Spoilers Superman Spoiler Thread

[Benjamin Olson]

its still not better than the first Reeve movie, Reeve got Supermans depiction right and it was a Superman movie not Kal and his Super friends

Yeah, I don't know, I haven't seen it in a very long time. It certainly is more thoroughly a Superman movie, covers the origin story, and Reeves, in my book and many other people's, is the most Superman Superman who will ever Superman. And I saw that movie before I'd been exposed to any other Superman media so it is basically the gold standard of what it is supposed to be to me in many ways (setting aside that it took very little exposure to other Superman media for me to be bothered by how not particularly Lex Luthor-esque Gene Hackman's villain is).

But I do feel like this movie, for better and worse, captured more of the vibe of various eras of comics. Lots of superscience, and team-ups, and a Luthor who has nigh-unlimited tech, goons, and resources. At the very least it a lot more of the breadth of the franchise was covered (again, for better and worse).

I don't know. They're both pretty good movies in their ways and a lot of fun. So is Superman II (if your not bogged down in the director drama and can stomach some really weird made-up-for-convenience powers).

 

[Morrus]

its still not better than the first Reeve movie, Reeve got Supermans depiction right and it was a Superman movie not Kal and his Super friends

I still like Reeve best, but I'd argue that he got a depiction of Superman right. He is very different to many comic-book interpretations--it all depends on who is writing him (and when, I guess). I wouldn't say any of them are more accurate portrayals, but I'd agree that Reeve's sincerity and earnestness has a quality to it which has never been beaten.

 

[chuckdee]

I still like Reeve best, but I'd argue that he got a depiction of Superman right. He is very different to many comic-book interpretations--it all depends on who is writing him (and when, I guess). I wouldn't say any of them are more accurate portrayals, but I'd agree that Reeve's sincerity and earnestness has a quality to it which has never been beaten.

I think this is perfectly stated, and a thing that many miss. There isn't one perfect interpretation of Superman, because there isn't one version of Superman.

 

[Mannahnin]

I can see the concerns about how he in some ways seems upstaged, power-wise, by others in this movie. OTOH I agree that challenges like the kaiju were less about his power being limited and more about the dilemma of beating it while simultaneously not letting it kill anyone or destroy too much, and without killing it himself.

He did get a few extreme power show-off moments toward the end, in particular. Catching an entire skyscraper, beating his stronger clone once it didn't have super-fighting-game-expert Lex "piloting" it, and his heat vision absolute decimation of the raptors at the end despite their enormous numerical advantage.

Overall I think the movie walked the line pretty well on his sheer power and challenging it.

 

[Some Dude]

Worth noting that post-Crisis Superman had considerably reduced powers. From Superman's inception, his power level has fluctuated wildly over time.

Though we didn't get to see enough of Clark Kent in this, I think this movie did the best job of making them seem like two different people, and making them actually look different more than any previous film has.

 

[Necropolitan]

I really liked how the movie brought Superman back to his roots as a protector.

My only real complaint is having Superman's parents tell him to conquer Earth.

Superman was created by Jewish men to represent the Jewish immigrant experience, so having him be part of a Great Replacement conspiracy is really bad.

 

[Staffan]

beating his stronger clone once it didn't have super-fighting-game-expert Lex "piloting" it,

I think there's a cooler version of that victory, where Superman outsmarts Lex instead. Lex is giving verbal commands to Ultraman, which Ultraman then carries out. But that has a delay – Lex gives verbal commands to his minions and the minions forward them to Ultraman. That's like a second or two. So if Superman can figure out that 6K means "grab and throw" and 1A means "punch to the face", he can stay one step ahead and counter each move. Imagine playing a fighting game where your opponent has a 2-second delay between "pressing button" and "execute move".

 

[chuckdee]

I think there's a cooler version of that victory, where Superman outsmarts Lex instead. Lex is giving verbal commands to Ultraman, which Ultraman then carries out. But that has a delay – Lex gives verbal commands to his minions and the minions forward them to Ultraman. That's like a second or two. So if Superman can figure out that 6K means "grab and throw" and 1A means "punch to the face", he can stay one step ahead and counter each move. Imagine playing a fighting game where your opponent has a 2-second delay between "pressing button" and "execute move".

I would have liked that better, in all honesty. He was supposed to be outsmarting him with Krypto (that's the reason he said Brains over Brawn), but it wasn't really outsmarting him. It was bringing in a different chaos agent. That back and forth is best when Superman actually outsmarts him and Lex is like 'How?' rather than there being an external factor.

 

[Morrus]

I would have liked that better, in all honesty. He was supposed to be outsmarting him with Krypto (that's the reason he said Brains over Brawn), but it wasn't really outsmarting him. It was bringing in a different chaos agent. That back and forth is best when Superman actually outsmarts him and Lex is like 'How?' rather than there being an external factor.

It was outsmarting the clone not Lex. The drones were its ‘brains’ (as in Luthor was its brain) so by removing them he could then outsmart the clone in a fight.

 

[chuckdee]

It was outsmarting the clone not Lex. The drones were its ‘brains’ (as in Luthor was its brain) so by removing them he could then outsmart the clone in a fight.

Yeah, I would have preferred him outsmarting Lex at his own game.