In discussing Zach Snyder’s film Man of Steel, the hosts touch on the decidedly darker tone, how this Superman will fit into the future Justice League movie and how the characters compare to their previous incarnations.
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For more superhero adaptation discussions check out our episodes on The Avengers, The Amazing Spider-Man, The Dark Knight Rises and Iron Man 3.
SHOW NOTES:
Music: I Am Superman by R.E.M.
Upcoming Films
-June 28 (US), Sep 6 (UK)
-Starring: Channing Tatum, Jamie Foxx, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Richard Jenkins, Joey King and James Woods
-Based on ‘Hell at the White House,’ a short story by Richard Matheson
Main Discussion
Man of Steel (2013)
-June 14 (US and UK)
-Screenplay: David S. Goyer (with story help from Christopher Nolan)
-Director: Zach Snyder
-Starring: Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Michael Shannon, Russell Crowe, Kevin Costner and Diane Lane
-Based on the DC comics
Adaptation Podcast 
Haven’t had chance to listen to your podcast on MOS yet, but I saw the film earlier this week.
I’d give the film a 6/10. It certainly had elements that I liked, and would recommended for: the ‘Smallville’ stuff; Krypton; the flashback structure; costumes; the overall feel.
Conversely, there were also repetitive fights scenes – bursting through skyscraper after skyscraper in an absurd fashion while the onlookers continue to gawp rather than running for their lives!
I saw it in 3D – not that this added anything. Serious thinking now of sticking to 2D for these ‘blockblusters’ that have been upconverted – and maybe 3D just for those filmed purposely that way such as the Hobbit trilogy.
I’ll get to your podcast this weekend – looking forward to it as ever
Andrew
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I completely agree about 3D. It’s really never worth the extra money unless that’s how it was originally filmed. Also, really disappointed that we forgot to talk about the repetitive fight scenes, because they just got boring after awhile and took me out of the film.
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I was really disappointed in this movie for so many reasons, but I won’t go into all of them here. I found myself nodding when you said that Clark didn’t feel like a small town farm boy. Very true. I liked Lois too, except she was a bit too “intrepid reporter” – like, who walks along an ice shelf in the middle of a storm? That’s not intrepid, that’s suicidal.
Also as far as constantly remaking superhero reboots e.g. Spiderman, there is a requirement the studios need to make something using those characters every 5 years otherwise they lose the rights to them. Which is why The Amazing Spiderman was made.
I wish Joss had made Wonder Woman and hadn’t kept getting shafted over it.
Funny that we disagree on what some of the cheesiest parts were – I HATED the ending when it seemed like nobody else at the Daily Planet recognised Clark – he just saved the world (or at least Metropolis) and in this day and age, there would be photos of him ALL over the internet! Everyone would know who he is – a bit like Tony Stark… it’s not like he has his face covered and voice disguised like Batman. But they played the whole “he’s wearing glasses so nobody recognises him” card which really annoyed me. Also – Metropolis just got massively destroyed. SKYSCRAPERS FELL DOWN. How are they just back at work and talking about going to baseball games after that? And shouldn’t Clark be out there lifting beams and helping rebuild? Because he caused a ridiculous amount of that destruction – the mangled buildings and dead civilians (there would’ve been hundreds, if not thousands, because and once again, SKYSCRAPERS FELL DOWN) are as much on his head as they are on Zod’s. You can’t just wave that all away and say “it’s a fluffy superhero movie” because they didn’t present it as a fluffy superhero movie – they went for gravitas, that means building in consequences for your actions!
Anyway. Finally I will admit that I liked the line when she said “I just think he’s really hot” because it was actually annoying me throughout the movie that nobody was calling it on how hot he is!! 😉 Seriously, that’s one part you did miss from your podcast… how insanely good-looking Henry Cavill is. Not to go all fangirl swoony on you, but… ever since he first popped up in The Count of Monte Cristo I have been a fan, and have been waiting for him to become famous. I hope Superman 2 is an improvement on this movie. Cast was good, plot had some good ideas, execution was rubbish. IMO. 🙂
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OH MY GOD. I did not even know that was him in Monte Cristo… My head is now spinning. I have watched that movie SO many times…. okay, whew. Yes, he is an attractive man, but in this film… I just get really freaked out by muscles that big. It’s a weird personal thing. But I will admit that the blue eyes with the black hair combo is entirely hot.
Joss would be perfect to direct Wonder Woman… sigh.
My biggest regret of this podcast is that we neglected to talk about the final action scene as far as the immense destruction and the repetitiveness. You make an excellent point about the fact that they went for a more serious vibe and then dropped it at the end by skirting by the consequences of what had happened by making it obvious that rebuilding was necessary. That is really, I think, why the cheesy lines were out of place. They needed to pick a tone and stick to it.
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