Man of Steel Steel (2013) Let’s settle this. Was it great or not?

[Silver Surfer]

It's a classic....and set the tone for how these movies should be made

 

[Mister Terrific]

its the best superman movie to me so far, flaws and all

i get why people would prefer the happy go lucky, american boy scout kansas boy superman more

but i always thought it would make more sense for an alien orphan/refugee to feel isolated/alienated on earth, at least in the beginning before he cultivates his optimism ... him letting so much collateral damage happen was OD tho lol

jon kent's portrayal and his relationship with clark in this wasnt good at all imo

but the themes, fight scenes, etc was all dope in this

That’s fine and I respect it but if you are going to switch up 50 years of Superman lore and flip his personality from the Reeves/Returns Superman you should do a better job setting it up. Show the racism and xenophobia of small town America. Show the hyper individualism and combative isolation of the big city. Superman’s humanity is tested through life and people being shytty to each other. That’s something we can all identify with.

It’s not so much the characterization of Superman, the pacing of the first half is bad. The final fight is also dope as fukk but it just ends. Should’ve shown Zod getting gradually worn down as Superman just keeps getting stronger and stronger.

 

[Mister Terrific]

Easily one of the best superman movies. And one of the better superhero movies.

The problem as others have mentioned though is that Superman is inherently boring so to make him interesting interpersonal and internal conflict is needed and a number of critics hate for Superman to be anything other than a bland boy scout with minimal conflict but in the real world he'd be conflicted regarding whether or not the human race is even worth helping? Since at least 50% of the population would absolutely hate him.

Also why bother trying to be a savior if it doesn't seem to change things?

I don’t understand this rationale. Likable, lovable, truth, justice and the American way Superman has had 2 classically remembered movies in the Donner Superman’s. It has 3 popular television series in Lois and Clark, Smallville and Superman and Lois on the CW. Also you can add in the animated series which is most millennials view of the character. Even the new animated series he is back to being a Boy Scout.



Fans of gritty, fukk your city Superman have to show me something. Because all you have is a movie that made half the budget of Iron-man 3 and the studio wasn’t even confident enough in to give it a sequel. I don’t think the public at large finds pure Superman boring.

 

[FlyRy]

Butt butter

 

[humminbird]

man of steel is like 8/10
I don't know where they lies on your scale

 

[CHICAGO]

ABSOLUTE FIRE.



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[Klawstrider]

Top 5 superhero films ever

 

[2 Up 2 Down]

I don’t understand this rationale. Likable, lovable, truth, justice and the American way Superman has had 2 classically remembered movies in the Donner Superman’s. It has 3 popular television series in Lois and Clark, Smallville and Superman and Lois on the CW. Also you can add in the animated series which is most millennials view of the character. Even the new animated series he is back to being a Boy Scout.



Fans of gritty, fukk your city Superman have to show me something. Because all you have is a movie that made half the budget of Iron-man 3 and the studio wasn’t even confident enough in to give it a sequel. I don’t think the public at large finds pure Superman boring.

Man of Steel brought me back to the comics I grew up reading in the 90s

Never cared for the boy scout portrayal mostly seen in movies and shows

Plus we were just getting the beginning of his character arc

 

[T'Challa Trillmonger]

That’s fine and I respect it but if you are going to switch up 50 years of Superman lore and flip his personality from the Reeves/Returns Superman you should do a better job setting it up. Show the racism and xenophobia of small town America. Show the hyper individualism and combative isolation of the big city. Superman’s humanity is tested through life and people being shytty to each other. That’s something we can all identify with.

It’s not so much the characterization of Superman, the pacing of the first half is bad. The final fight is also dope as fukk but it just ends. Should’ve shown Zod getting gradually worn down as Superman just keeps getting stronger and stronger.

i agree 100%, a lot of this films benefit of the doubt comes from hindsight i think, because there hasn't been a follow up superman movie since

a sequel could have given them an opportunity to address a lot of this films issues in the context of the story but it is what it is now

 

[FromStLouis]

Go read the original official thread from 2013.

People were at trailers.

It came out, it reviewed poorly.

Then the thread takes a turn where it became about taking up for the movie against critics.

It stunk it got Superman wrong and set DC back 10 years now.

 

[Mister Terrific]

Man of Steel brought me back to the comics I grew up reading in the 90s

Never cared for the boy scout portrayal mostly seen in movies and shows

Plus we were just getting the beginning of his character arc

The definitive portrayal of Superman to me is Allstar Superman and more recently Superman: Up in the Sky where Superman travels across the universe to save an insignificant little human girl. Both show is selflessness and willingness to go above and beyond even for one person.



All opinions are valid but I disagree that Superman needs to be edgy and morally grey to be a compelling character.

 

[987654321]

It’s my favorite superman movie. I wasn’t the biggest DC reader aside from Batman and some Superman. This is the superman I’ve always imagined being in our world… now it’s fukk the other superman and his happy ass, and fukk his sterile metropolis. I liked the growing pains.

 

[Brandsdale]

very dope movie imo


In my eyes its actually one of the best superhero films.

Only issue was having Amy Addams as Lois

 

[2 Up 2 Down]

The definitive portrayal of Superman to me is Allstar Superman and more recently Superman: Up in the Sky where Superman travels across the universe to save an insignificant little human girl. Both show is selflessness and willingness to go above and beyond even for one person.



All opinions are valid but I disagree that Superman needs to be edgy and morally grey to be a compelling character.

All Star Superman was a good read. And that portrayal is fine in a mini series or one of, but I can't stand it in an ongoing which made me stop reading the a few years back.
It not about being edgy or morally grey but it's about reacting in a human way while discovering who he is, what he is, how revealing his power would change the world, how that will change his life, etc.
Sure we can get to the stereotypical Superman but first we had to see how he got to that point.
What I liked about original reboot of Superman after Crisis on Infinite Earths with John Byrne was that Superman felt more human. In the early years of being Superman, he made mistakes and wasn't always sure. I felt that the Man of Steel movie captured that version of Superman, so I always question why people say that it got Superman wrong. I mean you can find a good number of panels with Superman being an a$$hole and doing morally questionable things from the 30s to the 70s

 

[Black Excellence]

The problem with questions like this is you’re asking people who are mainly comic book fans/casual moviegoers and not movie fans if this was a good movie. More than likely if you like Superman seeing this shift in character and just the somewhat gritty aesthetic, will have you saying it’s top 5 ever, goat Superman movie, etc, etc.

You pretty much covered it in your OP, the pacing all over the place, the story was not well fleshed out especially the background of Superman. It was very run of the mill, surface level of how Clark became Supes, nothing of real substance.

As a Superman film it’s a different take but nothing really special. Every time you hear people say it’s great the reasoning is because he’s not happy & super positive….that doesn’t make it a good movie lol.

Also there was no emotional connection to the character. Great action scenes but action doesn’t equal to a good film.