I am ashamed to admit that I had my doubts about this movie. What I believed was that Warner Brothers were simply aiming to churn out a movie with the name "Superman" so they could retain the rights to the franchise.
But I was woefully mistaken as this movie is anything but lazy when it comes to setpiece design, mythology and great acting.
Henry Cavill is a worthy successor to Christopher Reeve and he manages to provide a majestic Superman with the dignity of his Kryptonian side and the self doubt from his Human experiences. The criticism by snobbish critics that Cavill is too serious is rather unjustified as Henry Cavill's potrayal is more than capable of making you both smirk and sadden given the opportune moment. Other actors add their impressive weight to the roles such as Russell Crowe's Jor-El and Kevin Costner's Pa Kent who create moments so emotional that I felt myself go teary-eyed; and I am usually an unemotive person. Antje Traue plays a great Faora who manages to both cold and menacing.
This movie contains some great scenes such as a submerged Clark being passed by two whales which makes the film seem poetic. The film's portayal of Krypton does an excellent job of looking like an ancient, alien society which has become decadent; Time Lords take note. Kryptonian technology is where the film gets to show it's impressive visuals and it's unique approach to the mythology.
As for the movie's kryptonite. The biggest two problems with the movie were the J. J. Abrams-style shooting and the generic Bayformers-style plot. Firstly and most importantly is the terrible filming containing infamous Abrams staples such as shaky cam, lens flare, unyielding close-ups and too much cutting between scenes. This makes the viewing experience very difficult and it sullies the action sequences. Secondly, the overused and unwelcome plot of making giant alien thingamajig go boom and hero dooming their own race to extinction. It's problematic because a) its formulaic and lacks real drama and b) evil aliens inevitable return (Q.E.D the Darleks).
So this film has reinstilled new hope for the great Superman franchise. Provided they remove the taint of Abrams and Michael Bay from subsequent movies, I will be very happy to see the real return of Superman. I look forward to seeing how the new films aim for even greater heights.
Flies well but expect turbulance. (Spoilers).
I am ashamed to admit that I had my doubts about this movie. What I believed was that Warner Brothers were simply aiming to churn out a movie with the name "Superman" so they could retain the rights to the franchise.
But I was woefully mistaken as this movie is anything but lazy when it comes to setpiece design, mythology and great acting.
Henry Cavill is a worthy successor to Christopher Reeve and he manages to provide a majestic Superman with the dignity of his Kryptonian side and the self doubt from his Human experiences. The criticism by snobbish critics that Cavill is too serious is rather unjustified as Henry Cavill's potrayal is more than capable of making you both smirk and sadden given the opportune moment. Other actors add their impressive weight to the roles such as Russell Crowe's Jor-El and Kevin Costner's Pa Kent who create moments so emotional that I felt myself go teary-eyed; and I am usually an unemotive person. Antje Traue plays a great Faora who manages to both cold and menacing.
This movie contains some great scenes such as a submerged Clark being passed by two whales which makes the film seem poetic. The film's portayal of Krypton does an excellent job of looking like an ancient, alien society which has become decadent; Time Lords take note. Kryptonian technology is where the film gets to show it's impressive visuals and it's unique approach to the mythology.
As for the movie's kryptonite. The biggest two problems with the movie were the J. J. Abrams-style shooting and the generic Bayformers-style plot. Firstly and most importantly is the terrible filming containing infamous Abrams staples such as shaky cam, lens flare, unyielding close-ups and too much cutting between scenes. This makes the viewing experience very difficult and it sullies the action sequences. Secondly, the overused and unwelcome plot of making giant alien thingamajig go boom and hero dooming their own race to extinction. It's problematic because a) its formulaic and lacks real drama and b) evil aliens inevitable return (Q.E.D the Darleks).
So this film has reinstilled new hope for the great Superman franchise. Provided they remove the taint of Abrams and Michael Bay from subsequent movies, I will be very happy to see the real return of Superman. I look forward to seeing how the new films aim for even greater heights.