Man of Steel

[Punisher]

The lack of empathy he seemed to have for the city/killings will (hopefully) be used to set up the villain in the sequel. Like Lex rebuilding the city or a guy who was severely harmed in the destruction of the city becomes metallo, etc, etc.

[BrobotC]

So that's the excuse people are already making to justify it, huh?

Makes better sense to me than just "Lazy writing"

[youbastards]

The Superman I know would have tried anything to prevent taking a life, but I guess covering Zod's eyes with his bare Kryptonian hand while having him in a headlock was out of the question. It would have shown just how much he was willing to suffer for the people he was trying to protect, lord knows that there was already enough Christ iconography present in the film up to that point to justify it.

So what's the excuse for advanced Kryptonian DNA manipulation not fixing Zod's lazy eye?

In all seriousness Michael Shannon gave the best performance of the movie, and was the only actor that seemed to really be enjoying their part. Costner was up there too, until the tornado scene, which was just silly.

Edited June 17, 2013 by youbastards

[Punisher]

But this isn't the Superman you "know". And I suppose until you and others realize that I guess it's hard to like the movie. He is still learning what it means to be human and has yet to balance his human and kryptonian morals and responsibilities. As for the Christ imagery, I found that very fitting for a modern adaption. It worked more so in here than in Prometheus.

Also laughing at someone's lazy eye, really? That's just lazy writing there

[hellpop]

Here are things that should NEVER happen on screen, and if they do, that represents a fundamental flaw in the understanding of the source material:

Captain America raping a woman.

The Punisher shooting a kitten.

Spider-man using his abilities to become wealthy.

Superman taking a life.

Go #@&$ yourself, DC, there's enough bad shit going on in the world without resorting to making an "edgy" Superman that is willing to take a life, especially in his reboot origin film.

Have not seen the movie, but I agree with the general sentiment 100%.

[youbastards]

Oh get over yourself, Punisher, always with the holier-than-thou shtick. It was a joke. Boohoo, I didn't like the movie, you were the one who talked down to me for posting my opinion about it.

Edited June 17, 2013 by youbastards

[BrobotC]

Yeah. Superman should've let the family die so that he could fly around grinning and shout, "I've never killed!"

Totally.

[Punisher]

Well way to jump the gun as an attempt make this into something more than a discussion of the movie. I've never had a problem with you YB, but clearly it isn't the same on your end.

So...... how about that WAYNE enterprises satellite guys?

[BrobotC]

So...... how about that WAYNE enterprises satellite guys?

I think I was the only one who noticed it in my theater.....as I was the only one pointing xD

[Twisted Two-Face]

Clark killed Zod in the comics. Clark killed Zod in Superman II. Clark always kills Zod. There was no other way this story was going to end.

Zod was literally going to exterminate the entire race. I get that Superman always finds Plan C when presented with A and B, but there was no other way to stop him. If actual Kryptonians giving him a punishment worse than death didn't stop him (which Clark knew) then the only way to save humanity was to kill this man. Clark clearly hated it, by Cavill's powerful scream, but even he knew he was out of options.

Superman may not kill, but he always kills Zod.

[funkguerilla]

It's amazing to me how DC Comics has some of the most iconic characters in fiction, but for some reason think that the best way to represent them on screen is by loading the backstories with unnecessary clutter.

Put plainly, I wasn't really excited about the new Superman movie.

And for what it's worth, YB, I agree with you. What makes Superman unique is his unwavering resolve to not kill, even when it seems like it's the only option. I was extremely disappointed when the movie went along and just had Clark kill a dude.

[undeadpool]

This film was great I know I already said it, but it needs to be said again

[MisterPL]

First of all, it's REEVE or REEVES. Two different Superman actors. Know your history, kids.

Henry Cavill looked much better throughout this flick than he did in that first promo image. He was nice. He was buff. The franchise is in good hands with this guy.

I liked Amy Adams as Lois Lane. Glad they decided to make her smart enough to find out who this mystery man was in less than one film.

While I wasn't looking forward to seeing Zod again, Michael Shannon was pretty good. Happy no one was forced to kneel before him.

I argued that the Williams fanfare is like the Bond theme, that it should be somewhere in the score even if only at the very end. That opinion was drowned out by Hans Zimmers' amazing percussion. This is my new favorite superhero soundtrack.

The effects were eye-popping, from the spectacular flights to the eerie X-ray vision.

I didn't miss Jimmy Olsen or Lex Luthor although the latter had a backstage presence. Looking forward to seeing Lex leverage the devastation to his advantage. (Cleaning up Metropolis to get his hands on the alien tech, garnering public favor for his phlanthropic efforts, keeping people skeptical of this "Superman.")

Superman killing Zod didn't bother me. He was obviously remorseful about doing it and I'm hopeful that this will be the one big regret that reinforces his rule of not taking lives. That execution should haunt him. We'll see. I'm sure Batman doesn't approve.

What did bother me was the devastation surrounding Kal-El. His home planet's destroyed. Smallville's destroyed. Metropolis is destroyed. I wouldn't want to live anywhere near this guy. I could barely overlook it in the animated series because that was a cartoon but I couldn't ignore it here. Take the fight someplace else, Kal.

And what's up with Zod's heat vision? He should have been able to fry that family at a glance. Is Superman shooting blind when he uses that power?

All that said, I walked out of the theatre believing a man could soar. I look forward to owning the movie.

[Kostisfire]

Not really movie related (i'll be seeing it again this wednesday) but i've been talking part in this MOS/DC vs MARVEL flame war for the past hout and these guys are just straight up dumbasses: http://www.flickr.com/photos/1uplego/9072002095/

Edited June 18, 2013 by Kostisfire

[Shanester]

Anybody that provokes or insults via the internet, is a coward and a mental midget. Converse with intelligence and accept others opinions if you expect them to accept yours.

[Kostisfire]

Anybody that provokes or insults via the internet, is a coward and a mental midget. Converse with intelligence and accept others opinions if you expect them to accept yours.

That's what i did but when i was talking about the movies, they started talking about how the JL predates the avengers, about how dc makes "sophisticated" films and all that. I tried to refrain from using insults but they were asking for it. They were using poor grammar and their arguements were laughable. I only "insulted" them (nothing too fancy, they called me a guy who lives in his parents's basement, i called them small-minded) towards the end, when this whole thing became not a debate, but a flame war with no real point.

[Shanester]

My comment wasn't pointed at you Kostis. Just a rant in general.

[Kostisfire]

My comment wasn't pointed at you Kostis. Just a rant in general.

I know, i just wanted to express my distaste at people who can't support a healthy debate and resort to name calling and fall as low as using this kind of insults:"you live in yo mama's basement biotch". One thing i love about flame wars though, is that it makes me use my english knoweledge and put grammar itno practice. Now that my english lessons are over and i got my proficiency i need something to type so i that i won't forget my english down the road.

Edited June 18, 2013 by Kostisfire

[BrobotC]

Straight from the mouth of Zack Snyder....

"In the original version of the script he just got zapped into the Phantom Zone. David [Goyer] and I had long talks about it, and Chris [Nolan] and I talked long about it, and I really feel like we should kill Zod, and I really feel like Superman should kill him.

The why of it was for me - I go - if it's truly an origin story, his aversion to killing is unexplained, it's just in his DNA. I felt like we needed him to do something just like him putting on the glasses or going to the Daily Planet, or any of the other things that your sort of seeing for the first time that you realize becomes his sort of his thing. I felt like if we could find a way of making it impossible for him, you know "kobayashi maru" - totally no way out - I felt like that could also make you go 'okay, this is the why of him not killing ever again.'

He's basically obliterated his entire people and his culture, and he is responsible for it, and he's just like 'I can't. How could I kill ever again?'



Even though Zod says to him 'Look there is no way this ends with, like what are you going to do put me in jail? I don't know what are you going to do with me, but I am just going to keep doing this to until you stop me . Yeah, I am, just a killing machine and that's what I am going to do. I had a task before which was to rebuild Krypton, but you've robbed me of that task, the task is gone, there is no chance of that task, so now what am I going to do? All I am is a killing machine? So I'm going to start doing that.'

And I wanted to create this scenario where Superman is going to see those people get chopped in half, or he's got to do what he's go to do. And I think Zod knows that. It's almost [suicide in its way] in a way, it is, it's like death by cop, you know in a way. In my mind if Kal has the ability to kill him, then that's a noble way for him to die. It's like that whole "good death is its own reward" concept in the movie.

I think if there were more adventures for Superman to go on, you then are also given this other thing, where you don't know 100% what he is going to do. I think that when you really put in stone the concept that he won't kill, and it's totally in stone, it really erases an option in the viewer's mind. Now, I think that doesn't mean that he doesn't now have a code, that he is like 'okay I just can't don't do that, this has to be outside, I gotta find another way, that's how it is,' but again you will always have it in the back of your mind this little thing [of] how far can you push him. If he sees Lois get hurt, or if he sees his mother get killed, you just made a really mad Superman that we know is capable of some really horrible stuff when he wants to be.

That's the thing that is cool about him, I think in some ways; the ideas that he has the frailties of a human, sort of emotionally, but you don't want to get the guy mad."

[UK Collector]

Question: why couldn't the Kryptonians just terraform a different planet? For example Mars. Why did it have to be earth?

[Shanester]

Thanks for posting that BrobotC.

[MisterPL]

Question: why couldn't the Kryptonians just terraform a different planet? For example Mars. Why did it have to be earth?

There were other Kryptonian colonies elsewhere. Zod went there and only found dead Kryptonians. Earth was the only colony that not only had a living Kryptonian but a thriving one.

My question is why would they want to terraform Earth in the first place? Seems like their powers – once they reached full affect – would have allowed them to survive on Earth.

Thanks for posting that BrobotC.

Yes, that was some great insight. Looking forward to the director's commentary on the DVD, especially since Nolan doesn't do that stuff.

[minimadman]

I argued that the Williams fanfare is like the Bond theme, that it should be somewhere in the score even if only at the very end. That opinion was drowned out by Hans Zimmers' amazing percussion. This is my new favorite superhero soundtrack.

I agree completely. I listened to this while doing the dishes yesterday and it made that terrible task less mundane and more epic.

[UK Collector]

I argued that the Williams fanfare is like the Bond theme, that it should be somewhere in the score even if only at the very end. That opinion was drowned out by Hans Zimmers' amazing percussion. This is my new favorite superhero soundtrack.

I agree completely. I listened to this while doing the dishes yesterday and it made that terrible task less mundane and more epic.

I haven't tried listening to it whilst washing the dishes, but I do agree that it is a phenomenal soundtrack. If/when someone out there remixes the Zimmer and Williams soundtracks together they will get my money!

My question is why would they want to terraform Earth in the first place? Seems like their powers once they reached full affect would have allowed them to survive on Earth.

A good point.

[Jeff]

Saw it last night. Didn't like it. Casting was great. Writing was meh. Disaster porn. Felt flat. So many questions as to why Superman did one thing or another. Meh.... Hence...