optimistic like Reeve's portrayal, thus Man of Steel has betrayed the character at his core. I'm only barely paraphrasing there; that's the exact sentiment going about between many of the critics.

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Being a pretentious snob, I don't put a lot of stock in Rotten Tomatoes.

This. I use Rotten Tomatoes/Metacritic solely as a retroactive gauge of critical opinion when scripting Comic Reel-lief. I don't base my film-going decisions on the opinions of any critics. Even if my role on E2 didn't compel me to watch CBMs, I was already going to watch Man of Steel and will make my own damn mind up about the film.

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I saw it a second time this morning.

I will say, as someone who's waited basically my entire life for a proper SUPERMAN movie, this one by and large delivered.

It's kind of a Lord of the Rings-scale epic. Easily the best Superman movie since 1978, though whether you think it's better than the 78 film is up to preference. This one has heaps of character and lots of good drama, but it's also rather bleak. Superman is the bright beacon of hope, but he's also rather serious for most of the movie. He doesn't save the world with a cheesy smile-to-the-camera, he saves it while grimacing through the struggle.

It makes sense now why half the trailers were drama epics and the other half were heavy on the action. The first half of the movie is largely character drama and the last half is largely action drama. I did feel like some of the action got a bit too big at times, but then it's hard to complain that a Kryptonian super-conflict was too greatly realized.

If I have one complaint it's that the movie has the same tone all the way through. It gets more and less intense, but it stays somewhat grim for probably 95% of the time. That doesn't make it bad by any means, just that it's obviously focused on a specific feeling that doesn't let up until the final ten minutes or so. I'm wondering how sequels will handle this; I'm guessing they'll be a tad bit brighter, given the way things go.

I'd probably give it an 8/10. It's not the end-all be-all of cinema, but it's definitely my favorite movie this year thus far. Definitely needs to be seen on the big screen; I wouldn't wait til DVD. There's entirely too much made-for-the-theater cinematography and sound design; it's not going to be anywhere near the same experience at home unless you have a crazy home theater setup.

I'll have more spoilery thoughts later.

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It fits Clark's character arc in the film to a degree, since he's in somewhat of a grim place in his life, but I do wish there'd been time for more levity. Perhaps there will be more of that in sequels; that seemed to be hinted at. I think if you go into MOS expecting it to be very serious (as I did), it comes off much better. One of the problems I think a lot of critics are having is the dissonance between expectation and the actual film. Most of the negative reviewers are saying things like "this doesn't do justice to the character of Superman," when they're very much only familiar with Christopher Reeve's portrayal.

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