Had a night to sleep on it, thought this might be the best place to share more detailed thoughts in my own long-arse review--- (possibly way too detailed, but oh well- feel free to ignore)
First off.... apologies up front if it pisses people off that I didn't love MOS unconditionally. There's a lot that's admirable in this film, but there are a lot of things I was disappointed by as well. Don't want to argue what my reactions are, everyone just has different opinions.
Got great seats, (waited an hour for them, not too bad) oddly, the same thing happened to me the first time I saw SR: the audience member from heck sat next to me, opening his cellphone a few times during the show and trying to claim dominancy of the elbow rest. REALLY annoying.
But, outside of that, good seats, 3/4 full audience, awesome supersize screen.
Got my head cleared of every past movie for viewing and took a deep breath. I know a lot going in, because of reading the spoilers/reviews, not a big thing.
Ready for takeoff...
Opening with Krypton- With the birth of Kal- and a very creepy but unique truly alien-looking version of Krypton. Suprisingly, I LOVE it. It's one of the few giant accomplishments that I think Snyder made with MOS.
I didn't think I would, but Krypton really does feel like an alien civilization that we haven't seen before. While I always felt like Krypton should look like the technological equivalent of heaven, I felt like I was in David Lynch's version of Krypton, which wasn't bad. Even Ridley Scott suprisingly said in an interview that he stayed out of scifi/horror for the longest time because he couldn't figure out a way to do something new that hadn't been seen before... so it's neat that Snyder really found some hooks to make it LOOK like a fleshed out civilization that wasn't generic.
Crowe is great in the role- which is a pleasant suprise. I felt odd with his casting in the beginning, but he definitely didn't phone it in. Great casting choice after all! His wife? Not so much.... the lighting oddly is not flattering to this actress at all. Pity the beautiful Julia Ormond bowed out, but oh well. It's true that the part lasts only a few minutes, but still...
I don't mind the idea of the civilization overdraining their resources and causing their downfall- it's still in line I think with the spirit of the comics.
The bit where General Zod/Shannon comes in (more on him later)- and Crowe gets his mecha-armor on and gets killed by Zod I didn't care for. It didn't destroy the movie for me- but... one very iconic moment for me in the comics was Curt Swan's image of Jor-el and Lara standing together looking at their homeworld fall apart. (Sort of the ultimate scifi Titanic moment). Even Donner's classic STM kind of blew that moment (they're running in STM, but know the planet is doomed- what's the point?).
Anyhow- I don't mind changes if a creative change brings forth something just as good as- or better- than what preceded it. A fight with Zod while Kal-el's ship escapes with precious cargo kind of weakens the emotional significance of the moment, but since we've seen it in so many incarnations before, I guess they (Snyder/Goyer) felt they could change it up a bit. Putting the fight scene right as Kal is leaving is... well... It's sort of like how (in deleted scenes) James Cameron thought it was important to put a chase on the boat for diamonds while the Titanic was sinking. The fact that the Titanic is sinking with millions of people on board is a big enough event. Adding a slice of James Bond action kind of cheapens it, if you know what I mean. (*Donner isn't innocent either- he originally had a Phantom Zone guard go after Jorel and Lara while everything is blowing up)
In any case- fine. Still, the stuff with Krypton's design is awesome enough that I let it slide.
Move onto the council sentencing the criminals to the Phantom Zone (sorta)...
It's alright- it's different, for sure, and weird. But would it have killed them to have SOME moments of being able to figure out how the society feels about the world falling apart at the same time? Maybe it's clearer on second view, but-
Lara alone watching Krypton die. Not quite the same resonance, (for reasons mentioned above) and the actress is no Julia Ormond, but it's still a pretty frame.
Cut to:
A fishing boat and an oil rig???
Boy, I know people complain about the opening scenes with Lex- but talk about strange choices.
Going from a planet blowing up to an oil rig blowing up/being saved?
It's been said that Speilberg puts different colored papers on his scripts (*this was a behind the scenes bit awhile ago, dunno if he's stopped doing that or when) to show different tones. The thought was- if a script had the same color too long, then the film would feel too static or dragged down. If I was the editor, I definitely would have thought this the place to put one of the Smallville 'character' scenes in here instead. (Maybe the 'hearing' scene?)
Speaking of the hearing scene- and the other Smallville character scenes-
It would have been nice to have seen any bits that could have shown a more rounded version of Clark/Superman. It doesn't take a lot, but primarily the characterization of Clark is: he's a one-dimensional character with problems, and defined by those problems.
Did he worship his dad Pa Kent? In the great Geoff Johns' miniseries 'Secret Origins'- (which is NOT a long read), Geoff Johns had a few panels of young Clark as a kid in school, with tiny behaviors here and there that humanized the Superman character much more- and makes one wish that Goyer pulled in his buddy Geoff to do touchups to give it more humanity. (*Though upfront, I'm only judging this film by what I saw, consciously not comparing it to any other Superman film nor an extended cut that I haven't seen, which may remedy those)
The hearing scene is.... ok.... but seems like it was better in the trailer. Like my deepest worries with Snyder, from almost all of his past films, he doesn't seem to really know how to best play a scene for all its emotions. This happens over and over in Man of Steel- Whenever there's a scene that SHOULD be a tearjerker (perhaps there's two exceptions: "you are my son" and the one where Clark is beat up)- like Watchmen- which also had a good cast- it feels a bit flat.
Kevin Costner shows again acting-wise why he got all the recognition and praise he did back in the day (although I kind of wish they would have digitally removed his double chin- they can do those things now, why not?). Again, a suprising great choice by Snyder. He and Diane Lane are great as Pa and Ma Kent. I don't think they will, but would love to see more flashbacks in the future- "Dexter" uses a ton of flashbacks between father and son that make you fully understand its lead character, I'm not alone in wanting/hoping that there were more of the Pa Kent/Clark scenes.
As far as Pa Kent's death--- I could see how on paper it was powerful, but the way it was executed just felt incredibly flat and stagey to me. Like many scenes in Watchmen, I WANTED to be emotionally moved, but wasn't. (*Stuart Baird is still editing movies, wouldn't it have been awesome if he edited this one?) So, it's one of many scenes where I respect the idea as having integrity, but bummed that I don't think the director/editor brought the idea home properly.
The 'Clark on the road' scenes are ok- I did like the bit of him as a busboy having to turn the other cheek while being openly humiliated in the bar. That felt real- and is a nice shortcut to fleshing out Clark's situation. But it definitely would have been nice to see some moments that weren't about just how awful it is to be Superman growing up. A moment of Pete and Clark actually hanging out or being a friend of Lana's might have been nice and add a few more human touches to the film.
Anyhow-moving on---
Haven't talked about Cavill yet. Biggest surprise- I had giant reservations about him, but just as everyone says, he owns the role.
The top half of the suit looks magnificent on screen, dig the texture.... though I still think they missed the boat by not having the shorts and belt, and putting on those unnecessary bits on the arm and waist. As much as Snyder says that he wanted it to match everything else on Krypton- I just don't think the final costume design matches all THAT much and- since Jorel and Lara are free thinkers on a Krypton that looks to be pretty corrupt--- why shouldn't the design look more hopeful and even out of place for the future?
Anyhow- I love the texture and the cape, not thrilled with, but can live with the rest of the costume, just like I do with the Xmen costumes which I accept but don't love. Cavill doesn't destroy Routh, it's just a different take. Actually, the only actor in tv and film that didn't feel like the character to me was the first Superboy- the rest all have their take on it that works for me. But enough on that.
Moving onto the rest of the cast: Amy Adams as Lois Lane- she looks a little older on screen than I expected from the photos, but she is a pretty actress- but she feels much more like a Lana Lang to me (from the comics, not Smallville)- than a powerhouse presence that I always took Lois Lane to be. Even Kate Bosworth (who was only ok in my book) made a better Lois. Again, she wasn't a bad actress, just I felt miscast. If Lois is reinterpreted, fine, but the one thing that I felt you should feel is that she's someone not to mess with--- and I just didn't feel that Adams came off that strong.
Lawrence Fishburne as Perry White, and "Jenny" Olsen.... These roles feel so underwritten, it didn't really matter and in the end I didn't even care. (Still.... Jenny Olsen. Vomit. Vomit. Cute actress, but the whole idea only takes away from the Superman family- Superman has no human friends, just one girlfriend (Lois), and one male friend in Jimmy - who reminds him- on some levels of the idealism and naivete that Superman can easily lose. Jimmy is a younger mirror image of him. Changing that role into a female friend does change that dynamic. Jenny Olsen. Ugh. But, enough of the side rant.)
Action-wise-
I don't mind 'too much' action, (I grew up on Hong Kong martial arts pics, which are almost all action)- but its how that action is portrayed that makes it fresh and exciting.... or .....when they're sensory overload, loud, blurry, and noisy.
MOS is a little of both. While I really loved Superman's takeoff in the trailers, having EACH and EVERY take off in the film be accompanied by a gunshot sound and a fast CGI blur just got to be really annoying and at a certain point made me almost miss the cardboard SIV flying Reeve cutout- at least you could see the actor!- that's how annoying it got.
Also- While, yes... I know it's in the comics that Supes has super-speed, I really wish they would have cut back on that- I know it's been mentioned before, but with superhero action- if it's too slow, I know it looks fake, but if it's too fast, it's a cgi blur, and where's the "comic book panel brought to life" spectacle that a fan geek dreams of, if it's all fast jittery blurs?
Some of the action works- and is exciting.... but the speed is so fast, and the editing never really emphasizes the emotional battle during these action scenes, so it does feel like a loud noisy videogame half of the time. I at first was delighted there was no 'Snyder slo-mo' cam, but am now severely regretting that there's none. (Are those the ONLY two speeds Snyder has??? Slo-mo and blurry fast?)
Forget comparing it to other Superman films (of which one can note I deliberately took pains to avoid)- emotionally I got incredibly more caught up with the Rocky boxing fight battles - and if anything, this should be MORE exciting than that- but I found myself exhausted and not exhilarated. Michael Thau type editing at fault? Possibly...but...
The Battlestar Galactica shakicam didn't help at ALL. I went with it- but it just felt like too much that it was an unnecessary distraction on its own.
But... the biggest distraction (and slightly obscene) was the emotional non-reality of the city being wiped out, and the peoples reaction to it. I didn't mind the buildings being destroyed, but maybe it's from echoes of remembering how I was in a daze for days/weeks after 9/11--- that if there was any emotional truth to the whole city being wiped out in seconds, that we'd see tons of extras in tears, weeping or devastated with everything around them. Instead, we get a few Daily Planet staffers handling all the loss of life pretty darn well, not even sheck-shocked, and Superman and Lois can even make a one liner or two amongst the thousands of dead innocents. (!!!)
I know there's a balance between superhero fantasy and trying to echo realism on film- but with all the pains that Snyder/Goyer/Nolan say that they've taken with the treatment- this made the movie feel heartless more than anything else to me. I don't need Superman weeping and crying while he's reckless killing innocents with the battles- but (and it may be the editing, if Snyder shot more bits of him being concerned with human life around him)- and there are the moments where he stops and saves a soldier or two- but the weight of the realism of the situation I think should have been shown through SOMEONE's point of view during the annihilation of Metropolis... anyhow--- If it was going to be 'realistic', then it certainly had generous amounts of time where it felt either unrealistic or incredibly heartless- seeing destruction on film is cathartic I think if there's a character or two reacting to it realistically during the process.... otherwise, it's just "2012" all over again, with superhero blurs fighting one another.
Anyhow- I've been talking about mostly the negatives. On the positive side, I've mentioned Cavill and the upper half of the costume, the brilliance of the visual concept of Krypton/Krypton technology, and a good number of the casting choices. It feels like Superman with some really great ideas and some well-intentioned scenes- and I'm certainly glad to see this, versus nothing- and I'm certain I might like it more on a second viewing.
One thing I can really give it is this: I found myself suprised that I WASN'T thinking about any of the Superman films while watching this.(Something that I thought I would be doing with effort) It definitely grabs your attention and is watchable...with some really neat ideas on its reinvention that I did find likeable. If only it the damn camera didn't shake all the time and the superfights didn't involve fast blurs half the time....
EDIT TO ADD:
Zod and Faora were GREAT.... would have liked more character bits to them, though. Also, with so many Kryptonians still alive, would have liked to have had them a bit more defined if it was an ensemble that took on Kal-el (Possibly it is in a longer cut).
