Unpopular opinions go here

[Thomas Shey]

I assume you are talking Pa and I agree. It is the single greatest misstep in the film, and also a waste of a solid relationship in future films.

Yup. That scene was bad on multiple grounds. Its hard to see any perception of the characters involved where it makes sense in the context of how they've previously been depicted.

I think folks should re-read Birthright and then watch MoS again. There is A LOT there.

One thing folks complain about is Kal first letting the fight with Zod do so much damage, and then him killing Zod. These complaints fall flat when taken in context of the broader Superman mythos, since both have occurred in multiple variations of Superman origin and early career stories. Kal doesn't realize how devastating a super fight is until it happens. Similarly, his killing of Zod is what drives him to really find ways to never make that necessary again.

Those are the other two problem areas, but the first (the super fight) tends to ignore the fact its the first super fight Clark has ever been in, and it gives him no time to figure out what to do because he's fighting someone marginally less powerful but far more skilled than him. It really doesn't compare to virtually any other combat you ever see the character in in any other medium, since you very rarely see them in a high end super fight that early in their career and understanding of their capabilities.

I have some problems with the Zod business, but its not misrepresentation of Superman; its forcing the situation on an authorial level in a way I don't think was particularly appropriate. But I don't think it misrepresents the character as such.

Maybe part of it is that people are expecting MoS Kal to be a mature Superman with all the accumulated wisdom of a post Crisis run, when this was his first outing. And I also thing Cavill's severe expression make him seem "meaner" than the script actually shows. That scene when he flies for the first time was as pure and joyous as anything else.

Yup. I personally think Cavill was a fine Superman who was not always handled as well as he could have been, but not nearly as badly as some people paint it. And I've arguably been at least a modest fan of the character for 60 years.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

We really enjoyed Lego Batman as a family. (Related family that is, but not that that's better than with friends, since...)

When it comes to the DC Animated Universe, there can be ONLY ONE.

 

[Thomas Shey]

There’s a blurry moving line separating personal taste from actual fact.

But he's not wrong that a lot of discussion presents the first as the second, in some cases when it can't be anything but the first.

 

[Thomas Shey]

Meanwhile, I find it kind of boring to rehash the origins AGAIN. I was happy that they chose to bypass that for Tom Holland's run on Spider-Man.

I think its legitimate to suggest that every superhero movie having to start with an origin story has been done to death. I was not sad that they did that with Spider-Man or that they, effectively, speed-ran it in the opening credits in the first (or was it the second?) Hulk movie.

But that said, once you're doing an origin story you have to expect the character to be different than they'll be as a mature character, and I'm not sold people always understand the difference.

 

[Campbell]

Regardless of who your interpretation of Superman as a character is, the killing of Zod in Man of Steel is not murder nor does it make Clark into an antihero. He killed Zod in a fight in which Zod most definitely had the upper hand in defense of an entire planet. He also did it as a last resort after making every effort to reach out to Zod, to disable him. You don't have to like the story beats, but I don't think the actions Clark took were anywhere near Punisher level.

 

[billd91]

Yup. I personally think Cavill was a fine Superman who was not always handled as well as he could have been, but not nearly as badly as some people paint it. And I've arguably been at least a modest fan of the character for 60 years.

I think most people were OK with Henry Cavill's Superman - and less OK with the tone of the movies he's been Superman in. And that's a Zack Snyder thing. I've seen 6 of his films and I haven't really liked any of them much. 300 was probably the one I've come closest to kind of enjoying. Snyder is like my coconut of movie making. There are people out there who like his flavor, but definitely not me.

 

[Jd Smith1]

When choosing the "right system" for a game you wish to run, the most important question is often "what will put butts in chairs?" and not "does this fit what I want to do?"

I'm the exact opposite: I run the system I want to run, or nothing. So far, butts in chairs has not been a problem.

 

[Jd Smith1]

There’s a blurry moving line separating personal taste from actual fact.

Well, personal taste is a fact you the individual. The key is not to mistake it for a global reality.

Except in certain cases.

 

[Thomas Shey]

I think most people were OK with Henry Cavill's Superman - and less OK with the tone of the movies he's been Superman in. And that's a Zack Snyder thing. I've seen 6 of his films and I haven't really liked any of them much. 300 was probably the one I've come closest to kind of enjoying. Snyder is like my coconut of movie making. There are people out there who like his flavor, but definitely not me.

I can understand the objections to tone; it and its successors are dark movies in some ways and that's not typical for non-deconstructionist superhero stories.

I just don't think the suggestions of Snyder not understanding, or misrpresenting the character are particularly well founded. There's one egregious bit of business in MoS, and even there I think, while a mistake, I understand what Snyder was trying to do, and it wasn't an attempt to misrepresent the character (I think that's one spot where that failed, but that's a different statement).

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

It seems to me that you want Kal to be perfect and not have to learn how to be the paragon he becomes. I find that boring and bad storytelling.

"Don't kill people" isn't being a paragon -- it's being an average person.

And the way Clark got that way was just good parenting. It's certainly possible to show that dramatically -- there are tons of great works about parenting -- but it doesn't tend to need superheroics to get there.

A super character who has to be taught that murder is bad belongs in the Invincible universe, not in Smallville. No value judgements: It's simply a different character.