Man of Steel (2013) or, Superman v Zod: Sunset of Destruction

11/24/2020

Man of Steel (2013) or, Superman v Zod: Sunset of Destruction

♥♥

Superman shoots for the sky on this animated poster for Zack Snyder's Man of Steel

Kal has been sent to Earth by his desperate parents to protect him from the destruction of evil ruler Zod. But evil finds him nevertheless, and his Kryptonite super-powers become necessary.

Man of Steel is a Superman franchise reboot written by David S. Goyer (Blade II (2002)), with story elements by Christopher Nolan (Following (1998)), based on the DC character by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster created in 1938, and directed by Wisconsinite master filmmaker Zack Snyder (Dawn of the Dead (2004)).

The film starts promising with grand drama on Krypton. For some reason many years then pass, before Zod attacks Superman and planet Earth. Michael Shannon (Dead Birds (2004)) gives Zod a raging edge, but the film is over-filled with exposition; story-setting dialog and uneven generalizations as well as a few jarring uses of expletives.

The CGI effects are impressive, even when product placements are obviously the driving motif for some of them, but Man of Steel worships major destruction to an unnecessary degree.

Henry Cavill (Night Hunter (2018)) is buff beyond reason, - and sexy too, - but as in the past the problem is that the empathetic and flawless Superman is simply not an exciting (or relatable) character. He is too smooth, too ... super. It doesn't help matters that Hans Zimmer's (Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011)) score, - drumming and industrial, - inevitably leads one's thoughts to Nolan's similarly dark but endlessly better three Batman spectacle pictures, which are forever linked to Zimmer's musical style.

Snyder does not manage here to refurbish the to some degree simply unmanageable Superman into the sensation that was needed.

Zack Snyder: Wonder Woman (2017) - Jenkins' idealistic, thrilling adventure is the best earnest superhero movie in years (story elements)

300: Rise of an Empire (2014) - Murro's off-putting 3D bore sequel (co-writer)

Dawn of the Dead (2004) - Snyder's great remake of Romero's classic

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 225 - 258 mil. $ (different reports)

Box office: 668 mil. $

= Box office success (returned between 2.58 - 2.96 times its cost)

[Man of Steel premiered 10 June (New York) and runs 143 minutes. Development began in 2008 in direct contention with the underwhelming Superman Returns (2006) by Bryan Singer. Shooting took place from August 2011 - January 2012 in British Columbia, including Vancouver, Illinois, including Chicago and in California. The film opened #1 to a 116.6 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another 2 weekends in the top 5 (#3-#5) and grossed 291 mil. $ (43.6 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were China with 63.4 mil. $ (9.5 %) and the UK with 46.1 mil. $ (6.9 %). According to Deadline.com the team behind the film had etched out 58 mil. $ in gross participation deals. The film reportedly earned 160+ mil. $ from promotional tie-in deals. And it made 119.4 mil. $ from domestic video sales. The film was nominated for a BAFTA, among other honors. Snyder returned with Cavill in even more successful sequel Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016). Before this Snyder directed short TV documentary Superman 75 (2013). Cavill returned first in The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015), Amy Adams (Serving Sara (2002)) in Her (2013); and Shannon in The Harvest (2013). Man of Steel is rotten at 56 % with a 6.22/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Man of Steel?

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Donald Sutherland has passed away

Born in Canada, Sutherland battled polio as a child. His first credit was in Suspense (1963, TV-series) and his first film was The Castle of the Living Dead (1964). Later credits in his remarkable career include The Saint (1965-66), The Dirty Dozen (1967), M*A*S*H (1970), Kelly's Heroes (1970), Klute (1971), Don't Look Now (1973), 1900 (1976), Casanova (1976), The Eagle Has Landed (1976), Ordinary People (1980), A Dry White Season (1989), JFK (1991), Outbreak (1995), Fallen (1998), Virus (1999), Fierce People (2005), Pride & Prejudice (2005), Lord of War (2005), The Hunger Games (2012), The Undoing (2020, miniseries) and many more. He passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Roger Corman has passed away

Born in Detroit, Michigan, Corman had a sprawling, intellectually hungry life as a youth and young man before arriving with his first film in 1955, Five Guns West. He would follow that with titles such as Apache Woman, It Conquered the World, Attack of the Crab Monsters, Teenage Cave Man, A Bucket of Blood, House of Usher, The Little Shop of Horrors, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Intruder, The Raven, The Terror, The Masque of Red Death, The Tomb of Ligeia, The Wild Angels, The Trip, Bloody Mama and many more. As a producer he was behind almost 500 films. Arguably among the most important filmmakers of the 20th century, Corman passed away at age 98. R.I.P.

William Friedkin has died

Born in Chicago, Friedkin accrued TV credits prior to his advance to the big screen as the director of Good TImes (1967), The Birthday Party (1968), The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) and The Boys in the Band (1970) before his major breakthrough, The French Connection (1971), for which he won his only Oscar. He followed it up with the even bigger smash, The Exorcist (1973), arguably the best horror film of all time, for which he was Oscar-nominated. Later credits include Sorcerer (1977), Cruising (1980), To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Rampage (1987), Rules of Engagement (2000), Killer Joe (2011) and The Devil and Father Amorth (2017, documentary). Friedkin passed away at age 87. R.I.P.

Louise Fletcher has passed away

Born in Alabama to deaf parents, Fletcher got her first credits in late-1950s TV-series.She took a 10 year-long sabbatical to devote her time to motherhood after the release of A Gathering of Eagles, but then came back and soon saw her career's most important part, as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), for which she won her sole Oscar. Later credits include Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), The Lucky Star (1980), Brainstorm (1983), Two Moon Junction (1988), Cruel Intentions (1999), A Perfect Man (2013) and many more. Fletcher passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Jean-Luc Godard has passed away

Born in Paris, France, Godard lived much of his life in Switzerland. He wrote for French film criticism magazine Cahiers du Cinema and became foundational for the New French Wave that inspired new waves in scores of other countries across the world with his Breathless (1960). Later credits include A Woman Is A Woman (1961), Vivre Sa Vie (1962), Le Petit Soldat (1962), Contempt (1963), Alphaville (1965), Pierrot le Fou (1965), 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (1967), Weekend (1967), Every Man for Himself (1980), King Lear (1987), Century of Cinema (1995, documentary), Goodbye to Language (2014) and many more. Godard died of assisted suicide at age 91. R.I.P.

Wolfgang Petersen has died

James Caan has died

Caan was born the son of Jewish immigrants from Germany in New York. He got his start on TV in the early 1960s. His credits include El Dorado (1966), The Rain People (1969), Brian's Song (1971, TV movie), The Godfather (1972), - for which he earned his only Oscar nomination, - Slither (1973), The Gambler (1974), Funny Lady (1975), Rollerball (1975), Silent Movie (1976), Hide in Plain Sight (1980), - the only film he also directed, - Thief (1981), Misery (1990), Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), Bottle Rocket (1996), Eraser (1996), Dogville (2003), Elf (2003), Las Vegas (2003-07), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) and many more. Caan passed away at age 82. R.I.P.

Jean-Louis Trintignant has died

Born in Vaucluse, France, Trintignant's theatrical debut as an actor was in If All the Guys in the World... (1955). Later credits include ...And God Created Woman (1956), The Seven Deadly Sins (1961), Inferno (1964), A Man and A Woman (1966), My Love, My Love (1967), A Man to Kill (1967), The Great Silence (1968), Z (1969), The Assassination (1972), Three Colors: Red (1994), Amour (2012), Happy End (2017) and many more. He also wrote and directed two films in the 1970s. Trintignant passed away at age 91. R.I.P.

Ray Liotta has died

Adopted from an orphenage at a young age, Liotta got hooked on acting in high school. He had various TV credits in the late 1970s and early 80s, with his film debut in The Lonely Lady (1983). Later credits include Something Wild (1986), Field of Dreams (1989), Goodfellas (1990), Cop Land (1997), Hannibal (2001), Blow (2001), Narc (2002), John Q (2002), Identity (2003), Observe and Report (2009), Youth in Revolt (2009), The Details (2011), Killing THem Softly (2012), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Shades of Blue (2016-18), The Simpsons (2018, TV-series), Marriage Story (2019), The Many Saints of Newark (2021), Black Bird (2022, TV-series) and many more. Liotta passed away at age 67 in his sleep while on production in the Dominican Republic. R.I.P.

Philip Baker Hall has died

Born in Ohio, Hall didn't start acting until he was 30. His long list of credits include Zabriskie Point (1970), Miami Vice (1987, TV-series), Midnight Run (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Cheers (1993, TV-series), Hard Eight (1996), The Rock (1996), Air Force One (1997), Boogie Nights (1997), Seinfeld (1991-98), Rush Hour (1998), The Insider (1999), Magnolia (1999), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Bruce Almighty (2003), Dogville (2003), The Zodiac (2005), Zodiac (2007), Curb Your Enthusiasm (2004-09), Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011), Modern Family (2011-12) and many more. Hall passed away at age 90. R.I.P.

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Eagerly anticipating this week ... (17-24)

11/24/2020

Man of Steel (2013) or, Superman v Zod: Sunset of Destruction

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Eagerly anticipating this week ... (16-24)

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