Man of Steel Review
RYAN: This is the Superman reboot produced by Christopher Nolan, who directed The Dark Knight trilogy, and it’s also the great white hope of DC Comics to compete with Marvel’s Avengers in launching The Justice League. And wow! Mission accomplised. Brilliant.
KIM: Agreed. Being your resident Superman fan, he’s the all time greatest superhero, the very embodiment of what a superhero should be and this is a very good start to what DC wants to do. Batman was darker-toned and this should skyrocket DC into where they need to be.
RYAN: How cray-mazing if they bring Christian Bale in as Batman whenever The Justice League takes off?!
KIM: That would be amazing.
RYAN: The one person who will see this and kick himself is Brandon Routh. It sucks to be him because he was cast in 2006’s Superman Returns which failed.
KIM: But that wasn’t his fault. That movie was a mess from the writing, direction, story. It was a bad, slow movie. Man of Steel, on the other hand, is great.
RYAN: Two words: Henry Cavill. I’ve liked him in some previous movies and not in others so he hasn’t been that consistent as an actor, but he was perfect in this movie.
KIM: He is second only to Christopher Reeve.
RYAN: Henry is just so H.O.T. in this role. Stop it. He’s not even my type and I swooned. Clark Kent doesn’t have the sense of humor that Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark has in Iron Man, but I still feel like Superman is my favorite hero right now. I’m under his spell.
KIM: Henry shirtless, I was like, “What??!”
RYAN: This is directed by Zack Snyder who did 300 so he knows a thing or two about buff leading men. Henry is juiced in this movie. And when Clark Kent takes hist shirt off, this movie is hotter than Magic Mike.
KIM: When you mentioned Iron Man, you know, Superman never really had that sense of humor. We might see a bit more personality in sequels but this one really sets it all up.
RYAN: I love that this movie went for the whole origin story without delivering what we’d expect with Lex Luthor and stuff. But there was foreshadowing. There is Lexcorp signage at one point. There are other hidden gems that just tease what’s to come and I want a sequel immediately.
KIM: I’m just so happy to see a new movie with the character that is so worthy again.
RYAN: I love how strong Amy Adams is as Lois Lane. She’s bad ass. She’s tough, fearless, smart, beautiful.
KIM: I loved her.
RYAN: Her chemistry with Henry was palpable. Just seeing them make eye contact, you can feel it. She also has the best line in the movie near the end of the film. Great writing.
KIM: I’m so overwhelmed because I have been waiting so long for this movie. The cast! Russell Crowe as Jor-El was really good.
RYAN: He has redeemed himself for Les Mis. Michael Shannon was terrific as General Zod. He plays evil so well.
KIM: It was good to see Kevin Costner and Diane Lane too. It was cool having them in the role of Clark Kent’s parents. And Diane is still gorgeous even though they tried to age her. I’m glad the film wasn’t overly dark, like the Batman movies. Superman was never that dark and while this is darker than previous films, it still has a lot of light to it.
RYAN: Figuratively and literally, yes. But I like where it’s edgier than previous versions and even than a Spider-Man movie.
KIM: It’s more real. You feel like he’s just a regular guy until he turns on the Superman.
RYAN: It reminded me a little bit of Thor with all of the character mythology set-up at the beginning, the other beings and universe and such.
KIM: It was a really great interpretation of Krypton and that world.
RYAN: That aspect is very sci fi. And I absolutely loved the animation sequence when Russell is explaining the history of Krypton – it all looks like animated mercury and it’s impressive.
KIM: I loved that so much of the cool technology didn’t feel just like futuristic computer. The stuff on Krypton was actually original gadgetry, so cool.
RYAN: The effects were indeed all very cool; however, this movie was not shot in 3D. It was converted to 3D in post-production and it’s some of the worst 3D I’ve ever seen so save the extra bucks and see this in 2D. I didn’t even notice the 3D and had to sit there wearing glasses for no reason.
KIM: In my opinion, it wasn’t the worst, but I’ll take your word for it that 3D looks better when movies are actually made in 3D versus being converted to it.
RYAN: Recently, Star Trek Into Darkness was converted to 3D and it was extremely well done, so I’m very disappointed in this conversion.
KIM: I feel like this movie was really influenced by previous superhero films and took some of the best elements of each of them to incorporate what works best all together here.
RYAN: I think you hit on it there. And in doing so, it’s very strong and feels very original in tone. It’s not derivative of the others but does sort of use what worked in other franchises. It still has a unique vibe.
KIM: It does share tone at moments with Spider-Man and Batman and The Avengers…
RYAN: I actually became a bit choked up and emotional in this movie a couple times. I even welled-up with tears at the end. I was moved.
KIM: My eyes filled with tears a few times also. And it was just so cool to see Henry embody Superman. This is my genre and I’m in heaven.
RYAN: Bring on the sequel! …and Wonder Woman while you’re at it, DC!
