re: The OFFICIAL Man of Steel Discussion and ***SPOILERS*** Thread

Better late than never. Anyway, saw it last night and I had to really think about what I saw.

First I should disclose my experience with Superman. I don't read the comics, never seen ANY of the movies (but I have heard a lot about them and even podcast reviews and discussions about behind the scenes stuff), or the show Smallville. I did see some of Lois & Clark The Adventures of Superman show when I was a kid but that was it. So I guess I'm somewhat familiar with the lore and the plot lines of the movies but this was my first Superman movie experience.

When it opened I loved the whole opening on Krypton. I loved the universe they set up and the history established. Russell Crowe was awesome as Jor-El and Michael Shannon as Zod I really liked. I almost want a prequel just focusing on them and Krypton. When Jor-El told Zod he respected the Zod he once knew I immediately wanted to know more, likewise Zod's respect for Jor-El really left me wanting to know more about their past and the politics of Krypton. I like my villains to be in the gray-black area vs painted black or white (IM3 had great potential but blew it there), so I like Zod's wanting almost the same as Jor-El but for more of a Hitler twist to him.

Glad we saw Clark's childhood in brief flashbacks instead of spending 20 minutes in it. Kevin Costner played a great father figure to Clark as well. Especially when he told Clark maybe he should have left those kids on the bus to drown, which pays off latter when he refuses to let Clark save him to hide who he really was to the world because the world wasn't ready for him yet. I thought that'd scene would play a bit differently than it did but I'm glad it turned out that way. I thought it'd be there are something's Superman cannot stop, like the tornado, and he'd have to live with the fact that no matter how hard he tries he cannot save everyone.

Amy Adams worked as Lois Lane for me but I wish they could have added a bit more depth to Perry White and company other than being brief cameos.

I enjoyed the action in this film at first but it started to get it repetitive: smash through building, then another building or a train/car, then another and so on and so forth. Would have liked to see more variety.

Final action set piece worked or me. One of my gripes with super hero movies is there has to be great stakes involved, especially for the likes of Superman. Genocide of the human race? Check. Destruction of several city blocks in a densely populated area? Check. This told me we are going for that darker tone that I love in super hero films.

I did pick up on a 9/11 vibe for a split second when that Army guy told Faora "A good death is a good reward" or something along those lines right before crashing a military plane into the ship in the DC universe equivalent of NYC. That rubbed me the wrong way. I know we are 12 years removed from 9/11 but that kinda took me out of the experience for a bit. I know it was what she said to him earlier but it didn't feel right for the situation IMO.

As for the end battle I thought it was funny the look on Clark's face when Zod learned to fly. It was like: Ah hell no! I'm the only Krytonian who can fly!

This whole movie I was wondering how Clark would deal with Zod so i was surprised when Clark broke Zod's neck. It cemented it in my mind that we are going in this darker direction for the universe.

That all said I give movie 8/10. I really enjoyed it I just wanted more Jor-El and more Krypton.

My real concerns is where do they go from here? I said earlier I'm not aware of all supes villains, and my views will differ from most here, but I don't want to see Lex Luther in this universe as a villain. Maybe I don't know a lot about him but the idea of a human villain doesn't do it for me when you have an almost God like being in superman, he needs a worthy opponent, an inhuman opponent. If someone could explain Lex Luther a bit better too me maybe I could see it but I feel a human opponent would be a step down from what we got here. I feel for the universe they've set up and the dark direction they went with it, that there is only going down from here. But I hope I'm wrong about that.