movie review: SUPERMAN (2025)

Superman (2025) is without a doubt the best Superman movie since Superman III. The tone, like Superman III and Batman Forever and the Tim Story Fantastic Four movies and Thor Ragnarok and The Flash, is action-comedy.  It is also a live action cartoon.  Not a live action version of Superman The Animated Series to be clear, but a live action Saturday morning cartoon never the less.  It has loads of references and call backs to the long comic book history of not just Superman, but DC in general.  And like Superman III, there is even a scene where David Corenswet fights himself.

The film opens, very comic book like, with text narration setting the stage. Unfortunately we do not see the epic battle the narration describes as the story opens on the aftermath of Superman's first lost fight. This makes the opening of the movie seem almost like the 2nd or 3rd chapter of a 1940s serial. Some more casual viewers may mistake this movie to be a sequel to a Superman movie that does not exist. The plot deals with the consequences of Superman's actions of preventing a war between two small third world countries, giving Lex Luthor the window of opportunity to manipulate things so that he can kill Superman. 

Corenswet, as Superman and Clark Kent, gives a good performance, keeping the character in the light mode of both Christopher Reeve and Dean Cain.  Some of his mannerisms and facial expressions reminded me of Cain specifically. My two biggest complaints are that at times he can seem a little whiney, and I really wish the costume didn't look so "low budget". 

Rachel Brosnahan's take on Lois Lane was excellent. She may be one of the best silver screen Loises yet. Her performance also slightly reminded me of Lois & Clark's Teri Hatcher.  Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor, on the other hand, did not echo John Shea or Gene Hackman, but rather definitely seemed like a homage to Smallville's Michael Rosenbaum.

Many other characters from the comics and Reeve movies are represented. Just a few worth noting are Jimmy Olsen, played by Skyler Gisando, is probably the character's best live action interpretation since the 1950s TV series. We get a very new and unique twist on the character of Eve Tessmacher, played by Sara Sampaio. Mikaela Hoover's Cat Grant, on the other hand, is there just to be some eye candy. There is a fledgling Justice League made up of Guy Gardner, Hawkgirl, Mr Terrific, and later Metamorpho, whose headquarters is the Hall of Justice from from the classic Superfriends cartoons. Isabela Merced's Hawkgirl could become the breakout character in future movies. There is a unique spin on Ma and Pa Kent, who are portrayed for the first time as deep Southerners, and there is an addition to Jor-El and Lara that is similar to the recent trend of giving Thomas Wayne a dark side.  And of course there is Krypto, who nearly steals the show, although he doesn't get as much screen time as the trailers suggest.

The film is loaded with in-jokes, comedy, action, and an updated version of the classic John Williams theme. One of the in-jokes is a team of monkeys (yes, real monkeys) employed by Luthor to make certain things trend on the internet.  Clearly a jab at the Snyder cult. 

The action scenes in most of the recent DC superhero movies are jarring because it looks like it switches from a movie to a CGI video game.  I have to congratulate this movie's CGI department because the CGI flows more naturally than the other DC movies, and I didn't think "oh, now it's all CGI".

Last minute concerns that the move would be full of woke sermonizing like the Greg Berlanti CW DC TV shows, are unfounded.  Director James Gunn's last minute claims that the film is political is really aimed at the two fictional small third world countries rather than anything about American politics.  

The end of movie cameo by Supergirl (Milly Alcock) portrays her as a intergalactic party girl who goes to planets with red suns so she can get drunk. Makes me wonder what her solo (probably R-rated) movie will be like.  Gunn should title it Supergirl Gone Wild.

All in all, this was a good movie that I wouldn't mind repeated viewings. It's not the unquestioned classic that the 1978 movie was, and I'm not sure if the 2025 version will stand the test of time, but for now it is a very fun, entertaining Summer popcorn movie.

Review: Superman '78: The Metal Curtain

Superman '78: The Metal Curtain, the sequel to the brilliant Superman '78 miniseries from a couple years ago, seems like the idea was to take the basic premise of "what if Superman IV The Quest For Peace was more of a Cold War era action-adventure of America vs the USSR?". There is a Soviet Metallo instead of Nuclear Man.  It also incorporate aspects from the first miniseries, like Jor-El and Lara being alive in the bottle city of Kandor, and some modern DC continuity such as Lois' father being an Army general, and still works in Gene Hackman's version of Luthor.  With such an agenda, somehow writer Robert Venditti pulls it off and proves that he should be the head writer on the main Superman titles.

But where this sequel falters a little is in the art. Gavin Guidry replaces Wilfredo Torres, and while Gavin does a good job, his art can be rough at times, not as polished as Torres. Some panels border on caricature art like you would find in Mad Magazine.  Most panels capture the likenesses of the actors, but there are quite a few panels where the likenesses aren't there, and it is generic superhero faces.

Even so, this is an excellent miniseries, even if both the script and art a bit more workman like than the predecessor.  It earns a B+.

Review: Superman '78 #6

The final issues picks up with the fight scene from the previous issue.  In perhaps this series' most un-movie like sequence, but a typical comic book trope, Superman and Brainaic trade off lots of exposition dialogue while fighting. Superman points out Brandon, er, pardon me, Brainiac uses science as a weapon to control people. But perhaps the best dialogue is as Superman seemingly defeats Brainiac, he screams "you are just a man!" to which Superman replies "I'm Superman."  After Brainaic's defeat, his ship starts to self destruct. Superman gathers up all the bottle cities. However with the destruction of the ship, Metropolis begins to fall back to earth, as Luthor observes from his hot air balloon. Superman flies around to the bottom of the city and struggles to guide it down safely.  Then there is a wrap up scene at the Daily Planet (featuring another Easter Egg from Superman III), and the story ends with Superman at his Fortress with the various bottle cities, telling his parents he will search for a way to free them.

I'm repeating myself from the previous issues, but writer Robert Venditti and artist Wilfredo Torres turned in an excellent mini-series that really captures the tone of the Christopher Reeve movies. This issue earns another A, giving it a clean sweep of A's, and the mini-series, or its upcoming collected hardcover edition, is strongly recommended. And I wouldn't mind seeing Venditti become a writer on one of the main Superman titles.

Review: Superman '78 #5

This issue picks up with the excision of Metropolis by Brainiac.  In the bottle city of Kandor, Jor-El re-attunes Luthor's device so that Superman can return to his normal size.  Superman says good bye to his parents as Brainiac begins the miniaturization of Metropolis. (On page 6, could that be a cameo of Richard Pryor's Gus Gorman from Superman III?) Luthor takes off in a balloon, and Superman returns to stop Brainiac's machine.  The rest of the issue is a fight scene between Superman and Brainiac and his robots, ending on a cliffhanger.

What can I say that I haven't already said in my reviews of the previous issues.  This creative team gets it, and excels.  This issue earns another A.  Looks like it'll be a sweep of A's for this mini-series.  We'll find out with the final issue next time.

Review: Superman '78 #4

This issue opens with a brief exposition on Brainiac's past, then cuts right to Jor-El passing the leadership reins to Kal-El.  But Kal feels completely out of place, and decides he needs to find a way to get back to Earth.  Meanwhile Luthor, with Lois, are able to place a really long distance "phone call" to Superman, thanks to the little receiver he planted on him.  Brainiac notices the transmission, and heads back to Earth to confront Luthor.  Jor-El also notices the transmission, and says that this is the missing piece of technology he needs that could free Kal-El from the bottle city.  However Brainiac has begun to levitate the entire city of Metropolis.

Once again, Robert Vendetti turns in a great script that captures the magic of the movies, and delivers a lot of fun character asides, especially for Gene Hackman's version of Luthor.  Wilfredo Torres' art seems to get better with each issue. This issue earns yet another A.

Review: Superman '78 #3

This issue picks up right where the last issue left off, with Brainiac's robots accepting Superman's surrender. The citizens of Metropolis attempt to defend Superman, but he reasons with them not to invite danger. Superman hears Lois' heart racing, and bids her farewell.  Luthor congratulates Brainiac and pats Superman on the the back (perhaps slipping him something to help him escape later?).  On Brainiac's ship, Superman sees a collection of shrunken civilizations in bottles, including Thanagar with a cameo by Hawkman and Hawkgirl.  Brainiac shrinks Superman and he find himself face to face with his very much alive parents in Krypton's bottle.  Back in Metropolis, Lois writes the article of Superman leaving earth, and there is an Easter Egg of Bruce Wayne returning to Gotham and a mysterious Bat-Man terrorizing Gotham.  However, the magazine cover with Bruce looks nothing like Michael Keaton.  In the bottle city of Kandor, Kal-El hangs up his Superman costume and dons traditional Kryponian garb, and speaks with his mother, telling her- via Superman The Movie flashbacks- how he was raised by the Kents.  Then she tells him how Brainiac captured and shrunk Kandor just after they launched Kal-El's rocket.  Jor-El asks Kal-El to assume the leadership role he has held, and Kal-El agrees.  Back in Metropolis, Lois receives a message that someone knows where Superman is.  She finds out it is Luthor (that pat on the back must have been to plant a super-GPS), and Luthor is going to bring Superman back.

Once again, writer Robert Venditti and artist Wilfredo Torres deliver.  One can imagine the Salkinds delivering this movie with the return of Marlon Brando as Jor-El. Now, having Jor-El and Lara surviving Krypton's explosion messes with the comic book legend, but again, I can definitely see the Salkinds doing something like this to get Brando back for another film, had they had the opportunity.  Issue 3 keeps up the high standard of this series, and earns another A.

Review: Superman '78 #2

This issue picks up with Luthor, fresh out of jail, trying to get a job at Kord Industries, only to be offered a job in the cafeteria. Crestfallen and grumbling (can just imagine Gene Hackman's voice), he returns to his small, dumpy apartment, where Superman is waiting for him. He asks Luthor to help him with the disembodied head of Brainiac's robot scout. Back at the Planet bullpen, Clark tries to ask Lois out, only to be brushed off.  He "overhears" that there is a signal coming from deep space.  Back at Luthor's laboratory, he is able to reactivate the robot scout to receive a message that Brainiac has arrived.  Brainiac sends out dozens of his robots to capture Superman.  He threatens to obliterate humanity in order to cage Superman.  Just as Luthor arrives at the scene, Superman surrenders to Brainiac to spare humanity.

As with the previous issue, the script by Robert Venditti, is excellent, and continues to capture the classic Superman film series tone perfectly. Wilfordo Torres turns in very good artwork, if slightly on the cartoony side. It's interesting to see how polar opposite Superman '78 and Batman '89 are from each other, with Superman '78, so far, getting everything right, and Batman '89 getting everything wrong.  This issues earns another A.

Review: Superman '78 #1

The first issue of Superman '78 hits the bullseye. The script, by Robert Vendetti, reads like a comic book adaptation of an unreleased Christopher Reeve Superman movie.  He hits all the right notes, and gets the tone perfect. The art by Wilfredo Torres, has an Alex Toth quality to it, yet he still captures the actors' likenesses to a tee. That makes it more confusing why Batman '89 had to be more vague with the likenesses. The story opens on a flashback to Krypton's destruction observed by Brainiac. From there we are reintroduced to Richard Donner's version of Metropolis, where Brainiac sends a robot to scout the planet in an action sequence that undoubtedly would not have been able to be done justice on film in the 1970s. 

I hate to compare the first issues of  Superman '78 to Batman '89, but in many ways the Superman issue gets things right where the Batman issue stumbled. Superman '78 #1 was a very fun and entertaining read, and could easily be envisioned as an installment of the Christopher Reeve Superman movie franchise.  This issue earns an A.

movie review: JUSTICE LEAGUE

With the fate of the DC Cinematic Universe riding on it, Justice League is successful at being a better and more coherent movie than Batman v Superman, but still falls short of what one would expect to be the epic big screen debut of the All Star team of the World's Greatest Superheroes.  Of course, the problem is that Justice League has been dealt a handicap in that it continues the misfired shared universe sculpted by Zach Snyder, when really Warner Brothers should have abandoned that continuity as fast as they did the original Batman franchise after Joel Schumacher's Batman & Robin disaster.  Instead they decided to forge ahead, albeit bringing in The Avengers director Joss Whedon to take over helming the film in mid-production.  Whedon works a minor miracle by salvaging what could have been another 3 hour Snyder Gloomapalooza.

The film opens with a kid's (Billy Batson?) phone video of Superman. You can clearly see the bad CGI cover up to Henry Cavill's mustache, as his mouth looks like it had a bad reaction to a Novocain injection.  CGI appears to be DC's weak link, as Wonder Woman also suffered from bad, primitive looking CGI.  It doesn't get any better here, as Steppenwolf looks more like a video game image than an actual character, and there are too many moments where the film seems to cease being a live action movie, and turns into The Polar Express.  Even Superman and Batman's flowing capes look fake.

After a pair of really good opening action sequences, one featuring Batman and the other Wonder Woman, the film suddenly grinds to a halt as it drags down for the next 20 minutes or so focusing on introducing Cyborg and The Flash. Things pick up as the plot kicks in - a simple one of Steppenwolf wanting to destroy earth, and Bruce and Diana, reminiscent of The Blues Brothers,  trying to "put the band back together" (I expected Diana to utter "we're on a mission from God"), to stop him. But even after that, the movie has a few dragging moments.  You would think with cutting a movie from 3 hours to 2 hours with much of it re-filmed by a different director, they could have kept the pace up better, but it's not to be. It is also of note that if all the slo-mo scenes in the film were at normal speed, the movie would probably clock in at an hour and 40 minutes.

Ben Affleck returns as Bruce Wayne and Batman.  He's not the serial killer he was in Batman v Superman, moving to more traditional take, and Affleck gives a decent performance, although in a couple scenes, he has this look on his face like he's thinking "I'm only doing this for some gambling money".  He's not the best screen Batman, but he's not the worst either.  A big missed opportunity is in the scene where Barry Allen asks Bruce what his super power is, and Bruce replies "I'm rich." That was fine for the trailer, but Whedon should have re-shot it for the film. A much better line would have been if he replied in a Keaton-esque growl "I'm Batman".  Jeremy Irons returns as Alfred, and matches the great performance he gave in BvS. J.K. Simmons is introduced as Commissioner Gordon, but I thought he struck out with the character, small as the role was.  He looked and acted like J. Jonah Jameson with a walrus mustache.

Gal Gadot, so far the MVP of the DCEU, also turns in a fine performance as Diana Prince, although I found her acting slightly more wooden here than in Wonder Woman. I also noticed that she kept giving this pouty smirk that kept reminding me of a Kewpie Doll, and there were a lot of up skirt shots of her - not that I'm complaining.  The chemistry between Bruce and Diana was a high point of the movie.

Ezra Miller was introduced as Barry Allen and The Flash, in a costume that looks more Power Rangers than silver age comic book, and played the role like he was buzzed on some kind of amphetamine.  He had a couple funny lines, but for the most part I found him to be annoying, and by the middle of the movie, I was missing Grant Gustin's version a lot.

Ray Fisher plays Cyborg, and while I thought the early part of the movie devoted to his backstory dragged the film down, in the second half of the movie, he was instrumental to the plot.

Jason Momoa plays Aquaman in a performance that was part surfer-biker dude and part Batman The Brave and The Bold animated series-- though he stopped short of yelling "outrageous".

Amy Adams returns as Lois Lane in a small role.  There was no direct call back to the scene in BvS where the Flash travels back in time to tell Bruce she's the key.  Bruce just kind of knows she's the "big gun" to -SPOILER ALERT- bring the revived Superman back to his senses.  Henry Cavill, to his credit, after two other movies as Superman, finally shows some personality and charisma in the role.  This was Cavill's best performance as Superman. 

I also have to mention the musical score by Danny Elfman.  It is the best score in any of the DCEU films (and better than the scores in the Nolan Batman films), and it helps elevate the film.  Hearing refrains of his classic Batman theme and the classic John Williams Superman theme really drives this movie to be better than perhaps it really is. It would have been cool if Elfman worked in a reprise of the original Super Friends theme, but alas he did not.

There are -SPOILER ALERT- two post credit scenes, the second one at the very end of the credits brings back Superman's arch enemy and introduces a certain terminator.

Justice League is a fun movie that is enjoyable when it isn't being dragged down by slow moments or being distracted by inferior CGI. Like Affleck's Batman, its not the best, but its not the worst either.

movie review: BATMAN v SUPERMAN

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is all at once grand and epic, yet a little bloated.  The latest Batman movie... and yes, this is definitely a Batman movie with ties to Man of Steel, and not a Superman movie that features Batman... has director Zach Snyder succeeding in bringing, perhaps the closest thing this generation will ever see to a live action adaptation of Frank Miller's Dark Knight Returns graphic novel. While all Batman movies made by Warner Brothers, since 1989, have had various degrees of inspiration and nods to the legendary graphic novel, this one has a record number of scenes and lines of dialogue directly lifted from the source material.  The film opens up with a flashback to the Wayne murders, inter-cut with the funeral where, young Bruce runs off and falls into the future Batcave (not unlike a similar scene in Batman Forever).  However this time, we see a swarm of bats literally levitating Bruce up out of the cave, setting the tone that this is a more fantasy-based take of Batman, after over 20 years of more or less realism-grounded interpretations (Burton and Nolan more, Schumacher less).   From there, we get the film's major plot line set up: the final fight between Superman and Zod from Man of Steel, from Bruce's point of view, fueling Wayne's rage over the kryptonian, and his perceived legacy to keep the world safe. The plot then splits off into many directions, dealing with the Government's concern over Superman, Lex Luthor's obsession with meta humans, the mysterious Diana Prince's search for a World War I photo.

We get the epic battle between the Dark Knight and the Man of Steel, like so much of Batman's part of this movie, lifted nearly verbatim from the graphic novel.  I was expecting a 10 second cameo by Carrie Kelly, suited up as Robin, to assist in this battle, by igniting one of Batman's kryptonite gas bombs on Superman.  Alas, no such scene.  If I may digress a bit, there is a Robin costume on display in the Batcave, as we've all seen in trailers.  We've also all seen the set photo of Dick Grayson's tomb. We've also heard rumors that Jason Todd is the deceased Robin, and Dick is referenced as Nightwing. The film itself, from what I have seen, gives no clarification who exactly this Robin was. This mystery is still unsettled.  More blatant is Jimmy Olsen introduced and killed off in a single scene, and the voice of the president sounds like Donald Trump. There are cameos of the other future Justice League members, most notably by The Flash, who is trying to give Bruce a message, but realizes he's "too early".   This scene would have had more impact if Grant Guston was playing the Flash.  I know, I know, no cross-continuity between DC TV and movies, but at this point, Grant Guston is The Flash, while Ezra Miller is still an unknown entity. The way the Batman v Superman fight ends, though, is one of the corniest spectacles put on film. Superman mumbles that Lex is going to kill Martha.  Ben Affleck then does a Razzies worthy rant, screaming like a madman, "why did you say Martha?", perhaps the movie's unintentionally funniest moment.  Batman realizes his mom and Superman's mom have the same first name. Suddenly, these guys are best friends. The film winds down with shoehorning Doomsday in, complete with the shocking end result of the comics its based on, with Snyder sneaking in out of left field the story line Warners has been attempting to do since 1995 on the big screen.

Ben Affleck takes on the role of Bruce Wayne and Batman, and frankly does better than I thought he would. He's not as good an actor as Micheal Keaton, who was able to disappear into the role, and he's not as unknown as Christian Bale was, so at times you don't see Bruce Wayne, you see Ben Affleck playing Bruce Wayne.  But he does have the potential to be a really good Batman.  The scene where Batman rescues Martha Kent is perhaps the greatest Batman fight-action scene ever captured on film... and again, much of the action and dialogue is lifted verbatim from a similar scene is the Miller graphic novel, and granted, Affleck probably had little to do with it, Batman being played by stuntmen and CGI for the scene.  His Batman costume is far superior to the motocross inspired outfit Bale wore, and his Batman voice is also far superior to Bale's "frog with throat cancer" voice, although some lines of dialogue sounded as if they were auto tuning Batman's voice, which is not a good thing. The biggest setback in Affleck's performance is how Batman kills so casually without remorse or regret. Jeremy Irons play Alfred, again, much better than I thought he would.  Early photos of him had me thinking he would be more suited as Jim Gordon, but he pulls off the Alfred role better than Michael Cain did.

Jesse Eisenberg's Lex Luther plays more like a Batman villain than a typical Superman villain. He has just enough touches of Jim Carrey's Edward Nygma, fleshed out with a sense of insanity that really pushes him into the Batman column for villains. The jury is still out as to whether this is good or bad.  Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman was another casting concern, but I think she pulled it splendidly considering her character was more of an enigma, with just enough screen time to keep both Bruce and us in the audience intrigued.

The weak point of the film may actually be the returning Superman characters. Henry Cavill is just kind of there as Superman. In Man of Steel  all he seemed to do is scream and cry. In this one, he doesn't even do that. In one scene, as Clark, he shows some passion trying to convince Perry White to let him do an article on Batman, and later in the movie he threatens Luthor when he's told he kidnapped Martha Kent. Otherwise Cavill is kind of like a mannequin.  His wooden acting and reciting of dialogue may be the reason, in contrast, why both Affleck and Gadot shined in their roles more than expected.  One other note regarding the kidnapping of Martha Kent. The fact Luthor knows Clark Kent is Superman is just presented in a matter of fact way with no real shock or amazement that Luthor figured out the secret identity.  Amy Adams fared better as Lois, but again, just seemed off, not to mention that she has no chemistry at all with Cavill. One wonders if it would have been better if she were cast as Rachel Dawes in the Nolan Batman trilogy (as she did the screen tests for it), and someone like Mila Kunis were cast as Lois in the Snyder movies.

As with the Nolan trilogy and Man of Steel, the musical score - or more accurately, instrumental sound effects - is instantly forgettable.  The one exception is the Wonder Woman theme.

The other thing that bogs this movie down is the running time. At two and a half hours, you start to feel that it should have been streamlined by about 30 minutes.  As cool as the desert Batman scene was, and the other Bruce and Clark fantasy scenes were, they weren't needed for the plot, and maybe should have been cut.  Likewise, something that bothered me a bit about this take on Batman, Snyder made him a bit too cold blooded. By Frank Miller's sequel, Dark Knight Strikes Again, Miller had Batman killing people without flinching, and Snyder is taking Bruce down that same path.  Another flaw, in my opinion, is that Snyder took the whole project a little too seriously. There should have been a little more space for fun, for a sense of wonder. But on the whole, Batman v Superman delivered a decent... or at least adequate, superhero epic.

UPDATE: Having viewed the "Ultimate Edition", I found it to be more bloated and plodding than the theatrical cut.  However, I will say there are some scenes in the Ultimate Edition that should have been in the theatrical cut, such as Lois' investigative work on the framing of Superman, and her discovery that the bomb in the wheelchair was encased in lead, and after the bomb explodes, Superman flying the casualties out of the wreckage. I also think there are scenes in the theatrical cut that should have been left on the cutting room floor, such as the entire subplot of Batman branding criminals so they will get killed in jail, all the fantasy dreams (desert Batman, Martha's tomb monster, Clark and ghost dad), and trim all the fight and action scenes so Batman isn't such a cold-blooded serial killer. A two-hour re-edit might be a good movie, but the two versions we have now can't live up to the hype.

First pic of Affleck as Batman revealed

My observations? While I still haven't quite warmed up to the fact Ben Affleck is playing Batman yet, I do think the photo shows an improvement over Christian Bale.  I always thought the cowl on Bale's costume made his jaw look way too narrow.  That's certainly not the case with Affleck. While I'm not a fan of short ears or the squared off fins on the gloves, I like that they departed from the Nolan-Bale era pad covered suit that made Batman look like a motocross rider or skate boarder at times.  I kind of wish the chest emblem was a little less Frank Miller like, but its still an improvement over the weird Nolan-Bale era emblem.  I'm also glad to see a Keaton-era leathery cape back, instead of the Bale era Liberace-like velvet cape. I'm very optimistic the suit will be blue and gray... if it was black and gray, or solid black, or shades of gray, there would be no point in releasing the first photo without color.  It has to be to keep the fact the costume is blue and gray a secret a little longer for a bigger reveal later on.  As for the Batmobile, it looks to be a good middle ground between the classic Burton-Keaton era Batmobile, and the Nolan-Bale era Tumbler.

Ben Affleck is the new Batman

Uh, yeah.... right.  I have no comment at this time.  But some other people do.

 

 

 

 

Man Of Steel Sequel to co-star Batman

At the San Diego Comic Con, Man Of Steel director Zack Snyder confirmed there will be a sequel, even though the movie dropped drastically from first place at the box office to tenth in only four weeks.  Further more, it will feature Batman. Perhaps, by putting Batman in the sequel is Warner Brothers' insurance policy that the movie will have better legs and not dive bomb off the box office like Man Of Steel did.  Will the new movie be titled World's Finest ?

While I liked Man Of Steel when I first saw it, and wrote my review, upon thinking about the movie more, I found I began to like it less and less.  A good example is Jonathan Kent.  Originally I thought how he died was moving.  But after thinking about it, I realised how dumb it was. I disliked the whole X-Files approach to the character and feel a more meaningful death is like in the original Richard Donner movie, where he dies and there is nothing Clark, with all his powers, can do to prevent it.  Here, Clark is just being ordered by Jonathan to do nothing. Really stupid the more I think about it.  The whole movie is kind of like that. 

There is a big question as to how Batman will be portrayed.  We do know this will be a rebooted Batman, and not the version from the Christian Bale-Christopher Nolan movies.  It looks like Snyder will have some major creative control as to how Batman is rebooted for the screen. It also brings up the question, "who will be cast as Batman?"  Snyder, at the Comic Con, had an actor read a line from Frank Miller's Dark Knight Returns after making the announcement.  Snyder was once rumored to be interested in filming a live action version of the Miller graphic novel.  This could lead one to believe Snyder's rebooted Batman will be very much influenced by Frank Miller, emphasised by the fact the new Bat emblem shown for the Man Of Steel sequel/World's Finest movie looks just like Miller's artwork (thankfully the awful Crow like emblem from the Nolan movies is history)... hopefully the new Batman costume will be better, also, and the new actor won't speak like he has throat cancer. But the bad news is David Goyer once again will be back to co-write the script.  Really, this guy is way over rated, and he has too much influence over the DC movies.  It's past due to bring in some fresh blood on this. Snyder should bring in Frank Miller to co-write the script with, and drop Goyer. This could also lead to Miller taking over as director for the Batman franchise when it spins off from The World's Finest.

movie review: MAN OF STEEL

Go big or go home.  Zack Snyder certainly did go big with Man Of Steel. The rebooted Superman movie, much like the 1978 original, is a three act play, and is probably the most sci-fi oriented telling of the character in its 75 year history.  Act One, as with the 1978 version, is Krypton. But unlike the Krypton of 1978, an albino desert with crystal architecture, this Krypton is a fully formed and thought out planet, futuristic yet rustic, punctuated by Jor-El (Russell Crow) hopping on a giant Kryptonian mosquito like an outer space cowboy (that's not the only Western theme in this movie, as you'll see later).  The movie starts on the birth of Kal-El, the first naturally born child in centuries on Krypton.  The Krypton sequence unfolds pretty much as expected, except a twist is that Zod (Michael Shannon, in a well delivered, wide-eyed mentally unstable performance) kills Jor-El right as the rocket with Kal-El launches.  Zod and his minions are rounded up and sentenced to the Phantom Zone, and Krypton explodes.

Act Two goes into a cut and paste of the Batman Begins script, but unlike that agonizingly boring movie, the inter cutting of flashbacks to tell young Clark Kent's history works much better here.  Clark is a nomad, travelling around, helping people when he can while keeping a low profile. At one point when Clark is hitch hiking, I half expected the old Incredible Hulk  TV show theme song to start playing.  The flashbacks to his childhood are well done, and in some cases heartbreaking. Like when Clark, upon told he is an alien and the answer to the question of life on other planets, begs Jonathan Kent (Kevin Costner, who gives the role a slightly cruel X Files spin) to continue to pretend he's his son, to which Jonathan embraces the boy saying he is his son.  Likewise a moment when a tornado is destructively tearing thru Smallville, and Jonathan runs into it to free the family dog. As Jonathan is about to meet certain doom, Clark is about to race to rescue his dad, only to have Jonathan decisively raise his hand for Clark to stop, so the witnesses will not see Clark use his powers, sacrificing his own life to keep Clark from revealing his alien nature.  We also get to see glimpses of familiar Smallville characters Pete Ross and Lana Lang, the latter played by an adorable Jadin Gould, who bears more than a passing resemblance to Kristin Kruek, the well loved Lana from the Smallville  TV series.

Lois Lane (the pretty but somewhat miscast Amy Adams) enters the scene as the military discover an alien craft in ice thousands of years old.  It turns out to be this movie's version of the Fortress of Solitude.  She meets Clark, and he saves her life when she trespasses into the Fortress setting off some security devices.  Back in Metropolis, she does some detective work and quickly learns the mysterious man of steel is Clark Kent from Smallville.  Clark, meanwhile, in the Fortress, enables a sort of computer program that has Jor-El's intellect, and it teaches Clark all about his history.

Act Three begins when Superman emerges from the Fortress, and starts pushing and experimenting with his powers, learning how to fly, perhaps the only moment in the film where Clark smiles (and I half expected the theme song from The Greatest American Hero to start playing).  Zod and his minions have located earth and warn the people to turn over Kal-El or there will be destruction.  After seeking guidance from a Catholic priest, Superman turns himself into the US military as a sign of good will in hopes to work together in reigning in Zod. The movie goes into full blown action-film mode at this point with one high octane action sequence after another, and lots of dizzying fight scenes, and so much collateral damage, you have to wonder if there is any spot in the US not destroyed by the end of the movie.  Once again a Western theme is highlighted in a High Noon type showdown between Superman and Faora (Antje Traue in a performance that schools Anne Hathaway on how to play a villainess), one of the all too few whimsical moments in the overly serious film.  After most of the Kryptonians are sent back to the Phantom Zone, and Superman is forced to take Zod's life in order to save several humans, as an after thought, we get to see Clark Kent, in glasses, getting a job at the Daily Planet, with a wink to Lois, who's in on the secret.

Man Of Steel is a definite improvement over the somewhat creepy Superman Returns, however what it lacked was one really great scene that would be the movie's crown jewel.  In Superman Returns it was unquestionably the plane and space shuttle rescue over the baseball field.  Man of Steel lacks such a moment,  or maybe in its third act, has so many of those moments, none can stand out.  Henry Cavill does a good job in the role with the material he's given.  He does not imitate Christopher Reeve, as Brandon Routh did.  But he doesn't quite make the role his own, either. There are some shots where I thought he looked too much like Tom Welling. He lacked some personality, as there is virtually no humor in the movie.  Superman can have some gloom and darkness, but he still has to have some hope, as the great new retro-Fleischer S shield is supposed to be the Kryponian symbol for. Ironically Cavill's performance and the movie in general have a bit of a "hopelessness" air to it.  The film would have benefited with some more humor and a little less of Clark crying or screaming. As mentioned, Amy Adams is somewhat miscast as Lois. She comes off as too sweet.  Lois is supposed to have a "hot bitch" quality to her that Adams just doesn't have.  Mila Kunis, who was in the running for the role, would have been a better choice.  Laurence Fishburne's Perry White, Rebecca Buller's Jenny Olsen (the gender changed Jimmy Olsen) and Michael Kelly's Steve Lombard all were fairly generic with no real characterizations.  The Daily Planet staff seem to be in the movie simply because they have to be.  In that regard, Superman Returns did a better job.  I always felt David Goyer was over rated, and with The Dark Knight Rises and Man Of Steel under his belt, it seems a lot of fans are starting to feel that way, also.  Hans Zimmer's score, as with his three Batman movies, is instantly forgettable.

All in all, despite getting some things wrong, I enjoyed Man Of Steel and thought it was a better movie than Superman Returns and Batman Begins and equal to or even slightly better than The Dark Knight Rises. However, it didn't surpass The Dark Knight, which is what DC and WB needed for Man Of Steel to be the tent pole of an entire DC Universe franchise of movies.  Can it still happen? Possibly.  Depends on how the final box office looks. After all, Superman Returns made a profit.  It just didn't make a super profit.

The DCnU- One Year Later

Since there is no chapter of Curse Of Shazam in JUSTICE LEAGUE #12, I thought I'd take this time to evaluate the DCnU one year after it debuted.

First, there is Captain Mar... er, Shazam.  While I am so far enjoying Curse Of Shazam, perhaps more than I thought I would, I still do not see it as the "definitive" take on Captain Marvel.  Too many changes to characters and plot to make it more trendy and cinematic.  For my money, outside the Fawcett originals, the "definitive" DC version is still a toss up between E. Nelson Bridwell's work in the late 1970s, and Alex Ross' version in Justice and Power Of Hope.

Then there is Batman.  The DCnU reboot has not been good to him at all.  DC pretty much continued Batman from the old continuity without rebooting him. So, we have a very convoluted version of the character that for the most part, is the same as the post-Zero Hour continuity, except for when its not.  Make sense? For my money, perhaps the most enjoyable run on Batman was in the 1980s, written by Gerry Conway, with art rotating between Gene Colan and Don Newton.  They had a serialized soap opera vibe going with a multitude of subplots, and still brought a lot of action and adventure, and was, in effect, a direct sequel to the all too brief, widely celebrated 1977-78 stint by Steve Englehart and Marshall Rogers. The DCnU Batman is just confusing, with all his various redundant sidekicks and replacement Robins and incoherent story lines.  I have really cut back on the number of Batman titles I buy since the DCnU began.  I am contemplating cutting back even more, or perhaps for the first time in my life, just stopping all together.

And then there is Superman.  Ironically, I am really liking the DCnU take on Superman. As with Captain...er, Shazam, I don't consider it to be the "definitive" take, but I like it for what it is.  Mostly due to Grant Morrison, who has taken aspects of the character's original 1938 run, and incorporated it into a new vision. ACTION COMICS has been really solid, while SUPERMAN has been more hit and miss.  I don't know if I will stick with it once Morrison leaves, but for now, I'm enjoying the ride.

Finally, there is the Justice League. This, too has been interesting, although Geoff Johns seems to be essentially ripping off the movie version of  The Avengers, by making Steve Trevor the DC version of Nick Fury.  Green Lantern's characterization mirrors the awful performance by Ryan Reynolds in the dud Green Lantern movie. Efforts are made to turn Aquaman from a punchline to a real heavy hitter, with mixed results. With Superman being cast as more of a brooding loner, Batman ends up being more of a level headed leader, which is a detriment to the Batman character overall. In JUSTICE LEAGUE #12, Superman and Wonder Woman become a couple.  It seems obvious, but except for some brief teasers by John Byrne back in the 1980s, it never happened in mainstream continuity. We'll see how it plays out.

Overall, I have to give the DCnU a failing grade. Despite some bright spots with Captain... er, Shazam and Superman, I am still buying fewer DC comics than ever before, and generally just do not like the direction the continuity has taken (don't even get me started on how awful the re imagination of the Golden Age Earth-2 is).  Hopefully the next reboot will be soon, and will use Alex Ross' Justice as a foundation.

DCnU Progress Report

We are now a few issues into the company wide reboot of DC Comics.  Here are my thoughts of it so far. First, let me say I have not read (or plan to read) all 52 titles.  I just have no interest in some of the fringe series they are publishing, like VooDoo or Demon Knights.  For what its worth, I picked up several of the first issues, but by issue 2, I cut it down to a handful.
First, the Superman franchise. I actually kind of like what they are doing. They've gone back to the original 1938 stories.  Like those original stories, Superman is much less powerful, but the longer he is exposed to Earth's yellow sun, over time, the more powerful he grows. No more is Superman the classic big blue boyscout we've all come to take for granted.  This Superman is... well, kind of like Batman with superpowers.  He's tough, a brooding loner, and isn't above bending the law or threatening crooks.  The new Clark Kent is... well, kind of like Peter Parker. He's a nerd, a brooding loner, and an outcast, but he uses his status as a reporter to fight for the underdog, kind of like those old time crusading reporters in old black and white film noir movies.  As with the original comics, he starts out as a reporter for the Daily Star under editor George Taylor, while Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen work at the Daily Planet for Perry White. Soon, Clark lands a job at the Planet, while Lois gets promoted to being a TV news producer at GBS. Clark's only friend seems to be Jimmy Olsen, who does double duty as both a still photographer for the Planet and a video photographer for GBS (both are owned by Morgan Edge's Galaxy Communications).  And forget about Lois and Clark. In this new continuity, there is no relationship or even chemistry... at least not yet. Luthor's role, at this point, seems to be as a scientist/inventor who works with the U.S. military.

Perhaps the worst part of this reboot is the costume. His first costume is an S-emblem t-shirt, with blue jeans, work boots, and a baby blanket cape.  Yeah.  Kind of dumb.  He soon replaces it with a Kryptonian suit that has a lot of piping and armor, with a turtle neck, but no trunks.  The classic costume is still much better with out a doubt.

But this new take on Superman comes at a price for Batman fans.  Batman is mellowed out in the new continuity.  With Superman as the dark and brooding hero, Batman is made to be more of a leader and uniter.  In Justice League, it is Batman who plays the peace maker between the other heroes, a role the old continuity Superman played, while Superman acts more like Batman used to in the old continuity.

The Batman franchise fares much worse. Unlike most of the other characters, the decision was made (and, according to some reports, at the last minute) not to reboot Batman from the beginning. But the Batman franchise was one that needed rebooting as much as Superman. So, there still is an expanded Batman family, with a number of redundant characters.  There is still an overloaded history, and even the most recent "Batman Inc.", where Bruce Wayne actually franchises the concept of Batman to other countries.  The original and legendary Robin, Dick Grayson, is still saddled with being Nightwing, a bargain basement version of Batman based on a second rate Silver Age Superman character. While Superman was simplified and went back to his roots, Batman remains a muddled incoherent mess.  It would have been so nice to go back to the classic Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson Batman and Robin team, back to the moody, nocturnal roots, and revive a classic logo.

Wonder Woman appears to be on track to become DC's version of Thor. In her traditional origin, she is created when the Queen of Paradise Island molds a baby out of clay, and brings it to life. In the new reboot, Wonder Woman is the daughter of Zeus.  It is unclear if this reboot will be better or worse, because Wonder Woman is a character that, while iconic, is very hard to make interesting in any long term fashion.  It appears Green Lantern's personality has been changed to reflect Ryan Reynold's performance in the recent movie dud.

The new version of Captain Marvel will debut in a couple months in Justice League #5.  You can bet I will have a lot of opinions and commentary on that. Stay tuned.

The new Man Of Steel revealed

Warner Brothers released the first image of Henry Cavill as Superman for the upcoming movie, The Man Of Steel.

I really like this. Infinitely better than the Brandon Routh costume. The dork in me will point out the "S" emblem is very retro, looking like the one from the costumes worn by Kirk Alyn (the serials) and George Reeves (the TV show). Also the design on the sleeve wrists look just like the artwork from Superman's first appearance in 1938's "Action Comics" #1 (the wrist design disappeared after that one issue). The colors are a little darker than the traditional comics, but it still looks "correct", unlike the hues used on the Superman Returns costume.  My only complaint would be I think they went overboard on the scale texture. I really hope the all-yellow "S" is on the back of the cape. Also the composition of the photo itself, of Superman in front of an over sized safe door, is similar to one of the panels from "Action Comics" #1.  This tells me director Zach Snyder will not be emulating the Christopher Nolan Batman films (a series I'm not too fond of) of shoehorning a superhero into an ultra-realistic setting, but may be going the Sam Raimi Spider-Man route of painstakingly recreating the earliest comics. There also seems to be a slight Tim Burton feel to the photo as well.  Snyder has also said his Superman will have lots of action, unlike all the previous movies and TV series, which were very light on action preferring to focus more on relationships.  All this has me anticipating The Man Of Steel.  The one thing that could negate the excitement is the realization David Goyer is writing the script. Not too fond of his work, so hopefully Snyder or some script doctors will be on hand to make the script the best it could be. So far, it's looking good.
UPDATE: Some candid photos of Cavill in the Superman costume got online confirming the cape does not have the yellow "S" emblem, and there are no red trunks. In these pics, the costume looks too much like Captain Marvel Jr's.  Without the cape's "S" emblem and the red trunks, the costume looks incomplete.  Some of the enthusiasm from the original released photo has evaporated, unfortunately.