Re: What are your complaints? What would you do differently?
Posted: March 14th, 2014, 2:31 pm
I'm a little late to the party, sorry about that. I've run the gamut on my feelings on this film, and I think I've come around fully on it, back right where I started.
A nice modernization of the Superman legend, and I quite liked it, despite it's many, many flaws. I'll keep my perspective on things in the realm of Nolan's supposed influence, because this is a Nolan board after all. It's not fully obvious which parts of the story are Nolan/Goyer's to me, but I could feel his influence at parts. I'm not a very big Zack Snyder fan, but I do like some of his movies. I thought this film was his best to date, mostly because it didn't feel like a typical Zack Snyder movie to me. Certainly, it's his finest directing job so far.
What struck me the most was the effective use of emotion. Nolan, to me, is not viscerally emotional, if that makes sense. Any emotion you sense, is almost all subtext. He seems to require you to buy in to what he's selling for you to get it. He doesn't use camera tricks and music to make you get emotional (see Peter Jackson and Lord of the Rings final chapter for that). I much prefer Nolan's approach, even though it doesn't always work for me. When I think about some specific scenes in The Prestige and the scene in Batman Begins when Alfred comforts adolescent Bruce... it's almost 100% the actors and the dialogue that pull it off. It just feels real in those instances, and I bought in fully. To be fair, I think Man of Steel falls in between those two styles... and for me it's the relationship between father and son / mother and son. So much of that is just personal experience... I had a red cape as a kid, used to run around and play Superman, so there's your buy in. As a parent with a two year old and a very serious thought about the job I have to do in raising my son, the very thought of the Kents' roll in shaping Clark's outlook and values really resonates with me. I bought in before I ever entered the theater, so I got choked up in many of the scenes. Clark's Mom calming him down by telling him to focus on her voice.. Pa Kent not hesitating to tell Clark that he is his son, no matter what. The absurdity at Jonathan Kent's death got a pass because I got what they were trying to do, and just not wanting him to die. But that final scene of him watching his son play in that red cape brought me to tears. That scene is just beautiful.
So, I love this film for some very personal reasons. I get the problems very clearly, many of which are described above. No need for me to rehash them as complaints here. Bottom line is I think the good and great parts of the film outweigh the bad and I want to see more of this Superman. I'm a little bummed that we aren't getting a true Superman sequel. Cavill was great in the role.
The only thing I outright hated was the cinematography. I think they could have done something that wasn't so washed out and bland looking. not saying it needed to be a bright look exactly.. but it just looked unrealistic, with everyone's flesh tones looking artificial.... particularly the Earthbound scenes.
A nice modernization of the Superman legend, and I quite liked it, despite it's many, many flaws. I'll keep my perspective on things in the realm of Nolan's supposed influence, because this is a Nolan board after all. It's not fully obvious which parts of the story are Nolan/Goyer's to me, but I could feel his influence at parts. I'm not a very big Zack Snyder fan, but I do like some of his movies. I thought this film was his best to date, mostly because it didn't feel like a typical Zack Snyder movie to me. Certainly, it's his finest directing job so far.
What struck me the most was the effective use of emotion. Nolan, to me, is not viscerally emotional, if that makes sense. Any emotion you sense, is almost all subtext. He seems to require you to buy in to what he's selling for you to get it. He doesn't use camera tricks and music to make you get emotional (see Peter Jackson and Lord of the Rings final chapter for that). I much prefer Nolan's approach, even though it doesn't always work for me. When I think about some specific scenes in The Prestige and the scene in Batman Begins when Alfred comforts adolescent Bruce... it's almost 100% the actors and the dialogue that pull it off. It just feels real in those instances, and I bought in fully. To be fair, I think Man of Steel falls in between those two styles... and for me it's the relationship between father and son / mother and son. So much of that is just personal experience... I had a red cape as a kid, used to run around and play Superman, so there's your buy in. As a parent with a two year old and a very serious thought about the job I have to do in raising my son, the very thought of the Kents' roll in shaping Clark's outlook and values really resonates with me. I bought in before I ever entered the theater, so I got choked up in many of the scenes. Clark's Mom calming him down by telling him to focus on her voice.. Pa Kent not hesitating to tell Clark that he is his son, no matter what. The absurdity at Jonathan Kent's death got a pass because I got what they were trying to do, and just not wanting him to die. But that final scene of him watching his son play in that red cape brought me to tears. That scene is just beautiful.
So, I love this film for some very personal reasons. I get the problems very clearly, many of which are described above. No need for me to rehash them as complaints here. Bottom line is I think the good and great parts of the film outweigh the bad and I want to see more of this Superman. I'm a little bummed that we aren't getting a true Superman sequel. Cavill was great in the role.
The only thing I outright hated was the cinematography. I think they could have done something that wasn't so washed out and bland looking. not saying it needed to be a bright look exactly.. but it just looked unrealistic, with everyone's flesh tones looking artificial.... particularly the Earthbound scenes.
