Man of Steel

I have one more to mark off the Summer Movie Wishlist. For Father's Day, it seemed appropriate to take Dale to see Superman...since he's the super hero in our family. And the movie was good...but the overall consensus on the drive home was the same. It was good...but not great.

I am really trying hard not to join in the whole Marvel vs DC debate. I am, admittedly, a Superhero Geek but this has nothing to do with hammers and iron suits vs capes and bats. This is all about the film...quality, style and for me, mostly the story. I loved all three Christopher Nolan Batman films and had very high hopes for this Superman that had Nolan's hands on it. Sadly, it didn't live up to the hype for me.

And there was a lot of hype! Time's Square was plastered with Superman's face. When I mentioned that those ads can't be cheap, Abbey said she'd read that $200 million had been spent on advertising alone. That's crazy! (Okay, I won't even venture into how many people could be fed with that money because I'd be hypocritical since we just spent money to see it!) Apparently, the movie has to make $1 billion before they can even consider a sequel. That amount almost makes me nauseous.

Refocusing...the special effects are super-b (that's superb...pun intended!) But we all agreed that it was a little bit of overload. Our 9 year old said, "I still like Captain America better. At least Marvel movies have a story." Ahhh...that's my girl! Don't get me wrong. It was still a good movie, but other than the styling and "darker" feel to it (ala Nolan), there was just nothing new here. And there it is...

Maybe the reason Marvel is so successful and preferred (at least in our family) is because of the unfamiliarity. They aren't the same old stories and characters being regurgitated by Hollywood for the tenth time since the 1980's. I guess in 30 years, maybe my kids or grandkids will be writing about how tired they are with the Iron Man remakes?

Overall, I give it a B+.


Trivia question: Diane Lane plays Clark Kent's earth mother in Man of Steel. In what movie does she have another Superman connection? (This one occurred to me about 3/4 of the way through the movie.)