Btw for anyone who still reads comics, was the evil Jor El tease in the back of Action Comics 1000 a fake out or legit? Like is that where this came from?
Yeah, yeah Mr. Oz aka evil Jor-El turned out to be a thing. He kidnapped Superman's son, took him to the future where he tortured him for 10 years, and then brought him back as a gay teenager. Fuck Bendis with a rusty stake from a wrought-iron fence. To the best of my knowledge, Jor-El is still evil? I unno.
Just saw the movie. I'm an old comics addict who was around to watch Superman III in the theaters, so I'll relay my thoughts. Spoilers follow:
Main thought: whoever said this was "too comic booky" was spot fucking on. I didn't hate any of the beats, really, but it felt too much like it had been ripped verbatim from a comic book script. You can't just *do* the things you do in your average comic book in a movie. You can't just shunt the entire staff of the Daily Planet into Mr. Terrific's sci-fi space ball for the final act and not have it look, feel, and just BE retarded. Yeah, kaiju pop up in comic books "just because" sometimes, but it's weird just having Lex release one as a distraction. Same with the background gag of city-sized interdimensional monster that Superman didn't give two shits about. I wish I could snatch up bits of this movie in a bubble and save them from the movie as a whole, which is actually largely how I felt about
Watchmen when I saw it.
Good:
Superman is Superman. Some of his dialogue is a bit off, like calling people "Dude." But trying to reason with villains? Saving people and animals during a fight? Wanting to take the nonlethal option when everyone else is there to kill? He feels like Superman should. I got the vibe of very specific scenes in actual comic books, like Superman shouting at Wonder Woman in
Kingdom Come "BUT YOU CAN'T HAVE A WAR WITHOUT PEOPLE DYING!" and the heroes stunned around him actually getting it that, "This guy is legitimately just a hopelessly naive optimist to the point of self-destruction."
I feel that I've never seen such good chemistry between Lois and Clark in any non-comic book iteration. I really and truly bought their relationship, and I enjoyed seeing them together. The actress made Lois competent without coming across as boss bitchy or shrewish. I actually found myself on her side during the interview they did, because she didn't ask any gotcha questions and Superman has always been simple when it comes to the complexities of human cruelty. “If you knew how you are loved, not one of you would raise a hand in rage again.”
Iffy:
The characterization and casting choices were mixed for me. Mr. Terrific is honestly the standout part of the movie. They made him a bit more street in his speech, but in a "cut through the bullshit" kind of I-can-back-up-my-arrogance way that actually didn't get grating. His fight scene was exactly what I was hoping for, and it was really cool seeing his spheres used tactically and aggressively. I'm shocked to say that, of all the heroes, I'm glad he's the one we see the most of. Fillion's just too damned old to play Guy Gardner. He had the attitude and the well-meaning shit stirring quality, but it's creepy seeing a 55 year old man strutting around dressed like a 25 year old character. Hawkgirl was... there. Same with Engineer. I liked Hoult as Lex, but I wish we had had more time to see him as asshole businessman Lex before immediately degrading into madman mad scientist supervillain power suit Lex (sans the power suit). Lex being the player calling out Ultraman's combat moves was actually kind of inspired, and it shows you how obsessive he is about their struggle. Neither the writers for Metamorpho nor the actor who played him have read a single thing about the character. It was bizarre seeing him just as this schlubby broken bitch. He's often dour and morose, sure, but the dude was a man's man treasure hunter and tomb raider. If I was an actual hardcore fan of the character, I would have been offended.
Bad:
This script needed about three more passes before it went to film. Starting with the 4 or 5 paragraphs of text was a shit idea. Show us wordlessly Superman mopping up an invading army. Then show him getting sucker punched by Ultraman. And utterly outclass Superman in the fight, because Superman relies on raw strength in this universe and hasn't had someone like Batman or Wonder Woman to learn actual fighting movies from. Then cut to Lex's command center. Go from there. I actually liked the "Hammer of Whatever" thing because it does a good job of catching you up to speed how Lex is constantly dicking with Superman in one way or another. Same with the kaiju distraction, but it should have been a robot or something less weird for the audience. Make it a Fleischer style not-Iron Giant for the reference, if you want. You could still get Superman worried about the possibility of AI sentience, and it would make Mr. Terrific's "fuck is wrong with you?" kind of reaction a bit more logical.
Fuck that dog. It's possible to show a willful, overly playful dog unaware of how dangerous his antics really are without making him an absolute and utter shit every second of the film. Holy God, I hated him by the end. He should have had an arc that started after his capture and torture, progressed with him actually trying to help during the escape, and ending on the Kent farm, with Pa or Ma getting him straightened out through a firm hand. You could have a beat of Clark shocked at the turnaround in behavior, and then a homespun moment of country wisdom about how "all dogs naturally want to be good, but they need a little help getting there just like the rest of us" or some bullshit. That should have been the last of his awfulness. His mauling of Lex at the end wasn't "funny." It was actually kind of terrifying and put me on Lex's side in the way watching how shitty the mutants were to normal people in the X-men movies made me think, "No shit these superbeings need to be monitored and regulated." On that note...
James Gunn does not understand the value of human life. I'm a bit torn on Ultraman's fate, but I'll buy it as Superman has famously killed people when he had no other choice, it was a mindless clone (as far as he knew), and he really was in a moment of desperation. That final fight where Superman just knocks a dude's teeth out, however, is wildly inappropriate for this movie. And the way he was just fucking mauling people in the fight after was insane. THOSE should have been robots. Same with Lex just straight up capping that dude in the head. Cut away or something when he does it, for fuck's sake man. It kind of worked as a joke, sure, but then to have Metamorpho immediately start blubbering about it and it being the thing that turns him around on helping at the risk of his own son's life just draws more attention to it. And speaking of Metamorpho, the scene where he just hits those goons full on in the face with acid was straight out of a horror movie and tonally wrong, especially since it ends with him being a jet-propelled head. God, James Gunn is fucking weird.
On the whole, while I find it deeply flawed, I didn't hate it. I also don't feel personally attacked like I have after watching every other comic book movie made in the last 5-10 years. I hope it does okay, because it could be a good first step. Thank you for reading my essay-length college thesis of a fucking comic book movie.
