1. Let me just get this out of the way. Your eyes are going to blow up. Krypton! I am so used to seeing the big snow globe from ‘79 ! I was not prepared for the imagination overdrive on display during the opening of this movie. Where else is there to go now that you just got three movies worth of awesome in thirty minutes? Well, Man of Steel is just getting warmed up. You still have two more incredible hours coming. Do not leave your chair. You will miss something great. Sure, it is all CG overload , but at its highest level. When people say CG is ruining movies, they prob mean stuff like this, but I was enamored by the big big hugeness going on all over the screen. I mean, who doesn't like a parade sometimes?
2. Pacing! This big epic movie pulls you in then straps you down then whips you around at warp speed all over the theater. It is 2.5 hours but it felt 30 minutes long.
3. Product placement. They must have said, yes we will put your product in the movie, but it will be crushed, smushed, burned, and pulverized. Thanks for the check.
4. This is all the stuff you love about the past Super Movies all blended together and distilled into one concentrated bullet to your head. We have Part 1’s origin, and Part 2’s bad guys, and the good scene from Returns. We just needed the Robo-Hag from 3 and maybe a John Cryer cameo. This is the best of them, but all built on the foundation that Donner put down. Take Part 1 and Part 2 and then crank them up on nuclear powered steroids, then set them on fire and push them off a cliff into a pit of poisonous vipers. That is what this movie is all about.
5. I walked in just hoping it wouldn't be about real estate again. As my friend pointed out, it is, but you will not be disappointed.
6. Costner is great, a bit of a stickler for his “don’t let anyone see Clark use his powers” rule, but we all know Movie-Costner never backs down on principle.
7. I love Michael Shannon, lisp of evil and all. You don’t want Zod mad at you. He is all forehead and bulging veins.
8. The guy playing Superman is a mannequin. Not terrible, just, I felt for him because of all the great origin scenes and great actors reacting to him. He did project a decent farmboy trying to do the right thing vibe. Reeve’s performance felt more relatable, like Superman was a real guy Three dimensional. Whatever, it was still cool.
9. Snyder is pretty awesome, he is also as subtle as a jackhammer on rollerskates. He is the master of overkill. He does everything with such enthusiasm you don’t really care that he is pushing your head under the water. He’s like what Stephen Sommers would be is Stephen Sommer’s wasn't a robot. There is some unintentional humor here due to Snyder’s insistence that everything has to be underlined, highlighted, and circled. Not complaining, he is a great director, it’s just his nature. I laughed, cried, and cheered and was totally with this movie all the way. Saying that a Superman movie directed by Zack Snyder for a big summer release was not a subtle piece of filmmaking is like, well, did you hear that water is wet? I’ll shut up now.
10. For a while now we have been living in post Noland Batman world. But let's be real, Avengers was a game changer and the transcendent glow it gave me was like childhood's second chance. I look forward to summer movies again because of Avengers. Now, with that out in the open, Man of Steel gave me the first total immersion I've had since. This will be the summer movie to beat. It will make all the money. We will see sequels and spin offs and maybe a decent Justice League movie come out of this. The audience gave wild applause when the credits hit. I was with them. I will see this at least two more times. Once to catch it in 3D IMAX, and later just to wallow in its grandeur.
Show Stopper - Evil. Space. Woman.
How are the credits?- nothing to report, white on black titles, and no stinger at the end. The audience that stuck around all groaned when the lights went up. Marvel movies have spoiled us. I was thinking how mad I would be to have worked on this and to have blown the audience's mind for two and a half hours only to have them whine because I didn’t toss in a thirty second villain cameo at the end.
