So, about those Man of Steel reviews...

[Ahnehnois]

Having finally scene it, I'm of the mind that it was decent, but not great, the negative reviews were largely off-base and missed some of the real problems, and it was probably about as good as it could be.

 

[Everett]

Yes, an explanation would be something like...Kryptonians could naturally see into the infrared, and had evolved organs in the ocular system to store and project infrared radiation to see in otherwise absolute darkness. Their version of echolocation, as it were.

Then, upon hitting Earth, those organs are just as supercharged as their muscles, etc.

I suppose if you want hard biological science, then no, that's not in the film; that would be a different movie. The evolution is suggested.

 

[Grumpy RPG Reviews]

How did Superman beat Zod?

Zod wanted to die at that point. It was suicide by Superman, or suicide by cop.

 

[Scrivener of Doom]

To be fair, those were classic Disney Villain Deaths, to the extent that, as a youngster, I did wonder whether the villains were, in fact killed, or if the Fortress was keeping them literally on ice somewhere in its depths.

Yeah, that's the way I always thought about that scene.

Zod wanted to die at that point. It was suicide by Superman, or suicide by cop.

Interesting.

 

[Everett]

To be fair, those were classic Disney Villain Deaths, to the extent that, as a youngster, I did wonder whether the villains were, in fact killed, or if the Fortress was keeping them literally on ice somewhere in its depths.

Apparently Zod's death wasn't what Richard Donner wanted, and the director's cut shows that Zod's still alive at the bottom of the pit, or something.

But I never saw the director's cut, and I don't see that it matters. In the film as it stood in the clip Morrus posted, Zod is toast. The hand-crush is brutal.

 

[MarkB]

Apparently Zod's death wasn't what Richard Donner wanted, and the director's cut shows that Zod's still alive at the bottom of the pit, or something.

But I never saw the director's cut, and I don't see that it matters. In the film as it stood in the clip Morrus posted, Zod is toast. The hand-crush is brutal.

Certainly, and I don't think Superman's killing of Zod in the current movie is wrong, or out-of-character. But there is a difference, perception-wise, between having the villain vanish into a fog-pit to some undefined probably-dead fate, and snapping the villain's neck on screen. I think it's alright to be bothered more by the latter than the former.

EDIT: What's with the gratuitous hypertexting of my post? Can I remove it?

 

[Everett]

Certainly, and I don't think Superman's killing of Zod in the current movie is wrong, or out-of-character. But there is a difference, perception-wise, between having the villain vanish into a fog-pit to some undefined probably-dead fate, and snapping the villain's neck on screen. I think it's alright to be bothered more by the latter than the former.

The world was a more innocent place then; Superman tossed Zod off with a wink and a smile. It's hard to imagine a 2013 film that looked back to the Chris Reeve days being at all successful.

I have no problem with the neck-snap; as has been pointed out, Zod wanted to die, and Superman wanted to kill him. Most likely, his murder of Zod will lead to him establishing his traditional "no killing" rule in the sequel. I have no issues with the film in toto, and I do think that people will learn to see it in a more positive light as time goes on.

 

[JamesonCourage]

Mainly by people who have clearly forgotten the end of Superman II where he casually executed a powerless Zod and showed no remorse whatsoever.

Not saying you're wrong (since that's certainly what it looks like in the movie cut), but the TV cut shows "arctic police" or something arresting the lot and taking them away. So I guess that bit was cut from the movie (implying their deaths). I just thought that was interesting.

 

[Grumpy RPG Reviews]

If we are talking about deleted scenes, then why not novelizations and comics the like as well? Because they are not part of the film shown on the scene and that should be taken as a single entity in its own right.

 

[sabrinathecat]

Well, I was without power last night thanks to a blown transformer (get your minds out of the gutter), so I went to see MoS. What a mess. Bad script, bad writing, bad directing, bad camera work, bad casting (the actor playing Zod seems to have some sort of speech impediment or affectation that just ruins some of his best moments), bad acting, bad editing, horrible soundtrack (that boat air-horn filtered through a synthesizer is way over-used in general, and quickly became annoying within this movie), and overall just plain dis-satisfying. The previews showed so much promise, but the actual movie is yet another missed opportunity. Copied way too many of the effects and techniques from other modern movies (ones that I hated), without putting anything really redeeming into them. Shoddy story logic. About the only effect that I liked was the eye-glow. Why is the symbol of life on Krypton a blackened burnt up skull? Why is putting this genetic matrix into Kal-El's body necessary? Doesn't he already have sperm? How can an Air-Force captain NOT Know what Terraforming is? If Lois can track down his secret identity, how can the Government of the United States NOT do the exact same thing?
Maybe DC should just stop making movies. Or maybe they should put Bruce Timm in change. They definitely need to get rid of Nolan and Snyder.
Man of Steel gets a D- for Disappointment and Delusional.