I know, the film primiered a couple of weeks back but due to various issues, Angi and I were unable to see it until this past Saturday.
I'm glad we waited. But only for the fact that we were 2 of only six people in the film. Granted, at certain points we were the loudest.
First I'll start with what's wrong with the film. Which is very little. The worst flaw would be any critic of the film! On the cab drive over we talked with the cabbie who was for all intents and purposes a BIG Fanboy and a traditionalist. By definition someone who hates all thing revisionists. And granted the film askews artistically from the original formula but is the better for it. His opinion was it was terrible.
?????
I have NO idea what he was talking about!
As Superman has been around for over 70 years he has gone through MANY incarnations in various media. Either comics, film, literature or animation, and depending on who is penning his exploits is to the extant of his back story. Honestly, the first ever story WAY back in '38 if you want to be a traditionalist had the ol "Blue Boyscout" depicted as a basic strong man who could "jump" real high, not fly and instead of battling super villains he took down a wife beater. SO some leniency must be given for artistic interpretation and in they took a "leap of faith" on this one that paid off big time!
The second problem is minor but represents an odd choice on the post-productions end.
CAUTION: SPOILERS ENSUE!
At the point of the movie where General Zod and his compatriots are pronounce guilty of murder and high treason and are sentenced to the Phantom Zone they are encased in a stasis pod and rocketed off to a control ship which then enters the phantom zone. Well to put it mildly the entire thing is incredibly sexual in nature. First, the stasis pods that envelop them harden into the form of an erect penis! testicles and all! Truly, the epitome of the traditional phallic symbol! The control ship then leaves the upper atmosphere and the phantom zone opens slowly to form...a giant inverted triangle! OH NO the similarities do not end there! Then some mechanism engulfs the ship and the undulating tendrils look eerily like a swarm of sperm exploding outward, engulfing the ship and then swallows it whole!
REALLY? Is this some parable on rebirth, or violation or what? Just seemed out of place!
But THAT'S where the problems end!
The writers went to great pains to more effectively explain not only Superman's motivation but those of his parents and more importantly General Zod!
Back track.
Years ago in the original film, Zod and his henchmen escape the Phantom Zone and track down Kal-El (old Supes) to Earth to seek revenge for his father imprisoning them in the first place. Always seemed like a weak motive for revenge to me.
Here, turns out Zod and Jor-El (supes dad) were at one time on the same side in the Kryptonian conflict. More sense is made of not only Jor-El's motivation for sending Kal to Earth, but for why Zod, once freed from stasis when Krypton explodes , seeks him out as he carries within his DNA the future of Krpton. (I won't go into all the particulars here). And as all Krptonians are genetically engineered for a certain station in life, he is tasked with the preservation and protection of all things Kryptonian, even if that means destroying all human life and rebuilding krypton here.
Also, the relationship between Lois and Clark makes WAY more sense! They did away with the whole "Clark show up wearing glasses and Lois the star investigative reporter who has spent an intimate night with Superman can't see through the flimsy disguise. " bit! No, SHE actually "investigates" and finally tracks him down by talking to his mother. But once she hears his story and motivation chooses to drop the story to protect those important to him. (yes, he does don the glasses at the end of the film and seek employment at the Planet, but no one there has seen Supes up close, so they don't make the connection)
And the fight scenes! LORD!! Absolutely MAGNIFICENT! The degree of collateral damage is appropriate for when two "God's" fight in downtown Metropolis. Right down to the destructive shock waves caused by massive impacts of fist to flesh. And the crescendo, when Superman does the unthinkable in defense of Human lives is nothing but memorable! Anyone who has had any exposure to the legend of the Man of Steel will understand what I'm talking about!
And as is some unspoken law in the film mythos of Superman, all actors manifested into the role must bear close resemblance to Christopher Reeve, Henry Cavill does not disappoint!
And thank Heavens there was no mention of the tired plot device "Kryptonite"! The sad old excuse to bring Supes down to our level or ultimately destroy him. That's the problem with being a God when it comes to story telling. How do you best the unbeatable? However, that does pose the question, with the threat of similarly powerful foes abated where do you go for a sequel? I'd hate to think that the trilogy will be littered with nothing but Kryptonian adversaries . (Oh, a special tip of the hat for the visual mention of "Lexcorp" via totaled oil tankers!) It will be interesting to see where the franchise goes!
SO in the end we can once and for all sequestered such dogs as Superman 3 and 4 and that GOD AWFUL MONSTROSITY "Superman Returns" to the dusty recesses of the cut out bin in some second hand video store....FOREVER!!
Finally a true and rightful heir to the throne has arrived!
ANYWAY!
Saturday was another brisk day and we thank all the folks who gave new home to some of our cuties. Only managed to put out one new one though but are working on more we speak, so keep tuned in!
See ya soon!
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