Movie Review: Man of Steel
Jun. 23rd, 2013 12:25 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
caitriMan of Steel should have just jettisoned the 'S' and called itself Space Jesus; that way the sequel can be called Space Jesus 2: The Resurrection.
I went in with very low expectations which I will say were exceeded; the first two thirds of the film are actually pretty well done and interesting. That last third is marred by bad logic, sloppy writing, and offensive imagery. I thought a better ending would have been Kal-El submitting to the humans and having the film end in a question--if it's a leap of faith to trust in humanity, why should we get an answer?
The highlights for me were: Laurence Fishburne as Perry White, which I thought was some brilliant casting; Harry Lennox; blink-and-you'll miss them appearances by Helo and Gaeta, who I guess were Cylons after all; computer!Jor-El as the deus ex machina (IT WORKS ON TWO LEVELS DO YOU GET IT DO YOU). The lowlights were everything about Michael Shannon but most especially the douche beard, the frankly offensive 9/11 references and overtones, Kryptonian artists' futurist lack of perspective and dependence on monochromatic color schemes, and the insistence on referring to the magical thingummy as a "codex." Just--no. Also, evolution does NOT work that way, you effing products of the American public education system.
Ahem.
I went with Scott and Todd; Scott nearly fell asleep on my shoulder and Todd declared that the polar bear turned in the best performance. We all agreed that it was definitely a movie.
I went in with very low expectations which I will say were exceeded; the first two thirds of the film are actually pretty well done and interesting. That last third is marred by bad logic, sloppy writing, and offensive imagery. I thought a better ending would have been Kal-El submitting to the humans and having the film end in a question--if it's a leap of faith to trust in humanity, why should we get an answer?
The highlights for me were: Laurence Fishburne as Perry White, which I thought was some brilliant casting; Harry Lennox; blink-and-you'll miss them appearances by Helo and Gaeta, who I guess were Cylons after all; computer!Jor-El as the deus ex machina (IT WORKS ON TWO LEVELS DO YOU GET IT DO YOU). The lowlights were everything about Michael Shannon but most especially the douche beard, the frankly offensive 9/11 references and overtones, Kryptonian artists' futurist lack of perspective and dependence on monochromatic color schemes, and the insistence on referring to the magical thingummy as a "codex." Just--no. Also, evolution does NOT work that way, you effing products of the American public education system.
Ahem.
I went with Scott and Todd; Scott nearly fell asleep on my shoulder and Todd declared that the polar bear turned in the best performance. We all agreed that it was definitely a movie.
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(no subject)
Date: 2013-06-23 12:53 pm (UTC)I haven't seen it and I don't plan to. I do love the first Christopher Reeve "Superman" movie, and I think one of the reasons it worked so well was that it was kind of aware of its own hokeyness. The DC superheroes are all inherently a bit hokey. It sounds like "Man of Steel" takes itself a bit too seriously.
(no subject)
Date: 2013-06-23 02:37 pm (UTC)WHAT DOES IT MEAN to be special and stuff? WHAT DOES IT MEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNN?????
(no subject)
Date: 2013-06-23 01:54 pm (UTC)Also why does no one call him just Jor, but everyone calls Kal...Kal?
(no subject)
Date: 2013-06-23 02:38 pm (UTC)Also why does he have a dragon? SINCE WHEN DO KRYPTONIANS HAVE DRAGONS?????
(no subject)
Date: 2013-06-23 03:45 pm (UTC)Probably it was there to try and show us how he values nature over science or some crap though. *sigh*
(no subject)
Date: 2013-06-23 02:14 pm (UTC)*cracks up*
(no subject)
Date: 2013-06-23 02:39 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2013-06-24 12:29 am (UTC)Henry Cavill seems nice, though. And is hot.