Disappointing, but still hopeful.

Thin plot? All I see is people complaining that it has no charm and is too serious.

I'm seeing it tonight. Hopeful because even the bad reviews are not that bad.

^ Awesome. Report back when you get the chance.

As exemplified by this A.V. Club review, I keep seeing these types of "complaints" over and over again...

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There’s no Lex Luthor, no Kryptonite, no glasses, no mild-mannered reporter, very little Daily Planet, and even less Metropolis.

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More space opera than superhero movie.

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... yet those are the EXACT reasons why I'm so pumped for this iteration. Again, for all I know, I may end up hating this movie. But so far, nearly every negative review I've read has knocked the movie at least partly because it doesn't feature many of the familiar tropes of Donner/Reeves films. When those very elements were primarily what I disliked about the old movies/character in the first place.

So ready to finally just see this thing for myself...

[This message has been edited by TCTTS (edited 6/12/2013 8:55p).]

I liked the plot. It was not thin at all

Some of the most interesting stuff involved Krypton.

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... yet those are the EXACT reasons why I'm so pumped for this iteration. Again, for all I know, I may end up hating this movie. But so far, nearly every negative review I've read has knocked the movie at least partly because it doesn't feature many of the familiar tropes of Donner/Reeves films. When those very elements were primarily what I disliked about the old movies/character in the first place.

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I agree

[This message has been edited by Gradin (edited 6/12/2013 10:42p).]

For me, usually bad reviews means good movie, so I'm pumped

Have my tickets for about four hours from now. Salam alaykum, suckers.

So, according to the film critics...Man of Steel is becoming their least favorite of the franchise:

-Superman................93%
-Superman II.............89%
-Superman Returns...75%
-Man of Steel............61%
-Superman III............26%
-Superman IV............09%

I honestly thought it was superior to all the Donner films and the Singer film.

So I saw this last night, I'm a bit groggy up a 9am after getting home from the movie at 3 so I hope my review makes sense. Overall, I thought the movie was very good. Unfortunately, I think people, including myself, are going to compare this to the Batman trilogy, and it's just not at that level. If I were to give it a grade, I would probably give it solid B. I also think it's the best of the Superman movies, so take it for what its worth.

My biggest issue with the movie is the same issue I have for all of Snyder's movies. It's like whatever direction or style he wants to use for his movies, he takes that direction to the absolute extreme. It's like he wanted to out Christopher Nolan in making a Christopher Nolan movie. With his other movies, he wanted 300 to become a comic book come to life and he made it to the point where it became somewhat cartoonish. In Watchmen, he took the graphic novel frame by frame and transported it into the film. The movie seemed overly long and boring in parts trying to cram so much into the movie.

I can see where the critics are going with the movie being to serious. Its like he wanted to make the most serious, intense comic book movie ever made that by the time the movie is over I almost felt deflated. I read a review that used the word "shell shocked" and that's exactly what it was like. My wife liked it more than I did and she compared it to TDKR, which was her favorite and my least favorite of the batman movies. We came to the conclusion that if you think TDKR is superior to TDK, Man of Steel may be a better movie. The movie didn't really seem long, the action was great, and I'm not sure what critics are saying about thin plot. I also saw it with a friend that loves Superman and he was disappointed by some of the things they got wrong. I don't really remember what he said, something to do with the lizards, but I don't read Superman, so comic book nerds beware. But he also loved the movie.

Overall, it was a good movie. It's better than what I'm reading from the critics, but it doesn't quite measure up to the hype that was generated from initial screening. I don't think it will end up being the movie of the summer. From an enjoyment factor, I did think Star Trek was better, but it's hard to compare those 2 movies.

Fair review.

Glad you enjoyed it. I would agree that the TDK was a better movie than this, but I still liked Man of Steel a lot. I did like MoS more than TDKR by a fair amount. If you have a moment, take a look at my spoiler thoughts and see what you think.

[This message has been edited by Gradin (edited 6/13/2013 11:28a).]

Thanks for the rundown, MarkoRamius.

If I had to guess, I'd say I'm gonna enjoy Star Trek 2 more than MOS.

I'm holding out hope that MOS is still great. Hoping the negative reviews are from people who liked star trek into darkness, which I thought was average and nowhere near as good as the first. Incredible design and special effects, but if you ask me to recap that movie, I'd have no idea where to start plot wise.

Something, something, Khan, Spock on elevated moving things fighting with Khan, something, something hot chick's dad gets his head squeezed for some reason, healing Khan blood, the end.

I'm looking for emotion, awe, real drama. I don't care if the drama isn't normal for the Superman mythos, just want it to be good.

I'm hoping there's a reason the reviews are so polar and there are plenty of people saying it's not only good, but the best superhero movie ever made.

[This message has been edited by p-townag (edited 6/13/2013 12:25p).]

I'm with you ptown, I saw Star Trek the other night and I really can't tell you much about it. I kind of lost interest in it halfway through.

I know that MOS will be an experience. I'm on board with this new version of Supes so I won't be one of those who complain about the lack of charm, humor, etc. MOS is just not that kind of movie. I'm pretty sure that MOS will still be my favorite summer movie, even with all of the so-called flaws I've been hearing about.

Devin Faraci ‏@devincf
MoS at 59% on RT. STID at 87%. My theory is that critics get less forgiving as the summer goes on. Only way those numbers make sense.

Kim ‏@kkjordan
@devincf You just have to look at the IRON MAN 3 vs the IRON MAN 2 ratings on RT and realize it's all bull**** anyways.
Retweeted by Devin Faraci

Ill be shocked if I don't like this more than Star Trek. Into Darkness was decent, but there was nothing that interesting or amazing about the storyline. The action was fine, and I love cumberpatch, but it didn't have a great climactic point imo.

Superman will more than likely have the same sort of predictable storyline, but I expect to enjoy the action and special effects considerably more.

Haven't read any reviews here or elsewhere, but just saw it. These are my VERY SPOILERY impressions (as if that wasn't obvious).

I didn't expect the Lois-Kal/Clark dynamic to be so central. Really liked it. Adams was strong as Lois. She was tough, smart, and resourceful.

If I had a gripe, I didn't think that the presence of Jor El really added much. I get what they did, and why they did it, but I didn't think it was a great addition.

Costner was great as Pa Kent.

I loved the harsh, alien Krypton. However, at the time I was watching it, I knew it might be too fantastic for some viewers. I wonder if this will be a complaint of people that are downgrading it.

The movie looked great. Spectacle was everywhere.

This film's greatest triumph is we finally saw a cosmic-level threat that pushed Superman, physically. The fights with Faora were particularly awesome. She was lightning-fast, almost teleporting around when fighting normal people. Not quite so much when fighting Supes, just because he was also so fast. They definitely differentiated.

Really liked it. It wasn't TDK, but it was very good and set up a great foundation for future Superman films. I think the thematic tones about how people would react to an alien hero was great, and is also great for a JL type scenario.

Easter eggs and references that I saw:
- Saw the LexCorp on a tanker truck
- DIDN'T catch the Batman/Bruce Wayne easter egg.
- I think the setup is there for Kandor, which would in this case be a city of survivors on one of the outposts.
- It was established that a Kryptonian can have his neck snapped, which is important in Superman lore.
- The USAF chick named Farris I thought was interesting in a Justice League sort of way, but it's spelled wrong (should be Ferris).

Scanned your take. Saw that you liked it. Happy to hear.

Will definitely circle back and read your full report after I've seen it.

The movie is now at 57% on RT...it went rotten.

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The movie is now at 57% on RT...it went rotten.

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If that's the price to be paid for a serious, "realistic" tone, legit action, a non-bumbling Clark Kent, no Kryptonite, no red underwear, no goofy Lex Luthor and no ridiculous real estate schemes, I'll take it.

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Consensus is....great effects, thin plot.

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This is an unsupportable opinion, from where I sit. There was a very deep, thematic plot.

Been reading some other reviews. I just don't get the critics who hold the Chris Reeves films as some sort of holy standard. I enjoyed them, but have you watched lately? They don't hold up. Super kisses and turning the world backwards to travel through time? MoS is far superior.

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. I enjoyed them, but have you watched lately? They don't hold up

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How dare you, sir.

Ha, love it MuckRaker96.

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I enjoyed them, but have you watched lately? They don't hold up.

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Agreed. Loved those movies as a kid, but watching them now, they're pretty horrible. And I just don't understand b*tching about this movie not having all the things I thought made those movies so cheesy in the first place.

[This message has been edited by TCTTS (edited 6/13/2013 5:02p).]

ugh, sticky S and the teleporting/multiple projection.

I enjoyed Superman I and II as a kid, but they just don't hold up well to today's modern comic book movie. I didn't care for the 2006 Superman, but Man of Steel is an improvement. I do find it interesting that so many people are defending a movie they have yet to see. It will be interesting what this thread will be like on Friday and Saturday and how many people will be disappointed and how many people think this is on par with the Batman movies.

Yeah, like I've said, I could totally end up hating this movie. Trying not to defend it so much before seeing it. Mainly just confused by critics holding on to aspects of the character/franchise that were pretty dumb to begin with. But I can definitely understand critics not liking the humorless aspect, or the apparently overbearing, relentless action, etc. When it comes to that kind of stuff, I'm really curious as to which side of the line I'll fall on.

Eh, hard to trust most critics these days. I think if you are fan of action, darker tones, and comic books movies in general, you should like this. I like it more than IM3 and I liked that movie.

Good to hear. Really liked IM3 too.

The convoluted thread reminds me a lot of Man of Steel and some of the issues I had with the movie. I just didn't really care about the characters in the movie. It's like Superman took a back seat to the action. I tried to come up with a movie that really compares to it and I am having trouble coming up with one. The best that I can think of is a humorless version of Transformers. And I'm not saying this is as bad as Transformers, because it's not. It's just like a much more serious darker version of it. I like action movies. I like dark movies and I like movies that lack humor. But Man of Steel, for me, felt sterile, almost emotionless if that makes any sense. And compared to Iron Man 3, I probably enjoyed Iron Man 3 more and will probably hold up more to repeat viewings.

That is a complaint I actually understand. Critics blowing up about it lacking the normal superman charm make no sense when this is supposed to be a reboot and isn't a repeat of the christopher reeves era.

saw it tonight and thought it was great. it wasn't dark, it wasn't full of humor, but i thought it was very emotional. it was about as serious/dramatic comic film as you can get, without getting too dark (like batman).

spoiliers...kind of





the flashbacks to his childhood did a great job adding layers to what makes him so compassionate to humans. it gives the audience a true understanding of how he struggles with his uniqueness, especially as a young kid (the last scene with Pa Kent gave me some chills, as did most scenes with him and clark).

the action scenes were done extremely well, they were fast paced but still easy to follow (unlike transformers). my only real complaint (minor) is how jor-el is used to give background on krypton, zod, etc...at first i felt like they were dumbing it way down for the audience to follow, but i guess it was also a way to explain to kal/clark what exactly the heck is going on.