#i mean like i get why it was jor-el the first movie was very much about fatherly expectations

[skylarmoon71]

Lex Luthor (Smallville) AU- Chapter 8

The first thing Lex recalled was the blistering cold. He really thought he’d gotten used to your speed. But he was still left in awe whenever you traveled at inhumane speeds. Standing out in the snow, staring at the glass structure in the distance, it was hard to believe such a thing existed.

You glanced at him.

“No matter how many times we come here, you always look the same.”

You were smiling at him so fondly.

“I’ve been here before?”

You nod.

“For my birthday I brought you here. You wanted to know everything. Past, present and future. I kept thinking that would be the breaking point. That you would finally decide it was too much and just leave. But you never did. You just looked at me. Kind of like the way you are looking at me right now..”

Like you were the purest being he ever met and he’d fight titans to keep you safe? Surely you couldn’t read his mind. He needed to work on keeping his feelings more hidden.

You cleared your throat, looking ahead. An action he noticed you’d been doing a lot lately. Whenever you catch yourself in these moments, you seem to make a habit of pulling away. Lex didn’t confront you. He would have time for that after the both of you figured out what entity was apparently after him.

He followed your lead, eyes scanning each pillar that crossed his view. When you both walked into the entrance, you were on a mission. You moved to the center, right next to an area with an assortment of crystals that were arranged right at your feet. You reached in, pulling one of them as a glow emitted.

“I’m here. Jor-El.” You sound furious, for good reason.

“Kal-El.”

The echo was not what Lex expected, but at this point, nothing should surprise him.

“What did you do Jor-El!! Why is someone after Lex, why does he have memories of a different reality!!”

“You seem sure that these are the workings of me.”

“I know it’s you!!”

“You are the only Kryptonian on earth Kal-El. I am the will of Jor-El, but there are certain boundaries even I cannot breach. The culprit you seek is right in front of you. You just refuse to see it.”

You take a step back. This wasn’t making any sense.

“What does that mean?!”

“You are human as much as you are Kryptonian. Your emotions in situations reflect your humanity. When faced with the prospect of losing someone you love, is it not safe to assume you reacted irrationally.”

“Me…”

A flash of light erupted from the ground. You stare at what looks like a memory playing right in front of you.

It was Lex’s accident, playing in real time just like a movie.

“Is that?” Lex stepped closer to you as you both stared.

You could see it, Lex’s car that had been flipped. You could see the blood running down his forehead. Morgan Edge had walked out of his car, that sinister grin on his lips.

“You should mind your own business Luthor.” He lifted the gun, and your breath staggered.

“LEX!!”

It echoed right in front of you, and a glow, followed by an explosion went off right before your eyes. Morgan’s body was thrown back, and you gaped at the visual of you rushing to get Lex out of the car. You ripped off the handle, pulling him out.

Right at the point that you had cleared, both cars exploded. You’d been so focused on shielding Lex. By the time you turned back, there was nothing but rubble from the flames.

The visual disappeared almost instantly.

Even after you’d seen it, you still couldn’t grasp what happened.

“I did this..”

This wasn’t some test from Jor-El, but your guilty conscience manifested.

Lex however was alarmed when he saw the very same symbol appear on one of the crystals above his head.

“(Y/N)...(Y/N) we need to get out of here, that symbol!!”

Your eyes turned to him, and he could practically feel the pain from your expression.

Lex’s face fell.

“No..NO!! This isn’t your fault you hear me!! I don’t care what my life was before! I’m staying here with you!! This is where I’m supposed to be!!” He shook your shoulders in hopes that it would snap you out of this guilt.

Regret.

But the light above his head sparked. The symbol becomes clearer. A tear dropped down your cheek.

“I’m sorry Lex…”

“(Y/N)!!!!”

The space ignited with an explosion of light, once faded, nothing was left.

[davidmann95]

How about those JL storyboards?

In case you haven’t heard, Zack Snyder is putting on display the ‘storyboards’ - i.e. a rough plot summary accompanied by some Jim Lee sketches - for what would have been Justice League 2 and 3, or as this puts it 2 and ‘2A’. You can see them here (I imagine better-quality versions will soon be released), and read a transcript here. This is evidently a very early version: this was apparently pitched prior to the release of BvS and Justice League being rewritten in the wake of it, with numerous plot details that now don’t line up with what we know about the Snyder Cut, plus it outright mentions it builds on the originally planned versions of the Batman and Flash movies. But it’s a broad outline of what was gonna go down, and while I initially thought it was Snyder throwing in the towel, the timing - paired with the ambiguity left by the necessity for changes, including that this doesn’t factor whatever that “massive cliffhanger” at the end of the Cut is - says to me he’s hoping this’ll be a force multiplier behind efforts to will sequel/s into existence. He’s probably right.

I’ll be discussing spoilers below, but in short: with this Zack Snyder has finally lived up to Alan Moore, in that like Twilight of the Superheroes I wouldn’t believe this was real as opposed to a shockingly on-point parody if not for direct, irrefutable evidence.

Doing some rapid-fire bullet points for this baby to kick us off:

* Folks who know the subject say a lot of this is a yet further continuation of Snyder doing Arthuriana fanfic with the League reskinned over those major players, and I’ll take their word for it.

* I don’t know whether I love or hate that in Justice League 2 the Justice League are only an extant thing for the first scene, and then it’s Snyder giving everybody their own mini-movies. It’s compressing the entire MCU “loosely interconnected solo stories leading to a single big movie later” strategy into a single movie!

*  Funniest line in the whole thing: "Even Lantern has heard of the Kryptonian, worried that he's under the control of Darkseid. He heard his spirit was unbreakable." Hal what fuckin' Superman movie did YOU watch? Second funniest being “IT WILL GIVE HIM POWER OVER ALL LIVING LIFE”

* 90% of the plot I have nothing to say about, it’s generic stage-setting crap. That to be clear is the ‘shocked it’s Snyder’ element, it feels so crassly commercial in a way I can’t believe is coming from the BvS guy.

* Most of what I have to say is unsurprisingly gonna be about a handful of characters but Cyborg’s happy ending being “he isn’t visibly disabled anymore!” is not great!

* The Goddess of War battle with Superman...never pays off? No clue why it’s there.

* What I’d originally heard was that the Codex in Superman’s blood was the last key to the Anti-Life Equation and that’s why Darkseid was coming to Earth. It’s not like all of this wouldn’t have already been averted by Kal-El’s pod smacking into an asteroid on the way to Earth so it’s not as if this makes it any more Superman’s fault, and it would have at least tied all this back to the beginning of the movies, but I suppose that was either fake or from a later draft.

* I have NO idea how this was reimagined without the ‘love triangle’, it’s the central character thing and the entire climax flows directly out of it!

* Darkseid’s kinda a chump in this, huh

Anonymous said: So: Does Zack Snyder hate Superman?

Look: the hilarity of this when Cuck Kent has been a go-to Snyder cult insult towards ‘inferior’ takes on Superman for years cannot be understated, yet at the same time I can almost wrap my brain around where Snyder’s coming from with that as the end for his take on the character. He talked in that Variety piece on how his interest in Superman is informed by having adopted children himself, and Deborah Snyder is the stepmother to his kids by previous relationships, so I can see where he’d be coming from, and I can even imagine how he’d see this as ‘rhyming’ in the sense of “the series begins with Kal-El being adopted by Earth, it ends with him adopting a child of Earth!” In the same way as MARTHA, I can envision how he would put these pieces together in his head thematically without registering or caring what the end result would actually look like. In this case, Superman raising the kid of the man who beat the shit out of him who Batman had with Clark’s wife, who earlier told Bruce she was staying with Clark because he ‘needed her’, suggesting if inadvertently that this really honest to god was a “she’s only staying with Superman out of pity, she really loved Batman more” thing.

But Clark is nothing in this. He’s sad and existential because of coming back from the dead I guess, then he’s corrupted, then time’s undone and he woo-rah rallies the collective armies of the world (interesting angle for the ‘anti-military/anti-establishment’ Superman he’s talked up as) as his big heroic moment in the finale, and then he stops being sad because he’s adopting a kid. So his big much-ballyhooed, extremely necessary five-movie character arc towards truly becoming Superman was:

Sad weird kid -> sad weird kid learns he’s an alien, is still weird and sad, maybe he shouldn’t save people because things could go really wrong? -> his dad is so convinced it could go wrong he lets himself die -> ????? -> Clark is saving people anyway -> learns his origin, gets an inspiring speech about being a bridge between worlds and a costume -> becomes superman (not Superman, that’s later) to save the world, albeit a very property-damagey version, rejects his heritage he just learned about and space dad’s bridge idea -> folks hate him being superman and that sucks though at least he’s got a girlfriend now -> things go so wrong he considers not being superman but his ghost dad reminds him shit always goes wrong so he should be good anyway, which sorta feels like it contradicts his previous advice -> immediate renewed goodness is out the window as he’s blackmailed into having to try and kill a dude but the dude happens to coincidentally have some things in common so they don’t kill each other after all -> big monster now but superman keeps supermaning at it because he loves his girlfriend and he dies -> he’s brought back, wears black which apparently means now he likes Krypton again? -> he has work friends now but he’s still sad because he was dead -> evil now! -> wait nevermind time travel -> rallies the troops -> his wife’s having a kid so he’s not sad anymore -> Superman! Who gives way to more Batman.

Do I think Zack Snyder is lying when he says he likes Superman? No. I think he sincerely finds much of the basic conceits and imagery engaging. But I don’t think he meaningfully gives shit about Clark as a character, just a vessel for Big Iconic Beats he wants to hit. Whereas while for instance he’s critical of Batman as an idea (at least up to a point), he’s much more passionately, directly enamored with him as a presence and personality. So while Superman may be the character whose ostensible myth cycle or arc or however it’s spun might be propelling a lot of events here, it’s a distant appreciation - of course the other guy takes over and subsumes him into his own narrative. Of course Batman is the savior, the past and the future (though if he’s supposed to be Batman’s kid raised by Superman there’s no excuse for him not to be Nightwing), the tragic martyr to our potential. Admittedly the implication here is also that Batman can apparently only REALLY with his whole heart be willing to sacrifice his life to save an innocent, for that matter apparently his great love, once said innocent is a receptacle for his Bat-brood, but he and Clark are both already irredeemable pieces of shit by the end of BvS so it’s not like this even registers by comparison.

Anonymous said: That “plan” Snyder had was utter dogshit. Picture proof that DC & WB hate Superman. Also I love how you’re like Jor-El: Every single idealistic take you had about Snyder, his fandom, and BvS was wrong. Snyder’s an edgy hack, his fanbase just wants to jerk off to their edgy self-insert Batgod as he screams FUCK while mowing people down with machine guns, and the idea that BvS said Superman was better than Bats was completely wrong. You know what comes next SuperMann: Either you die or I do.

In the final analysis, beyond that mother of god is there sure no conceivable excuse for the treatment of Lois in this? The temptation is to join that anon and say as I originally tweeted that these were “built entirely to disabuse every single redemptive reading of the previous work and any notion of these movies as nuanced, artistic, self-reflective, or meaningful”.

...

...

...yeah, okay, that’s mostly right. Zack Snyder’s vision really was the vision of an edgelord idiot with bad ideas who was never going to build up to anything that would reframe it all as a sensible whole. He’s a sincere edgelord genuinely trying really hard with his bad ideas who put some of them together quite cleverly! But they’re fucking bad and the endgame was never anything more than ramping up into smashing the action figures together as big as he could, the political overtones and moral sketchiness of BvS while trying to say something in that movie reverberated through the grand scheme of his pentalogy in no way beyond giving his boys a big sad pit to rise out of so when they kicked ass later it’d rule harder, and all the gods among men questions and horror and trappings were only that: trappings. Apparently he’s really pleasant and well-meaning in person, but at his core his art as embodied in a couple weeks in his 4-hour R-rated Justice League movie meant to be seen in black-and-white all comes down to that time he yelled at someone on Twitter that he couldn’t appreciate Snyder’s work because it’s for grown-ups. He made half-clever, occasionally exciting shit cape movies for a bunch of corny pseudo-intellectual douchebags, folks latching onto and justifying blockbusters that at least acknowledge how horrifying the world is right now even if the superheroes are basically useless in the face of it if not outright part of the problem until a convenient alien invasion shows up to justify them, and a handful of non-asshole smart people who vibe with it but...well. ‘Suckered’ is a harsh word, and definitely doesn’t apply to all of them re: what they’ve gotten out of it up to this point and would (somehow) get out of this. But it doesn’t apply to none of them, either.

[aion-rsa]

Superman & Lois Reveals the Truth About Morgan Edge’s Krypton Plan

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

This article contains Superman & Lois episode 10 spoilers.

Superman & Lois Episode 10

Superman & Lois episode 10, “O Mother, Where Art Thou” picks up literally at the moment where we left the show last week, with Morgan Edge revealing to Superman that he’s not only a Kryptonian, but that he may very well be his brother. There was just enough ambiguity in that reveal to leave us wondering if Edge meant it metaphorically or literally, but as this episode explains, he really did mean it. If nothing else, he is biologically the half-brother of Kal-El.

But that’s somehow not even close to the biggest thing that went down in this episode of Superman & Lois, so let’s get down to it…

Tal-Ro and Zeta-Ro 

Just to get this out of the way up front, as far as I can tell, neither Tal-Ro (Morgan Edge’s Kryptonian name) or Zeta-Ro (his father) are names from the pages of DC Comics. In fact, the concept of Superman having a literal biological half-brother like this, one that doesn’t involve any kind of fakeout (or a dream/hoax/imaginary story) is completely new.

Lara Lor-Van

But, it’s important to note that the show points out one key difference between Lara’s previous family and the one she started with Jor-El later on. Lara (while in the body of Lana Lang) explains that she had been “genetically matched” with Zeta-Ro, and Tal-Ro was their offspring. She makes it a point to mention that she fell in love with Jor-El and “gave birth” to Kal-El. Why is this significant? 

When John Byrne rebooted the Superman comics in 1986 (before “reboot” was a word we all threw around a lot), one of the key changes he made to the mythology was making Krypton a society seemingly devoid of love, and one that had possibly even moved beyond the pursuit of sex as the primary means of reproduction (let alone recreation). Partners were matched based on their genetic compatibility to produce the most suitable offspring, and children were conceived and carried to term in a kind of high tech birthing matrix. Jor-El and Lara were unique in that they actually fell in love, and their love influenced their decision to send baby Kal-El away.

Sound familiar? There were elements of this in Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel movie. But that film took it a step further, where Jor-El and Lara conceived Kal the old-fashioned (and more fun) way, and Lara gave birth to him in the traditional manner, as well. So just the shift in those couple of words in Lana/Lara’s exposition points out the fact that while yes, Edge may technically be Superman’s half-brother, it doesn’t quite carry the same weight.

Nature vs. Nurture

Ah, the tale as old as time in Superman stories. Is a potentially all-powerful Kryptonian inherently good, or only as good as the environment in which they are raised?

But this episode takes it a step further. It isn’t that Tal-Ro was raised by an evil version of the Kents, it’s simply that he ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time, and only saw humanity’s less noble characteristics. Again, it’s subtle, but it’s a hint that in Superman’s world, nobody is truly beyond redemption…although Edge sure is making a solid case for himself in that regard. Jerk.

The Eradicator

So, it turns out that the secret ingredient to Edge’s infusing of Kryptonian souls/consciousness into human bodies was something called the Eradicator. What is the Eradicator? Folks, I sure am glad you asked!

The Eradicator was arguably the single most important macguffin in Superman comics (if not all of DC Comics) from the late ‘80s through at least the mid-90s. It’s a millennia old device that was created to preserve Kryptonian culture, albeit with the “eradication” of others. Uh-oh.

The Eradicator survived the destruction of Krypton and eventually came into Superman’s possession, and the device decided it should protect Krypton’s last survivor…sometimes by trying to turn Earth into New Krypton (whoops) and other times by altering Superman’s mind to make it more Kryptonian (double whoops), and ultimately by evolving into a humanoid form that looked like Superman after the Man of Steel perished at the hands of Doomsday (ok, that part’s understandable).

It’s serving a pretty similar purpose here, this time with the added bonus of having been corrupted by Zeta-Ro. Between that and the fact that Edge is basically carrying on the Eradicator’s comics mission for it, I have to wonder if we’re headed for a scenario where Edge merges with the device and basically becomes the Arrowverse equivalent of the humanoid Eradicator/Krypton Man/what have you down the road.

Although it’s pretty cool that this thing is going to be housed in the Fortress for a while, and that opens up other story possibilities.

The Solar Flare

Admittedly, the how and why Superman’s solar flare is able to help “fix” all the Smallville residents who were housing Kryptonian souls is a little fuzzy. But it IS the first time we’ve seen this particular power used in any media outside the comics.

Superman is often described as a living solar battery. All of his powers are a result of his cells absorbing solar radiation like they’re batteries, and as long as he’s in proximity to a yellow sun, it’s basically an inexhaustible power supply. Almost all of his powers are manifestations of that solar power in some way, with perhaps heat vision being the most tangible representation of it.

But in recent Superman comics, it was revealed that when necessary, Clark can release all that excess solar energy stored in his body in one massive blast. When he does, he’s out of gas for days or weeks, but it can be done where necessary. I have to appreciate how it wasn’t used as a video game special attack for a boss fight here, and was instead used in a healing capacity. Good lord, this show gets it.

The Fortress of Solitude…and Another One?

This is why at the end of the episode we see Superman crawling to the Fortress, clutching the Eradicator like a football. He used the last of his power to get there, and he’s so weak he can barely walk. Cut to Morgan Edge and Leslie Larr…

…who appear to have a Fortress of Solitude of their own, this one in the desert. It’s kind of cool that these Kryptonian fortresses always seem to have an elemental quality to them. How much do you wanna bet that Edge’s fortress is powered by the stolen Kryptonian sunstone crystal that houses Lara’s knowledge and memories?

Metropolis Mailbag

And none of the above even gets into all the other great bits in the episode! 

Another standout episode for the Kent sons, particularly Jonathan, who once again shows that he doesn’t need powers to be an awful lot like his Dad.

Or what about that genuinely chilling performance from Erik Valdez?

Or the introduction of Dabney Donovan to the Arrowverse! Another Jack Kirby creation joins Morgan Edge…this guy is one to watch if you know the comics.

Tyler Hoechlin spent more time in costume in this episode than several other episodes combined, and I can now safely say that nobody has embodied the character this perfectly since Christopher Reeve. It was all about the quieter moments, particularly his chat with Lana.

Speaking of quieter moments (and Lana), Elizabeth Tulloch and Emmanuelle Chriqui’s heartbreaking scene when Lana volunteers for the Eradicator process sure was something, wasn’t it?

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Got any questions about this momentous episode of Superman & Lois? Spot some deep Superman lore that we missed? Let us know in the comments!

The post Superman & Lois Reveals the Truth About Morgan Edge’s Krypton Plan appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3cJV5iZ

[jupitermelichios]

Smallville S2E23: Exodus

Nothing happens in this episode and then everything happens. Pacing!

Also Lex gets married off screen becuase the writers are wildly misled about which characters their audience is invested in.

Credit to Tom Welling, for 2002 that is some pretty decent screaming at nothing in the hope that it will make sense once the CGI is added in.

So we open with Jor-El speaking to Clark, giving the standard ‘reject the puny humans and join with me’ kryptonian bullshit, and as part of that he makes projections of Lana and the Kents, and a) he made the Lana projection significantly shorter than Kristen Kruek, and b) instead of just turning off the projection when he’s done with it he uses an effect I can only describe as ‘I don’t feel so good Mr El’

Okay on the one hand angry cupboard sex doctor is 100% justified in being angry at Lex admitting he broke into her office at the beginning of the season, but god damn it their relationship was one of the only compelling things in this fucking show!

Two horses. Lana has two horses again. Did she retrieve the one she left in the graveyard in the first episode?! Did she retrieve one of the many many others that fell into plot holes and disappeared between seasons? Although one of them is piebald, and I’m certain we’ve never seen a piebald horse before, so maybe she went and bought one to replace the last eight she abandoned

Oh god, they just made it really explicit the only person Lex has to take relationship advice from is professional sex pest Clark Kent, no wonder he fucked shit up with angry cupboard sex doctor.

Lionel and Clark are completely alone, in an underground cave, and Lionel still feels the need to whisper all his lines, just for the drama of it. God I love Lionel Luthor.

Oh wow, Chloe is wearing a pale pink Cheongsam over flared jeans, which is the single most 2000 thing I have even seen in my life.

So Jor-El is A Lot in this, and his idea of a compelling argument for why Clark should renounce his human family and take over the world is to levitate Clark and burn the superman logo into his chest with lazers, right across his nipples. Which is certainly an arguement.

Ugh I hate that I’m rooting for Lex and angry cupboard sex doctor even though I know Lex is going do a full villain heel-turn any time now, but I’m so fucking invested at this point and there is literally nothing else in this barren wasteland of a show for me to care about, so fuck it, I’m rooting for them anyway

In order to get both Clark’s shiny new superman scar and Pete’s face into shot at the same time, that shot was framed like Pete is thinking about licking Clark’s nipples, which was a Choice

Pete is 100% going to grow up to be the kind of asshole who writes op eds about how anyone can own property if they just try because he inherited a house at sixteen and got a 6 figure salary thanks to nepotism and if lazy poor people tried harder they could do the same

“There’s something I have to do, I can’t tell you what just know it’s for our future” then followed up a “I just want to remember this moment”. I’m assuming Lana now thinks Clark is going on a killing spree, because that’s the kind of thing people only say in movies before they go on killing sprees and/or hand themselves over to the bad guys to be murdered, and tragically Clark cannot be murdered yet because no one evil knows about the kryptonite thing

I hate Jonathan Kent so much but also I am so invested in Lex getting father figures so this whole Jonathan giving him a Kent family traditional wedding gift thing has me very torn

Jesus fuck I hate Chloe Sullivan. She’s apparently shocked and betrayed that Clark IS INTO LANA. We are two fucking seasons into this sickening bullshit and instead of just being sad that the dude she likes is dating someone else, she’s furious and screaming at him that he betrayed her trust. By fancying the person he’s been consistently into since he was like 3 years old

FFS Lex’s fucking wedding happens off screen so we can spend more time on Clark’s absolute fucking bullshit. Oh, and Clark missed his best friend’s wedding. The wedding at which he was supposed to be best man. Because he’s the absolute worst person in the world

So in literally less than 30 seconds with almost no build up, Clark blew up his entire house in an attempt to murder the tech-ghost of his dead bio-dad, nearly killed his parents in a car crash, and caused his mom to have a miscarriage. The rest of the episode is filler with a tiny bit of relationship drama. You know, like a well paced episode of TV!

On that theme, WHAT THE FUCK WAS THE POINT OF THE PREGNANCY SUBPLOT?!!!!!! It’s taken up so much fucking time in this season and the pay off was meaningless. Martha could have had a concussion and it would have achieved the exact same thing without the need for that complete culdesac of a subplot!

So after we skip the wedding entirely, because it’s not like we’ve had five or six episodes build up, we cut to Lex and angry cupboard sex doctor on their private jet drinking champagne on their way to the honey moon, and firstly the editing implies this is happening at the same time as the house blowing up and holy shit I think that might be a record for the quickest wedding ever (and apparently they didn’t bother with a reception), and secondly it’s framed like she’s poisoned Lex and I have absolutely no fucking idea why she would do that

Okay so after the weird “I’m going to do something terrible but it’s for us” dialogue Lana turns up to find Clark standing in the exploded ruins of his house. And then he tells her he did this. And at no point does it occur to her that Clark was clearly making explosives in the basement. I mean, he wasn’t doing that, but literally all evidence points to that. But she’s just like ‘no clark, how could you possibly have caused a massive explosion that’s not a thing humans can do’

So Chloe’s teamed up with Lionel because she’s sad about the shock reveal that when Clark said he fancied Lana he wasn’t lying, and just in case we didn’t realise this was a villain heel-turn, they’ve dressed her in all black, with twice as much make-up as normal, and also made her hair all spikey in a style we haven’t seen since the red kryptonite episode. Subtlety!

Holy shit we’re getting a drug addiction subplot. Why the fuck are we getting a drug addiction subplot?! Who on the writing staff thought they were competent enough to handle that, because whoever it was was so very very wrong

Okay time out, how the fuck tall is Kristen Kruek?! Because over the course of this episode she’s been the same height as Tom Welling, taller than him, barely come up his his nipples, and about a head shorter. I need answers, right the fuck now!

So Clark just dosed himself up on red kryptonite, stole a motobike, and noped the fuck out of the show. Is it too much to hope that he doesn’t come back and the show just continues on without him because I would honestly be so up for that. Chloe and Lana could go back to being cute sisters instead of fighting over a man barely worth spitting for never mind throwing hands with your best friend, the Kents could adopt Lex and then when he’s had some father-son bonding time Lex could then have Jonathan quietly murdered, Martha could marry Lionel… There’s literally no downsides to cutting Clark out of the show.

Okay so apparently angry cupboard sex doctor drugged Lex, waited until the plane was in the air and then she and the pilots fucking parachute jumped out the plane leaving Lex to crash into the ocean and die and like, him stealing medical files from her was fucked up, but I really don’t feel like it was fucked up enough to warrant going full Bane!

[talking-head-productions]

Fixing the DCEU (sorry, the “Worlds of DC”) With Time Travel. Part 3.

Part 1: https://talking-head-productions.tumblr.com/post/175546007365/talking-head-productions-so-if-i-ever-get-to-go

Part2 :https://talking-head-productions.tumblr.com/post/175627276065/if-i-go-back-in-time-part-2-i-realized-that-were-i

What more could I possibly have to say? Well... I realized that many of the problems with the current group of films originated with the very first one. I said I would leave that one intact, only going back and changing from BvS onward. But now it seems like it would make more sense to start from the beginning.

So, much like Wonder Woman, I don't want to change everything. The overall plot of Man of Steel was pretty good: Clark Kent, having grown up knowing he was different due to his alien heritage, finds a piece of that alien heritage on Earth and, because of what it reveals to him, decides to become Superman. Before he can reveal himself to the world, however, General Zod and the last of the survivors from Krypton arrive, demanding the humans hand over Kal-El. Whether the humans cooperate or not, Zod plans to terraform the planet and colonize it. Superman decides that he has to surrender himself to the humans' judgment in order to better gain their trust. They hand him over to Zod, but he eventually breaks free, and then makes it his mission to stop Zod, with the help of the humans of course. And he does, sending the Kryptonian ship and its crew back to the Phantom Zone for all eternity, but Zod is left on Earth and is now full of rage. Superman doesn't know how to fight, and Zod has all the same powers as him; the only way he can think of to stop Zod is to kill him. Against his own wishes, Superman snaps Zods neck, saving the day for real... but at a cost.

Again, that is a pretty good plot. It's the specifics that really bog it down.

So I've compiled a list of changes I would make to Man of Steel, in more or less chronological order:

Right away, I'm axing that entire sequence that takes place on Krypton. That's like a half hour just gone, but it's not a problem. All of the plot points from that section get reiterated later in the film anyway. Now, the more 'mystery' type elements will actually work, allowing the audience to learn things as Clark does.

That means that the film will start off with Clark on the boat. However, it's not a crabbing boat, it's a fishing trawler, in the sea west of Greenland. Now, a quick bit of googling/wikipedia hunting reveals that most of Greenland's fishing operations are in the southwest area of the country. But the northwest area is a good place to set up a fictional oil rig, and if a small-time fishing boat looking give the competition a wide berth were to move further north than usual, they'd be in the perfect spot to go to that rig should it suffer an emergency. As for why all this is important, it's because in the original film Clark left the boat to help an oil rig- but it seemed to be on Canada's west coast, putting him extremely far from Ellesmere Island, which is where the Kryptonian scout ship was located. And before you ask “wouldn't it be easier to change the ship's location”- the answer is no. Ellesmere is in the extreme middle-north of  Canada, near Greenland and almost at the North Pole. It is the furthest north you can actually go in Canada, about as remote as you can get, and that makes it the perfect place for the scout ship to be found. So, Clark on a fishing boat off the west coast of  Greenland, they go to help a collapsing oil rig, Clark does his heroic rescue, then washes up on the east coast of Canada not too far south of Ellesmere. Follow so far?

After washing ashore, rather than stealing clothes off some poor sod's clothesline (seriously though, who in Canada would be drying their clothes outside like that? Wouldn't they get frozen stiff?), Clark instead finds a local donation box where people have dropped off clothes for charity. I'm sure you've seen the type, they're usually big and yellow and sitting right next to a church. At least, in the US they are. Canada probably has them, too, and even if they don't, I'm sure only the Canadians will know or care (I don't mean to be rude, Canada is still awesome!). Anyway, Clark pulls some raggedy but passable clothes out of the bin like a good homeless person, and then decides to pan handle a bit because what the hell else is he gonna do? No ID, no wallet. No real choice.

Somebody drops a few bills into Clark's money hat, so he goes to the local dive to get something to eat. There, he flirts with the waitress, but nicely, and mentions to her that he's heading north, because that just feels like the right direction. One of the other customers mentions that he's been contracted to do some infrastructure out on Ellesmere, and offers Clark both a ride north and even a job, if he's actually willing to work. Clark accepts, the man leaves- and then the waitress Clark was talking to gets harassed by another customer. Clark tries to intervene, but the guy's a local, so he gets Clark thrown out. Clark is about to leave- when he notices the guy's fancy new pickup. Cue the smirk, and the scene-cut to later when the asshole comes outside to see his Chevy crumpled into a ball.

After that, the next big difference is that Lois Lane isn't the only press person on Ellesmere, and all of the press are herded into a big tent and only given an 'official' story, which Lois immediately knows is bullshit. That night, she goes outside to secretly take photos of the excavation and have a look around- when she notices Clark sneaking away and decides to follow him. The rest of that scene plays out more or less the same, except for one thing- the scout ship emits a pulse after it takes off, a pulse that travels into space...

After that, we get some similar-to-the-original scenes of Clark speaking to Jor-El's hologram and learning how to fly, while Lois tracks his path from Ellesmere all the way back to Smallville. Oh, and for those who are not aware, most modern versions of DC lore have the Daily Planet not be a simple newspaper. It has television portions and sometimes even a website. That will hold true here, with Perry White just being the old-fashioned guy who runs the print portion of the company and is under constant pressure from his superiors to actually, you know, turn a profit. He's barely making it, which is why he's hard on Lois for not doing her job.

Back to Supes, he returns home to Smallville and tells Martha that he's found out where he came from and all that. Then Lois shows up, and in an effort to get her to drop the story, Clark takes her aside and says that this isn't her story to tell. If he has to be exposed to the world, it should be on his terms. He tells her that his father died from a medical condition, something Clark could do nothing about, and on his deathbed Jonathan Kent told Clark to figure out what kind of man he wanted to be before he revealed himself. Clark hasn't quite done that yet, he's only just discovered where he came from.

Lois listens to all this and still thinks that she should publish an article about him, because she's a hardcore journalist who isn't immediately head-over-heels for a guy just because he's hot and happened to save her life. As a last ditch effort, Clark reminds her that she kind of owes him for saving her life, causing her to reluctantly agree to wait... so long as she gets an exclusive interview with him when he does.

When Zod arrives, he doesn't bother contacting the humans, believing them to be lesser creatures. Instead, he and his crew fly directly down to Kal-El, being capable of tracking him from orbit. Thus the Smallville fight happens a bit earlier. And after Superman fights them off, the human military surrounds him and he surrenders to them as a show of humility and trust. The military then beams a simple message to Zod's ship, letting the Kryptonians know they have Kal-El and are willing to hand him over. Thus, the dropship collecting him. Lois does not go with them.

Before the dropship collects him, Superman asks the military people if he can speak to Lois. They're hesitant, but he says that he could just leave, so they agree and bring her in. She gets her interview, and she does wonder out loud if she should go into space, but Supes says no. Instead, he hands her the Kryptonian key and says to take it with her to Smallville. She'll figure out what she's supposed to do once she's there.

Up on the Kryptonian ship, Zod imprisons Kal-El, uses the mind-meld thing to learn about him, and then mocks him with Earth's impending doom, before leaving with a parting shot that reveals he killed Jor-El, which is a surprise because, hey, we weren't shown it in the first thirty minutes. Zod tells his subordinates to lower the ship into Metropolis, a location of great importance in Kal-El's mind, then takes a dropship and leaves. He tells his soldiers that he's going to pay respects to an old friend.

So, no World Engine in the Indian Ocean, Superman is literally right there but he's weak because of the Kryptonian environment of the ship. Thankfully, it practically landing on Earth interferes with that and Supes is able to muster up heroic willpower and escape, then fights the ship's outer defenses to destroy the terraforming device on its underside.

At the same time, Lois gets to Smallville and shows Martha the Key. Martha shows her the tiny ship Clark arrived in, and Lois puts the key inside the right slot, and Jor-El appears. He then, offscreen, tells Lois how to defeat the Kryptonians. A couple scene cuts later she's all, 'I have to tell Clark', and runs off. Somehow she's traversing from Smallville to Metropolis in a short timespan, but hey, this is a comicbook movie, just accept it.

Zod finds Clark's ship, 'kills' Jor-El again, and takes the ship as his new flying fortress. He heads back to Metropolis to witness his triumph.

Meanwhile, Lois finds Metropolis shut down by the police and military, but Superman hears her nearby and rushes over. She tells him that if his arrival pod comes into contact with the main ship, it'll make a singularity and the Kryptonians will all be sucked inside. He leaves to go get his pod, while the military starts engaging the Kryptonians. They'll actually somewhat successful, in that they down a few fighters within the already-dead zone, which is considerably smaller, and they keep the individual invaders from killing civilians.

After a bit, Superman comes back and is about to hurl the pod at the ship when Zod arrives, and he shoots Superman out of the sky. He also shoots down the human planes and fires randomly into the city. Then Superman knocks the ship down, and doesn't just throw the pod into the mothership, he flies the pod straight into the ship and then comes out the other side in a spray of debris. The whole thing collapses, and Superman drops down and fields a few questions from curious people. It's also the first time he uses the name 'Superman' himself, after Lois brought it up earlier.

But oh no, Zod survived. He gets out of the wreckage and completely dominates the fight against Superman. Think 'Sam Raimi Spiderman 1', how at the end of the movie the Green Goblin was just kicking the shit out of Spidey for about five minutes straight. Superman finally manages to get an upper hand, but Zod is explicitly stronger than him, and has less control over his powers. The situation in the train station happens again, with Zod pinned but using his heat vision to threaten the humans. Superman struggles with him, even covers his eyes, but that just causes the beams to leak out in weird directions like when you put your finger over a running water spout. Zod starts thrashing at the ground and causing pseudo-earthquakes, while freeze breathe pushes out in bursts, and his whole body is vibrating with superspeed. Finally, Superman does the only thing he can think of- and quickly tosses Zod up into the air. However, Zod doesn't come back down, and the reason why is plain: Superman accidentally tossed Zod into a piece of Kryptonian wreckage, which pierced his chest and killed him. He dies hanging there with a smile on his face. Then Clark falls to his knees screaming and crying.

After a montage of the various news agencies applauding Superman while also dropping easter eggs for random DC stuff, there's an explicit time skip of a few months. Superman stops to talk with the General guy, without destroying anything. He asks him to please stop following him with the drones. They already have the Kryptonian scout ship, that should be enough for them. The general admits he's probably right and will talk to the people even higher in the government. He then formally thanks Superman for killing Zod- to which Supes flinches and we can clearly see that he isn't over the trauma of it. But that's for the next movie (see Part 1).

The ending is just the 'Clark now works at the Daily Planet' bit, so more or less the same as the original.

And there we go! There's more here than I thought there'd be, but I had to really do a lot of clean up. Spread out the action for better pacing, give Lois a role in the story that actually makes sense, remove the stupid subplots, address the extreme destruction without removing all collateral damage, make Supes a better character and not just a messianic archetype... you get the picture. I think this version of Man of Steel would flow better into future movies. Let me know if there's anything I need to change in my version, or anything that still doesn't feel right. Thanks for reading!

[great-kung-lao]

My Top 5 most favorite DCEU Superman moments

I wanted to do post like this for a long time, but laziness was taking the best of me for most of the time. But lately I’ve got so many emotions about Henry Cavill’s Superman that needs to be put somewhere in some form. So here it is, my five most favorite moments regarding Superman in DCEU. The moments that define this character to me in DCEU. 5. The dialogue between Jonathan and Clark in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. 

Very important moment in a sense of formation this Superman as a character in this universe. For the most part of the movie he encounters with nothing else but criticism for his actions, no matter how much of a good he did, majority still looked at him with a suspicion, even though all he ever wanted is for people to follow his example and become heroes of their own, for people to see him like his closest ones do. In this scene Jonathan told Clark a story from his childhood where his heroic deed caused an unfortunate result, which morally broke him. Keep in mind that right before this Superman witnessed bombing of the entire senate and he thought it was his fault for not being more cautious so he could prevent it. So he was most likely thinking something along the lines like what is the point of even trying if it takes one mistake in order for the entire world to turn on you? But back to Jonathan, in his story he and his father saved their farm from being sunk by a river, but because of them changing river’s direction, Lang’s farm suffered the consequences and all their horses died. Because of it Jonathan started seeing nightames and hearing cries of those horses while trying to sleep. This story was meant to mirror Clark’s situation, because in Man of Steel even though he was saving the world, a lot of people died in the process of his fight with Zod and he also couldn’t save those people back at the senate. When Clark asks if nightmares ever stopped for Jonathan, his father’s answer was yes, when he met Martha. She helped him to believe in good of this world again, she became his world. I think this way Joanthan was trying to explain to Clark that if there is any good in this world, even if it is one person, this reason is enough to keep fighting and doing what is right, because where is one, there will be many. Every action leads to certain consequences and your failures shouldn’t cause you to stop doing what you believe in, you just have to keep in mind that outcomes might not always be the ones you expect Good of the world doesn’t stop existing if you failed one or more times, it is always there. The world is worth saving for those who still believes in good and in better tomorrow. While those who oppose you will either come to terms and follow your example or will fail themselves. In the end I just love how they compared Clark and Lois’s relationship to Jonathan and Martha’s. 4. The dialogue between Martha and Clark in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. 

One more very important scene and is very dear to me as Superman’s fan. Martha explains to Clark that he doesn’t owe this world anything, he is not forced to do what he does, he has a choice who he wants to be and to become and this choice he has to make on his own and only like that. That way by the end of the movie we get that kind of Superman who does what he does because he wants to, because he sincerely and selflessly enjoys doing good and relieved people’s faces is all he would ever need in return like in that scene when he saves the girl from burning building. DCEU Superman becomes a hero not because he has to, but because he wants to and this is very important. This is the Superman that I love.

3. Saving the girl from the burning building in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. 

I love the entire sequence, starting from the moment when Clark notices the TV news about Day of the Dead. He was in the process of his journalistic investigation about Batman vigilante and about his means to achieve justice in Gotham He got suspicious of Bruce once he heard his communication with Alfred through hidden coms and started following him. But in the process he stopped once he overheard the message on TV on a foreign for him language and when he realized that no one is going to rescue her, he immediately forgets about right now and started undoing his tie and flew to save her. In that moment I realized that this Superman is always listening, he is always cautious and on guard in order if somebody is going to need his help and when somebody does need his help, he puts that situation above anything else. Which is exactly why senate bombing harmed him that much as it did and why it made him feel guilty. Unfortunately they didn’t shoot how Kal-El was undressing from Clark into Superman. We immediately go to the moment he carries the girl in his hands, which also is a very cool moment that showcases how fast Superman is, because girl was already in the burning building when TV news were streaming the accident and it was in Mexico, so he had to be very fast in order to be in time. What I love the most about this scene is that Superman carries the girl with a smile towards her parents, you can literally see how happy he is and how much he enjoys what he is doing. Even though his expression changes a bit later, it is only because he doesn’t want people to see him as a messiah, he wants them to see him as a guy who is trying to do the right thing and for them to follow this example so people will be willing to help each other no matter the odds. He wants to show that in order to be a hero you don’t need super powers, all you need is a good and kind heart and will to do what is right for those around you. 2. Lois saves Superman, Superman saves Lois in Man of Steel. 

Very strong and cool scene where Lois teams up with AI Jor-El in order to save Kal-El, which is followed by a very badass escape on Lois’s part, during which we are witnessing her military roots, since she was very good on using that alien gun, she was literally headshoting those kryptonians. But as soon as Lois gets to saving pod, it gets damaged by kryptonian lady and as a result she starts falling to Earth. When Superman gets his powers back thanks to Lois using his kryptonian key that had AI Jor-El inside of it and he reprogrammed kryptonian atmosphere of the ship to Earth’s, his biological father appears in front of him and explains how he and Lara wanted him to learn what it meant to be human first, so that one day when the time was right, he could be the bridge between two peoples. Kal-El smashes the wall of the ship to open space and after that dialogues occurred, Jor-El pointed Clark to look outside to see Lois which is followed by: “You can save her, Kal. You can save all of them”. In that exact moment Clark/Kal-El becomes Superman and goes to do his job of saving Lois and the world. What is especially great about this entire sequence is that through Lois we are witnessing that in order to be hero you don’t need super powers, you need to be brave and have a good heart that is willing to help those in need and Superman was the one in need that time around. All of that leads us one more time to the point that everyone can be a hero in his/hers own way. 1. Superman’s first Flight in Man of Steel. 

I need to be clear that I love this entire scene from the moment when Clark is learning about this kryptonian heritage through Jor-El. This entire dialogue that leads them to Superman’s costume and Jor-El explaining that the symbol of House of El mean hope and it embodies a fundamental belief that potential of every person to be a force for good and this is exactly what Superman is going to become for every living being in the universe. Every time Jor-El open’s his mouth he speaks Superman is a sense that he defines all that this character means, what he is and what he will be. The meaning behind symbol of House of El defines the word hero, that all it needs is to be hopeful and do good however you can, super powers are not necessary, it’s just an instrument, but we can all contribute as far as our capabilities allow. Which again leads me to the point of DCEU’s Superman and DCEU in general - everyone can be a hero and it is expressed through various supporting characters. And of course my most favorite part of this scene is Russell Crowe quoting Grant Morrison’s All-Star Superman: “You will give the people of Earth an ideal to strive towards. They will race behind you. They will stumble, they will fall. But in time, they will join you in the sun, Kal. In time, you will help them accomplish wonders” and right after that Superman takes his first Flight and I love so much how Henry Cavill expressed the reaction to such an event. This Clark was happy as if like a human being suddenly discovered that you can fly and this is freaking amazing! He is so happy and so amazed by himself that it just warms my heart every single time I rewatch this scene. As Jor-El said, Superman embodies the best from two worlds, two different civilizations, he expresses unity, that different cultures can exist together and be embodied in a person. But most importantly, he shows humanity’s potential, even while being an alien, he takes the best from us and through his example shows what we can become, that we can be our own heroes from the world around us.

I guess this wraps up my Top 5 definitive DCEU Superman moments. But I have to be honest, I still love ALL scenes with DCEU Superman and I want to talk about every single one for eternity. The scene of Jor-El and Lara-El sending their son away; scene with Jonathan looking at little Clark with red cape; the moment with Clark and Lois on military base and him explaining that it’s “not and S’ and her making an amazing face expression when she asks “You let them handcuff you?” and him explaining that if it makes them feel safe, then better to do it this way and she is just so in love with this incredibly kind person; bathtub scene with Clark and Lois; that moment when Batman is punching Superman while kryptonite effect fades away with every hit, that was actually hilarious; all Superman fight scenes with kryptonians and Doomsday; the moment when Superman says his goodbyes to Lois; the entire Krypton sequence in Man of Steel, etc. I LOVE THEM ALL. 

I love DCEU Superman and I have all the reasons to do so, but I really wanted to share my insight on these particular moments that made me love Henry Cavill’s Man of Steel so much. This version of Superman literally changed my life I can’t freaking wait for Justice League, it has to be glorious. Thank you, Zack Snyder.

[geek-gem]

Man Of Steel Review

Why yes I'm making a review. I'm gonna keep this professional and have been thinking of also copying this to DeviantArt. So if your reading this on DeviantArt so yeah man. But yeah I've decided to watch this film now. It's been years since I've seen it fully. Back in 2013 in theaters. Yeah I'm gonna do an intro a bit explaining what's going on. Also I've been wanting to make more detailed and professional reviews for some time. I'm just saying I really focused on this film a bit along with that I was pacing back and forth when the credits were rolling trying to gather my thoughts. Now I'll say this. For some time I've been rethinking and I honestly like Zack Snyder who's the director of this film. Including the upcoming Batman V Superman Dawn Of Justice which I'll watch soon. Also in November Justice League but cause of events of why he was replaced. To be honest and I won't get into that part of why he left. Yet it saddened me quite a bit. Including that week was really depressing. It made me rethink a bit about how I felt about his DC films. I was fine with Man Of Steel and think it could improve upon. While BVS I had troubles with. So with the extended cut now available. Really I've been rethinking. Including stupid silly shit like to be perfectly honest I feel like a younger Zack Snyder. Also the fact I've even considered him just imagine him making a Sonic movie, or Godzilla film, even Transformers but I feel I don't wanna mention that stupid movie franchise. Because compared to Michael Bay. I feel with Zack Snyder the man has ideas, he wants to tell a good story, he tries. But at times the way they are presented aren't the best. Including I like his style of film making. But I agree he's more of a visual director then a story teller. Also I've been a bit off set about Disney and Marvel Studios with their MCU. Nothing against them they've made good and great films. Yet I feel with DC they are going with a direction I like and also some risks. Yes some Marvel films are dark with some stuff I'm not saying it's all jokes. But just I like what the DCEU or DC cinematic universe for trying to be different. Also I've been taking a liking to DC quite a bit. Along with the silly fact I'm angry being like fuck you Disney for cancelling Wander Over Yonder. Seriously great show deserves more seasons, fine Save WOY shit. But yeah I'm sorry if this has been long. Yet I've been wanting to give these films a retry. Are they as good or whatever when I'm thinking about them. Let's find out. Man Of Steel. To be honest I'm gonna say I liked it. In a way maybe I like it a lot man. Including such as the themes that the film focuses on in parts about the idea of choice, and becoming what you want to be, and what you can greater be. I'm gonna spoil stuff in this. Be warned because I'm gonna spoil some major parts of the story. Including about critics. Mainly throughout the maybe first two half's of the film. With the focus on the themes of wanting to be something greater, becoming your own person, making your own choices. Along with well striving to be better and this being the focus of Clark Kent Kal-El aka Superman. The last half I did like. Yet honestly the themes are still there. Including with Zod mentioning of how he is. Yet it kind of becomes a different thing. But it's still enjoyable. In fact as the movie goes on. It's a bit slow, and I was really trying to focus. But yeah slow at the start but as the movie goes on it becomes better and more entertaining. Honestly their are some nice sweet moments I liked before well it got a bit more intense. Even between some parts. What I mean is moments where it's Clark with his family. During certain parts such as with his mother. Which I find to be some nice parts that bring up emotion a bit. They are just these quiet moments I like. I'll talk about some of the characters. Such as Henry Cavill as Clark Kent Kal-El aka Superman. While being a bit more serious. I honestly like him. Despite not being able to work with a whole lot. He does give a good performance. Along with the story about him trying to find out who he really is and him being an outcast. The way he's reacting I feel is reasonable. Including asking questions. Also the fact like people have said when talking about this film when defending it. It's a less experienced Superman. We watch him go on this journey of self discovering and him trying to help save the planet. Including I honestly seem to like the scene with him going to the church for advice. Really I like this version. Also seriously I like Superman I'm not the biggest fan. But I feel this Superman is one I think we can go along with. Including the idea and this may have been done before about him feeling like an outcast and wanting to feel like where he belongs. Along with doing the right thing. I feel Henry Cavill can be a great Superman. If you give him more material. Really I see potential. For this it was just the start. I like what I saw. Now for Amy Adams as Lois Lane. I felt she did a good job. Including just I'm not the biggest fan of Lois Lane. Really what she worked with again I think she does a good job. Along with some moments like people have mentioned she's tired of people's shit. The girl can take care of herself. But now about her chemistry with Henry Cavill. Really I don't mind them. Including at times I feel they can work well with each other. But again like I said with Henry Cavill, they don't work with much more. I feel they could of done better. But I feel their relationship was okay. But I feel it could be better. So okay I wanna talk about Michael Shannon as General Zod. Now being honest I like the kind of villains where do you understand their reasons. Yet also the ones where they think they are the heroes. Well with Zod's case being breed to be a leader and save his planet. Really I feel he shines throughout the movie. Along with his lines what he says Michael Shannon does a good job with what he's given. I'm guessing he's maybe my most favorite of all the actors in this movie. I'm not saying the others are bad. I feel Zod really shines. Including how far he's able to go to get his goals. Theirs the other ones. Theirs Diane Lane as Martha Kent, Kevin Costner as Johnathan Kent, Lawrence Fishbourne as Perry White, and Russell Crowe as Jor-El. Not gonna name the other ones I remember one name best Christopher Meloni. The other ones are difficult. Also the woman who plays Faoroa sorry Superman fans if I got that wrong. They are do such a great job. Really everyone in their roles did a good job. Along with what they worked with. Some stood out and really I liked them all. They contribute to the story and work well. Didn't mind any of them. Now I'm gonna talk about the action. Honestly the action is really kick ass. The way it's portrayed just how all the Kryptonian's are fighting. It's really awesome. Including it kind of feels rough. Just watching it. Including as the movie goes on. Yet I'm gonna mention this. People have mentioned this too, the camera zoom ups. I don't know if they wanted zoom up for detail. Because I'm thinking maybe that's why. Zooming up to see details up close and at certain times I'm okay with it. Yet at times I'm bothered a bit by it thinking if it was nessacry. Because it just bothersome. It's just that one thing at times that bothered me as the film went on. At times I was okay with, other times I felt like I didn't like it cause it's well bothersome. Now the score. Even during the credit the score by Hans Zimmer is fantastic. It goes with each part. Including it's powerful. Along with during some scenes even the last half of the movie mainly the terraforming part. I started to feel a bit emotional. Some shit like my eyes felt watery a bit. I was really trying to get very invested. Because just really the score does a good job capturing the scenes of what they are. They go really good. It just it sucks Hans Zimmer after Batman V Superman Dawn Of Justice heard that he's done making music for comic book films. Because he does a damn good job. Now about well I wanna mention this. The tone and really I'm fine with being a bit more serious. About how would humanity react to a being like Superman. It does work, yet I'm gonna warn you. Throughout a lot of the film it's very serious. Or mainly serious but not that tense. Basically your waiting for a certain moment to come up. I don't mind it. Yet I don't feel like just I like that they are being different from Marvel. Also I freakin loved Wonder Woman that film was amazing it kicked ass. But at times during Man Of Steel you just wanna hope this is my opinion I guess hope something happens. Yet it moments like I said the sweet moments with Clark's family I like. Because it kind of takes a break from the serious story and well takes a break. Also some silly moments or not much. But as the movie gets going it gets more exciting. Such as the fight scenes. I don't mind it. Maybe it's just me I hoped for some more stuff happening. Also I really wanna talk about the ending. Not the exact ending but the part where people were surprised by what happened. The part where Superman kills Zod. Including yeah the Metropolis fight. Again the less experienced Superman and he tried. Also he saved the world. Really it's all cool working and kick ass and was invested in a bit. Mainly of being invested of how the fight was going and how it was showcasing both characters including the talking. But Superman killing Zod. I'm gonna say this I don't mind it. Even from what I heard Christopher Nolan during the making of this film said to Zack to not kill Zod yet Zack decided to do this anyway. But I'm gonna say this I like this risk. Yet how it's portrayed is why I'm okay with it. Including with DC wanting to be different from Marvel and this is quite a risk. The idea of Superman having to do this. Because it gives the idea that not everything can be solved so easily. Such as Jonathan Kent talking about maybe letting the bus full of kids drown but Clark's saves them cause he thinks it's the right thing. It's difficult to find the answer. Including when your son is basically a God like being with these powers. With the idea of Superman killing Zod is something I'm okay with. Because if handled right. Including with the destruction of Metropolis you can have some great character development. The idea they Superman is haunted by this. That he basically killed last of his mind. Also like what Angry Joe said during his review with Nostalgia Critic, Zod basically won. By basically making Superman do something he never wanted to do. Including to set up this concept that people have said your actions have consequences. Something we can learn from and hope we can make a better tomorrow or some shit. I'm fine with the choice. Yet here's why I'm bothered by..........the next scene. I was hoping their would be maybe some time to adjust to it, but no littertly a couple of seconds after that scene. It's legit just Superman acting like nothing happened. It's the scene where he takes down a drone and the funny moment yet I agree with the girl who's a captain says he's hot. Along with Superman telling the general he doesn't wanna be found. The way it's portrayed. I'm bothered by this cause it's a legit few seconds. Really I feel if they had more time and this idea may sound like bullshit even a deleted scene but that doesn't exist. Where it shows Superman actually dealing with the aftermath of what he's just done. Including the destruction of Metropolis. With him then trying to get through it and even some scenes of him helping to restore Metropolis. Yet that might miss up a bit what happens in the next film. But it's an idea I got from a YouTube comment. Also showcasing I'm gonna help the best I can despite everything that happened. Just the way it appears all of a sudden. I honestly like the scene and okay with it. But I feel it's wasted of the aftermath. It's mainly the other thing I have a problem with. Well I feel like their isn't much to say. Also gonna use tags man. Well got that done put Superman twice ha sorry. Yet yeah I'm gonna use the stars rating. I'm gonna rate this movie 4 stars. I liked the movie. Honestly I feel it's a nice start to this DCEU and I feel Warner Bros should of really had that in mind instead of what I heard a trilogy. They should of had a plan for this to be in a DCEU. But I'm glad they are at least sticking with it man. The film gets more exciting as it goes on, everyone does a good job, and it has moments that shine, great action, a great score. Yet it I feel it could of been a bit better. Including with the writing. Did I give oh yeah ha I did four stars man. I'm thinking of watching it well Batman V Superman Dawn Of Justice the ultimate edition on Blu Ray like I watched this on Blu Ray on my PS4. Also during the first half of the movie two updates like Lego Marvel's Avengers finished downloading yes bought that game, and Outlast 2 updates. So hoped to enjoy the review.

[dukeofriven]

Voltron Episode 1

Thoughts on having finished the very first (pilot? pseudo-pilot?) of Voltron. It’s not good. I mean it’s really not very good at all. Positives first: characters are fun, animation is snazzy, the show ‘pops’ visually, and I can see the hints of potential that this may turn into something really good. But the pilot is bad. It’s use of tedious exposition borders on the agressive - in its need to fit Everything About Voltron Ever into one scene it betrays a cardinal rule of storytelling, namely: is any of this fucking relevant? Let’s take the last - worst - act as an example. Imagine how much better the tension would be if they arrive at the castle only right before the Galran Carrier does - oh shit it’s a princess and she says we’ve got to grab these lions in the basement if we want to not die. Sending out the guys in two teams to find Yellow and Green does nothing but pad time in ways that don’t make a lot of narrative sense given what’s already occurred. Plus, although I know that our pilots are supposed to be ‘attuned’ to their lions, but the fact that they can fly them with perfect accuracy is just... shit. Even the trained pilots sure weren’t trained to fly quadropedal battle lions. Here, off the top of my head, is my lightening-fast re-write of the pilot’s third act: On arriving at Castle Whiteskull, automated systems reacting to the arrival of the Blue Lion unfreeze a dazed Princess Alaalu, who struggles to ‘wake up’ given ten thousand years of suspended animation. Warning klaxons start howling marking the approach of the giant Galran carrier - all Alaalu has time to impart to the team is that there are three lions in the basement, but that the red lion is on the destroyer. She doesn’t have time to spin any kind of quasi-mystical garbage about Voltron - she just says ‘rescue the red lion or everybody ever will die.’

 (Alternatively, Blue Lion could have systemically led the team to Green and Yellow lions before they went to the castle, thus saving the episode from having the tension of ‘giant destroyer coming to kill us’ completely gutted by Pidge and Shiro going on a boat tour with a LITERAL SLOTH. Plus it gives Hunk and Lance dicking around by the mine a chance to breathe, instead of just padding out the run-time. Black lion is in the basement, and Shiro gets to fly it right away) The Team agrees (what choice do they have?), so while a totally-fucked up, ‘oh shit I’m the last of my kind’ Princess desperately tries to bring Castle defences online that haven’t received maintenance in ten thousand years, the team tries to take on the carrier. (The Princess doesn’t have to be a grimdark ‘broken waif’ or anything like that, but the total genocide of a species deserves more emotional space than the pilot give it, which is to say ‘none.’) In the pilot, Shiro, Pidge, and Keith get onto the carrier no problem, flying openly through space because... the carrier has no radar or sensors of any kind and relies on people looking out the front window, I guess. The pilot is badly written. Once on the carrier they wander through the halls completely unmolested except Kieth, who has a three second fight scene with some aliens. The pilot is badly written.  In the new version Shiro, Lance, and Hunk try to take on the carrier in lions they are attuned enough to fly, sort of, but nowhere near enough to fight - they’re still learning. So there is narrative tension as they try and fend off a giant goddamn carrier and a fleet of gunships. Meanwhile, Best Character Pidge drives his green lion through a porthole or something and they fight their way to the red lion. Keith says ‘hey maybe we should blow this thing up from the inside’ and Pidge goes ‘no fuckass that’s psychotic. What if they have more prisoners like Shiro on board - or my dad?’ and Keith goes ‘Whaaaat - your dad?’ and then Pidge explains who is father is while he punches aliens with his... bayard? (A bayard is a magical french horse, Voltron, it is not a weapon.) They get the red lion, they ollie-out, and the carrier starts firing on the castle from orbit because in this version it’s not commanded by a moron. They struggle to form Voltron, Shrio gives a rousing friendship speech even though Pidge is more interesting and should be leader instead, they form Voltron, lob the ion cannon in half, and the carrier command goes ‘fuck this’ and rabbits while the cannon gun barrel explodes and gives Volton something to pose in front of. Fin. What do you cut? Mostly the Princess rambling about Voltron at a point in the story where nobody should have any time to pay attention or care. Carry it over to the first episode, when the paladins have had a chance to catch their breath and actually ask questions. You lose Shiro getting told he is The Chosen One by the prisoners, but that was a clumsy plot hook anyways - if they couldn’t work it in better, dump it in the next episode as well. I have also cut out the Space Mice, because it made me feel like I was watching a late-90s Disney movie - they don’t match the comedic tone of Voltron and the scene they are in has no purpose. They made me think of Haro in Gundam Seed, and nothing should ever make me think of Haro in Gundam Seed (’Asran makes them for me’ - fucking bullshit, Gundam Seed. Mopey old Asran doesn’t build shit in his spare time.) I also cut-out the king’s Jor-El hologram - he died, and the rightness or wrongness of his choices should hang over the story for the rest of season. Having set-up what he did in the previous scene, the pilot immediately erases any meaning it might have with this stupid hologram telling the Princess ‘I fucked up you were right I am sorry.’ Jesus - you could spend years of stories talking about how the Princess feels having the weight of her father’s legacy fall on her shoulders the way it did - but no, the pilot immediately gives her a complete holo-copy of her Dad, thus rendering every question instantly answerable by holo-Dad. WHY? WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS? HOW IS THIS MORE INTERESTING THAN THE SURVIVOR OF A DEAD RACE LOOKING FOR ANSWERS SHE CAN’T CONCRETELY HAVE? Even goddamn Superman has to work to get his Jor-El holo-dad. This is such a bad story telling device it makes me physically angry as a writer. When people talk about death having no meaning in a story - this is what it actually looks like. I also cut the guy with the moustache, because fuck that guy, he is awful. HOWEVER I am eager to watch more. I want to watch more - so in that respect, the pilot did its job admirably. It just could have done it so much better. (I didn’t even touch on random shit like the crew from the opening scene being dropped by the story until Pidge blurts out that it’s his dad later - there’s a better way to keep that in the audience’s mind throughout the episode.) In conclusion: thank you @heir-of-puns for influencing me to watch this show. Also, fuck you @heir-of-puns for influencing me to watch this show and giving me a massive crush on Pidge Gunderson, my beautiful, perfect paladin who will likely never mature into an adult in such a way that would make this less creepy for me god damn you.

[yourwiferuby]

Like, more specifically, Thor 1 does a lot of things that I think drive it far away from your average Superhero affair. And they’re really small almost subconscious things that I notice because I’ve been complaining about them for years.

I’m writing a lot, so I’ll be nice and put a cut. 

First thing it does different that is miles better than your average superhero flick, or for that matter, your average action flick. It doesn’t kill off the villain. Quick, right now, name me the bad guy from Die Hard. Of course you can do that. He’s Hans Grubber. Everyone’s favorite vague European bad guy. Now. Name me the bad guy from Die Hard 2. Tell me when you give up. William Stuart. Boring name, boring villain. That’s the problem of killing off your villain in your films. Your future films now have to spend time establishing a new threat, and rarely are they as interesting as your first. Often times they’ll be a re-hash of the same kind of threat. There are plenty of exceptions. But generally speaking, instead of being able to just jump into the next film, you’re stuck having to introduce and go through the backstory of some new threat. It’s overall wasteful. Want to know the secret to why Loki is so popular? Well, part of it is that he’s not just in one film. You establish a character across multiple films. This is a secret from comic books. You get attached to a certain villain and they return over and over again. The success of a movie sometimes isn’t just the hero, but the dynamic the hero and villain offer. John McClain is at his best when he’s fighting Hans Grubber. This is why Die Hard with a Vengeance brought in Grubber’s brother. Who isn’t nearly as interesting, but at least saves a bit more on time. (Quick, what was his first name?) 

Second thing that Thor does is it addresses the worst problem of superhero films. This also exists in action films as a whole, but not to the degree it does in superhero films. Origin movie. Even though we know who Batman is, every film has to go over his origin. Some will do it to death. Every Mad Max film we have to have a retread of why Mad Max is so mad. These are silly, but overall not much of a problem. The problem is when Amazing Spider-Man spends half the film on Uncle Ben’s death, and that death is a retread from Spider-Man 1. The problem is that half of Captain America the First Avenger is spent on getting Steve into the super soldier program. The problem is that comics have 75 years worth of stories and backstories to draw from and film makers want to use that source material and get out these complicated backstories in their films. Even if it’s not really needed. Now, does this mean we don’t spend half the film of Thor going over his backstory? Oh no. We do. But there’s a huge difference. Because Green Goblin and the Lizard have nothing to do with uncle Ben. Red Skull has nothing to do with the super soldier training. These origin stories split up the film into two parts. The origin and the bad guy fight. So the plot of our film is splintered and we rarely get enough of either to make it feel whole. Especially when it fights for time between the bad guy’s origin and the hero’s origin. Remember, sometimes they’re both just as important. Thor uses Loki, who is Thor’s brother. Their origins are different, but intertwined. So the plot of the film matches well with both of their origin stories and flows together strongly. Again, this strengthens the film’s plot and makes the villain even more interesting. Their origins match. (On a different note, you can also circumvent this altogether by avoiding your origin.) 

Third thing that Thor does is it actually makes a compelling villain. So, up to now we have two reasons why people like Loki. First is that we have more time with him, but we wouldn’t just like him if he’s there a lot. Second is that he’s attached to Thor in an origin story, which means he’s not having to compete with the hero for screen time with his origin story, but just because he has more time to tell his story doesn’t mean we’ll like him. The third reason is that Loki isn’t the Lizard. He’s not just going to destroy New York and make everyone lizards. He’s actually got a plan and a personality to him. Compare Loki to the villain of Thor 2, Malekith, an interesting villain from the comics who has no goal I can really think of. Having a goal that’s interesting is one part. But being a character more than just a character type helps too. Loki doesn’t just have one off lines about wanting his bird back to make up for a lack of character development, he’s got actual character depth. This makes conflict between the hero and the villain interesting and not just two dudes punching. And the film doesn’t backload this depth, like Civil War, (which also gives the worst kind of bare bones goal and “depth” to Zemo right at the very end of the film), Loki is a full character by the time the plot of the film is established. He even goes through his own little arc, even if it isn’t as grand as Thor’s. 

Those three are very villain focused, and honestly, that’s a huge problem with superhero films. Supervillains are just as important and often overlooked. Most superhero films and most action films for that matter, have very bland villains who seem little more than excuses for someone to be just evil. A good villain doesn’t have to think they’re the hero, but they can’t just be a cardboard cut out. This is why it’s so surprising and nice to see the Vulture, a two bit nothing character from the comics, be such a great character full of his own ideology and his own goals. Much like Loki, who is almost sympathetic (if it weren’t for being kind of a unscrupulous murderer), the Vulture doesn’t want to just take over New York City, he wants to provide for his family and take what he feels is rightfully his. Loki wants what he feels is rightfully his. That throne should be his. And seeing the jock-ish Thor just abuse his power on that throne, hard to blame Loki for thinking he should be the one sitting on that throne, especially after his own father gives him a BS reason why he can’t sit on it. I’m not saying he’s right, but I’m saying I can understand his point. That’s why the Vulture is interesting, that’s why Loki is interesting, and that’s why nobody likes Malekith. I mean, honestly, what the hell was he even trying to accomplish? 

But there’s more to why Thor is so good. Superhero films actually don’t take as much from comics as they do action films. There’s more Bruce Willis and Tom Cruise movies in Iron Man than there is actual Iron Man comics. That makes sense though. They’re action movies, and they’re following the trends that work for movies. The problem is that these characters aren’t John McClain. Superheroes aren’t reluctant knights who are on the verge of anti hero status and all too eager to kill. (Although I did just describe Batman from Batman v Superman really well.) Superheroes, even when they’re at their worst, are still heroes, and are still defined by being heroic. This doesn’t mean that Batman can’t be John McClain and kill people guns a-blazing. The problem is less what they’re making these characters do, it’s that these films are trying to eat their cake and have it too. Superman snapping Zod’s neck isn’t the problem. The problem is that Man of Steel never actually describes Superman or Jor-El or Pa Kent as having a specific value in upholding the sanctity of human life. He’s not breaking a code in killing Zod, so his struggle after killing him shouldn’t affect him anymore than John McClain killing Hans Grubber. But the film expects you to already think of Superman as thinking killing is always wrong. It’s supposedly setting up a character with a specific moral, then not following through with it. These characters can have plenty of different morals or ideologies that are important to them as icons. I could make a whole different post about Spider-Man Homecoming using the morals of Steve Ditko. Your very average one is that the hero doesn’t want to kill. If you have a film that’s mostly about the hero learning the sanctity of life, don’t be like Wonder Woman and end it with the character murdering someone. Wonder Woman is probably the worst example of this trend of not following through with it’s lessons and morals. Not just with Wonder Woman murdering someone right after learning a lesson about why murdering people is bad, but the film also tries to teach you the nuance of war, that rarely is war black and white, and presents it as such with heroic British/American soldiers fighting against German soldiers that deliberately evoke Nazism and occasionally near Islamophobic generic brown soldiers. So much for war not being black and white. It even tries to talk about the importance and power of women, but it then makes every major plot event happen because of Steve Trevor. Diana even learns her lesson about love because a man told her about it. What lessons it’s trying to tell you, it outright ignores and does the opposite. Thor doesn’t do that. If he’s a uncaring, unthinking brute, then he gets humbled and learns to think and feel for and about others. It shows his fault, and has him learn a lesson that actually matters to the story. It actually has a character arc that doesn’t kowtow to action movie cliches. 

Honestly, I’m not saying Thor is the greatest superhero film. What I’m saying is that it basically hits the bare minimum of what should be acceptable in a superhero film. It also has amazing character design that both evokes modernism and the classic Kirby/Simonson designs. The ending sequence first takes place during the day, avoiding the problem of night time fight sequences that are difficult if not impossible to follow because of how dark the scene is. When it does have dark scenes, it avoids fast movement across the screen and specifically designs characters so that they’re able to be recognized against the background. Doesn’t hurt that you have a rainbow bridge to light them up. It’s no masterpiece, but it’s absolutely better than any other Phase 1 Marvel flick and honestly any superhero flick before it, hands down. 

[chrisoncinema]

Lessons from the Edit: Man of Steel

[UPDATE 8/27/2017: New, working video link below! Please note: to watch videos in their entirety, download the video to your computer. Streaming from Dropbox will only allow you to watch the first 60 minutes.] A Zack Snyder film is like that college freshman who got a little too into Ayn Rand his senior year of high school, has taken one Intro to Philosophy course, one Intro to Political Science course, and is now writing a manifesto. You know all of this because when he walked into your English class you said “Cool trench coat” and he mistook your derision for interest and now he won’t stop talking at you.

Zack Snyder’s films won’t stop talking at us and so, apparently, they’re here to stay. When I was a senior in high school, I defended Watchmen as a bold but fitting adaptation of a ground-breaking graphic novel. I thought it was very cool.

Now I’m just tired.

In this installment of Lessons from the Edit, we’ll take a look at Snyder’s first entry in the troubled and tone-deaf DCEU: Man of Steel.

I remember being very perplexed by the news that Christopher Nolan would produce (and, implicitly, oversee) a film directed by Zack Snyder. Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy felt like a fresh take on the superhero genre by treating it like a grounded, crime film. The Dark Knight clearly wants to be a Michael Mann film and blatantly steals from Heat. Zack Snyder has spent his career doing the exact opposite.

300 and Watchmen, whether or not you consider them successful or good, found interesting ways to translate the visual media of comic book graphics into audio-visual media of film without feeling derivative (see Ang Lee’s Hulk for that). A meeting of Nolan and Snyder’s worlds seemed incomprehensible. And it sort of was.

Man of Steel is like Michael Bay on downers. It’s still all American flags and muscle but the 2013 film feels like something Bay would make while on Xanax as opposed to (and I’m just speculating here) his usual cocaine. This is undoubtedly due in part to Snyder’s cinematographer, Amir Mokri, who book-ended his work on Man of Steel with two Transformers movies and was the DP for Bad Boys 2back in 2003.

Snyder trades in Bay’s kinetic maximalism for handheld wobbling in dialogue scenes and extraneous snap-zooms in CGI-heavy action scenes. If a Michael Bay film is a haywire roller-coaster, Man of Steel is like being in a small boat on choppy water. It’s a sea-sickness simulator. If the camera movement alone isn’t enough for you, Snyder kindly included plenty of teal/grey color grading so that everyone in the movie looks as sick as you feel.

The film’s look can probably be chalked up to Zack Snyder knowing he needed to depart from his previous, and now rather clichéd, style of inky blacks and time-ramping. So, credit where it’s due: at least Snyder was trying something – even if it was just extreme close-ups on farmhouse paraphernalia. That’s more than can be said for the aggressively bland visuals in the Marvel movies. Still, the direction in Man of Steel can be broken down into two basic parts: the boring first half and the migraine-inducing second half.

The one scene that I was pleasantly surprised by in preparing for my re-edit involved Russell Crowe’s Jor-El explaining to Clark where he came from and what happened to Krypton. It’s a simulated long-take wherein the camera glides from Crowe to Cavill to the graphite-colored bas-relief sculptures that are interesting enough to look at, if a bit cartoony. This brief moment has fluidity and rhythm and feels purposeful even though it’s all exposition that, in the theatrical cut, the audience already knows because they saw it in the beginning of the movie.

In an earlier scene, Clark is talking to his Earthly father, Jonathan Kent, at an old pickup truck in another relatively long take but here it is understandable why the first half of the film just seems to drag: nothing is happening. We linger on scenes of Pa Kent doggedly trying to convince his son not to become the superhero we all know he will be. These scenes could have been used to build up an actual relationship between young Clark and his dad so that Jonathan’s eventual death might mean something to us. Because here it doesn’t. These characters don’t feel like they have inner lives – they're clunky conduits for haughty monologues.  

Despite the fact that none of the characters are compelling or three-dimensional, the cast is full of highly talented actors who all seem to be trying their best. And also Henry Cavill. Amy Adams, Michael Shannon, Laurence Fishburne, Kevin Costner, Diane Lane, Russell Crowe – they’re all perfect for their roles, in theory, but they’re reduced to doling out lame speeches and hacky expositional dialogue. Whenever Amy Adams does a damsel-in-distress style scream I feel embarrassed. I’m embarrassed for Adams, who is wasting her time filming this trash, and for all the people who inexplicably think this is a quality film.

Henry Cavill is not good in this movie. Let me rephrase: of all the terrible lines by all the uninteresting characters in this movie, Henry Cavill’s are the least convincingly acted and he is the least interesting performer to watch. Let me rephrase: why was Henry Cavill cast in this movie? Is it because he’s buff? Because basically anyone could be buff if they trained (I’ve always felt that Superman doesn’t really need to have a bodybuilder’s physique anyway, but I don’t want to get into that right now).

If it were up to me, Superman would be played by James Wolk. In his role as Bob Benson on Mad Men, Wolk is the kind-hearted, loyal boy-scout that a superman should be. He has a combination of warmth and strength that doesn’t have to be cheesy or campy if you write it well enough. But there are plenty of people who could play Superman. There are plenty of people who can act. Henry Cavill is not one of them.

Also, whoever did his wardrobe should be fired. Granted, Henry Cavill looks good in the Superman suit but in the scene where Lois meets Clark in the cemetery it looks like Clark has never worn clothes before. Like, his pants and shirt are super baggy and he’s wearing a baseball cap really awkwardly. I guess it’s a “disguise?” Or they were trying to hide how muscular he is? Whatever, I’m getting off topic.

The craziest thing about Man of Steel is that it’s better than Batman V Superman. In Man of Steel, it’s at least clear why characters are doing what they’re doing. The story is pretty simple and character motivations are relatively logical within the context of the film. That’s much more than can be said for BVS. Because, in short, no: a movie is not good just because “Batman had a scene where he was cool in it.” You’re a child. That’s a bad argument.

More importantly, watch BVSand then watch Man of Steel again and try to tell me it isn’t the most blatant invocation of retroactive continuity you’ve ever seen. The last shot of Man of Steel is Clark Kent smiling.

Let me repeat: the last shot of Man of Steel is Clark Kent smiling.

At the time, it felt incredibly tone-deaf that the last scene was so chipper after we just witnessed an hour of cataclysmic destruction but now it just feels strangely quaint and innocent. It seems pretty clear that “Superman Goes to Court” was not the original plan for a Man of Steel sequel and was only a result of the outcry against the gratuitous destruction.

The main impetus for my edit of Man of Steel was the removal of all of that mind-numbing “action” where the characters turn into rubber and Zack Snyder gives up on composing interesting, or even discernible, shots. Furthermore, nothing is learned from these scenes other than plot points to be checked off. Superman doesn’t grow or change throughout the course of the fight and Zod is as hell-bent on his dastardly plan in the end as he was in the beginning. In reading the comments on my Rogue One edit I learned that some people just don’t care about character development. That’s insane to me but it also completely explains the current state of big-budget cinema and why people like something so insultingly dumb.

My other goal, and the most time consuming element, for this edit was fixing the color. Snyder shot Man of Steel on film. There’s a richness and a texture buried underneath all the bland, sickly desaturation that the Marvel movies will never achieve with their cheap, digital shooting. Lots of people have re-saturated the “Superman Flight” scene on YouTube – I tried to carry that through the whole movie and, honestly, I may have overdone it in a few places.

So here it is, Superman: a Chris on Cinema edit: https://www.dropbox.com/s/al3u8hynubs6jdy/SupermanMOS.mp4?dl=0 (NOTE: You need to have one of Dropbox's paid accounts to stream more than the first hour of the video but you should be able to download the video in its entirety. I'm currently trying to find a better streaming platform.)

Let me know what you think! Not really about Man of Steel (I’m sick of even looking at the film at this point) but about my edit in relation to it. So sound off: is it better? Is it worse? Would you like to hear a commentary track where I go into more detail about everything I cut? What’s another flawed or good-but-frustratingly-not-great movie that you’d like to see an edit of?

Next time on Lessons from the Edit: a movie that didn’t really need my help in the first place.

Before you download “Superman” please pay for a copy of the original film. “Man of Steel” is a Syncopy Production presented by Warner Bros. Pictures in association with Legendary Pictures. Directed by Zack Snyder with music by Hans Zimmer. Based upon “Superman” characters created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster published by DC Entertainment.

@chrison_

[aion-rsa]

Superman & Lois Episode 2 DC Comics and Movie Easter Eggs and References

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

This article contains Superman & Lois spoilers.

There’s no question that Superman & Lois really knows its stuff. The first episode was a genuine love letter to Superman history, and proved once and for all that you can do a faithful, reverent take on the Man of Steel legend without just retreading stuff people have seen a thousand times.

Superman & Lois episode 2 digs a little bit deeper for its lore, but once again pulls tons of terrific deep cuts from both DC Comics and the character’s history in movies and on TV.

Here’s everything we found…

Captain Luthor

Captain Luthor is from a world that was ravaged by an evil Superman (one wearing the black suit that we saw him wear on Elseworlds). Could this mean that this Luthor is from a world similar to Earth-3 in DC Comics, where the people we know as heroes are in fact evil and vice versa? If so, Captain Luthor could be Alexander Luthor, the power-suited and heroic champion of Earth-3 who fought against an evil Justice League known as the Crime Syndicate.

We have much more about Captain Luthor right here.

Human Defense Corps

One of the soldiers working with General Sam Lane is referred to as “Rosetti.” Could this be Colonel Reno Rosetti of DC’s Human Defense Corps? I think so, especially since it leads into…

7734

The mysterious 7734 is more than just “HELL” in numeric and backwards form. Its existence dates back to the Superman: New Krypton special, which kicked of a massive saga in the comics that eventually culminated in War of the Supermen.

There, 7734 was indeed the brainchild of Sam Lane, and it was meant to keep the planet safe from Superman-style extraterrestrial enemies. It blended military expertise with Lex Luthor-esque super science, so you can see how/why Captain Luthor might have been involved on his world.

Morgan Edge

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It’s not often that we get an Arrowverse character created solely by the legendary Jack Kirby, but that’s Morgan Edge! Edge first appeared in Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen #133 in 1970. This isn’t Edge’s first turn in the Arrowverse, having been played by Adrian Pasdar on Supergirl already. This appears to be a different Morgan Edge than the one Pasdar played (who ended his Supergirl run as a known criminal rather than the shady vulture capitalist we see here), which is certainly a result of changes made to reality in the wake of Crisis on Infinite Earths (like the recasting of Sam Lane and his warmer relationship with Clark and the very existence of Jordan Kent and the aging up of the boys to teenagers).

Chrissy Beppo

The character of Chrissy Beppo is a new creation for the show, but her name harkens back both to the classic Superman comics and to the trailblazing CW superhero series Smallville, albeit by way of the comics. The Smallville Legends web series expanded the universe of the show and featured a Smallville Ledger columnist named Christopher James Beppo.

The Beppo name comes from Superman comics of the 1960s, where it turned out that Jor-El had used a Kryptonian monkey as a test subject for the rocket that sent Kal-El to Earth. Beppo the Super-Monkey (look, the Silver Age of Comics was a weird time, ok?) eventually made his way to Earth, gained powers, and served alongside the Legion of Super-Heroes in the Legion of Super Pets. No, I am not making this up. This wasn’t even the 12th weirdest thing in Superman comics between roughly 1950 and 1969, so don’t @ me (or do!)

There’s another big Smallville connection, too…

Mayor George Dean

The sharp-eyed folks at the ever-reliable Kryptonsite pointed out that Mayor George Dean is played by Eric Keenleyside. And while Mayor “Dean” could possibly reference former TV Superman Dean Cain of Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman fame, he has a more direct connection to the Superman mythos, however minor.

Keenleyside played Chloe Sullivan’s father in a deleted scene from the Smallville pilot. He later turned up as “Mike the Bartender” in a single episode of Smallville season 2, “Suspect.”

Man of Steel

The music all through this show evokes the mood of Hans Zimmer’s excellent Man of Steel score, but it’s particularly noticeable in the Fortress of Solitude scenes. Additionally, the idea that it was a depletion of natural resources that started Krypton’s eventual spiral into destruction is something from the comics, but that was really spotlighted well in Man of Steel.

But speaking of that Fortress…

The Fortress of Solitude

The Fortress of Solitude looks slightly more claustrophobic than the way we’ve seen it portrayed on Supergirl in the past (where it featured the statues of Jor-El and Lara, a whole bunch of visible Kryptonian tech, and even a Legion flight ring) but hopefully we get to see more of it in the future. That being said, the color is consistent with the way we’ve seen it elsewhere in the Arrowverse and it’s still appropriately cold and icy looking.

The notion of using a sunstone crystal to operate a control panel that produces a hologram of Jor-El (more on him in a minute) who functions as the AI of the Fortress of Solitude as well as Kryptonian history teacher originated with 1978’s Superman: The Movie, which is not only incredibly influential on this show, but has seen elements of it increasingly adopted by the comics as well.

That holographic map of Kryptonopolis looks pretty cool, too. I can’t attest to whether or not this is the first mention of Kryptonopolis in the Arrowverse (we’ve had plenty of talk of Kandor and Argo City, of course).

Also, in the Son of Superman story by Peter Tomasi and Patrick Gleason which helped introduce Jon Kent in the comics, Clark does indeed take his son to the Fortress for evaluation after he first starts to display his powers. Only there it’s a much younger Jonathan (since Jordan has yet to be introduced in the pages of DC Comics).

Jor-El

That’s Angus McFayden (Braveheart) as Jor-El and he looks pretty cool in the role. It’s only recent portrayals of the character that have given him facial hair, which has also become the standard in the comics, too (in the past, Jor-El often looked pretty much indistinguishable from his son). Even though Clark said in the previous episode that his mom made him the costume (at least that cool early version we saw), it’s important to note that the “S” is still very much intended as the family crest of the House of El, just as it has been established on Supergirl.

There’s one other neat touch on Jor-El’s costume that feels like another nod to Superman: The Movie, though. The black and white color scheme is very similar to how Marlon Brando’s Jor-El dressed in that film, and in particular, the white sections of the costume reflect light in a way that’s very reminiscent of those costumes. It’s really cool.

New Carthage

Lois makes reference to some failed investments that Morgan Edge made in New Carthage. New Carthage is a fictional town in the DC Universe, roughly located around upstate New York like Poughkeepsie or New Paltz or somewhere. And like that latter college town, it’s the home of Hudson University, where Dick Grayson went to college. Folks, if this show is gonna keep dropping Batman deep cuts, I’m just gonna have to keep pointing ’em out!

Batman? Is that you?

On that note…Moldova is a real country, albeit one that was parodied/fictionalized as “Moldavia” in the very first episode of the 1966 Batman TV series, “Hi Diddle Riddle.” If you want to include the “Rory’s First Kiss” joke on the movie marquee from episode 1, this is the second Batman Easter egg on the show. No? Too much?

Friday Night Lights

The Smallville High football team is coached by “Coach Gaines.” Gary Gaines was the Permian Panthers football coach who was played by Billy Bob Thornton in Friday Night Lights. Helbing has also pointed out the Friday Night Lights vibes they want to evoke on this show with its football sequences, and how Lois and Clark handle small town parenting.

Conduit

The Sequoia movie theater has some graffiti that seems to be the initials BK or KB. Could this be Kenny Braverman, the supervillain known as Conduit who knew Clark had powers back in Smallville? OK, fine, I’m probably reaching here.

Miscellaneous Stuff…

The moving company that the Kents use to move from Metropolis to Smallville is called “Change of Pace” with the slogan “Go anywhere, anytime.” This may or may not be an echo of a sentiment Superman & Lois showrunner Todd Helbing expressed to me in a recent interview about the decision to move Superman’s base of operations. “The way we approached it was, if Flash is the guardian of Central City and Supergirl is the guardian of National City, Superman is the guardian of the world,” Helbing says. “So it really doesn’t matter where Superman’s based. He can fly anywhere in the world in a matter of seconds. Once you understand that, it really doesn’t matter where his home turf is… it could be anywhere.”

The post Superman & Lois Episode 2 DC Comics and Movie Easter Eggs and References appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[deltamovies]

Man of Steel Free Full HD watch online & movie trailer

Release Year: 2013

Rating: 7.1/10 ( voted)

Critic's Score: /100

Director: Zack Snyder

Stars: Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Michael Shannon

Storyline A young boy learns that he has extraordinary powers and is not of this Earth. As a young man, he journeys to discover where he came from and what he was sent here to do. But the hero in him must emerge if he is to save the world from annihilation and become the symbol of hope for all mankind.

Writers: David S. Goyer, David S. Goyer, Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Michael Shannon, Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Michael Shannon, Diane Lane, Russell Crowe, Antje Traue, Harry Lennix, Richard Schiff, Christopher Meloni, Kevin Costner, Ayelet Zurer, Laurence Fishburne, Dylan Sprayberry, Cooper Timberline, Richard Cetrone, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Cast: Henry Cavill –

Clark Kent / Kal-El

Amy Adams –

Lois Lane

Michael Shannon –

General Zod

Diane Lane –

Martha Kent

Russell Crowe –

Jor-El

Antje Traue –

Faora-Ul

Harry Lennix –

General Swanwick

Richard Schiff –

Dr. Emil Hamilton

Christopher Meloni –

Colonel Nathan Hardy

Kevin Costner –

Jonathan Kent

Ayelet Zurer –

Lara Lor-Van

Laurence Fishburne –

Perry White

Dylan Sprayberry –

Clark Kent (13 Years)

Cooper Timberline –

Clark Kent (9 Years)

Richard Cetrone –

Tor-An

Details

Official Website: Official Facebook |

Official Facebook [Brazil] |

Country: USA, Canada, UK

Language: English

Release Date: 3 Jan 2013

Filming Locations: Lone Pine, California, USA

Box Office Details

Budget: $225,000,000

(estimated)

Opening Weekend: $116,619,362

(USA) (14 June 2013)

Gross: $291,021,565

(USA) (13 September 2013)

Technical Specs

Runtime: 143 min

Did You Know?

Trivia: The majority of the action scenes use a CGI cape for Superman, and CGI armor for the other Kryptonians. See more »

Goofs: In the oil platform rescue scene, the USCG helicopter refers to itself by its number "6510." However, Coast Guard helicopters are numbered by type. 65 would mean it is an MH65 Dolphin. The helicopter shown was an MH60 Jayhawk (based on the SH65 Seahawk, based on the UH60 Blackhawk). The aircraft number and callsign should start with 60 instead of 65. See more »

Quotes: [

User Review

Author:

Rating: I know what the critics has said. They complained about too much action, superman being too serious, lack of romance, etc. Since Zack Snyder directed this movie, I don't think he cared about the critics. Don't get me wrong, he DOES care about the fans' opinion. Seems like he really wanted to really satisfy the fans. I see why critics complained about too much action. For me it's just his way to satisfy the viewers. This is the kind of movie that is just really satisfying. When the movie ended, I got that 'satisfying' feeling instead of the 'wanting more' feeling. It's like it was really enough.

Even Snyder's best movies (before this) which were 300 & Watchmen didn't have more ratings than 64% on Rotten Tomatoes. I think the fans should have anticipated the bad reviews. His style is actually what critics hate. The over the top action and CGI is actually his trademark. So, even from the beginning, I think this is actually the kind of movie the producers wanted. About the lack of romance, I really do think it's saved for the sequel. The sequel will definitely explore more about the relationship between Clark and Lois. This film focused on 2 aspects: the origin (krypon,struggle finding his place) & the action (Zod and his army). Don't expect humor or romance.

The visuals were spectacular! What's best about this movie is its action scenes. The action were just relentless. I think the fans would not be disappointed at all. Yes, I know there is only a very few humor this movie but that actually doesn't even matter. The battle between Superman & Zod will definitely 'wow' everyone but the critics. I mean who cares about the critics opinion? A superhero movie MUST NOT be judged by the critics opinion, what's more important is the audience's opinion about the movie and especially the fans'. I think the movie really delivered. Most people will definitely like this movie. I am really sure that many fanboys will consider this as the best comic book of all time. This is a MUST SEE for people who like action movie. The action were better than last year's The Avengers.

The sequel really have a great potential. Considering the minimum amount of romance in this movie (since they just knew each other, and superman was also more focused on Zod), the next movie could explore more of that. One of the things missing from the movie was also the presence of Clark Kent at the daily planet. It's one of the trade marks. But, I believe the sequel will show more scenes in the Daily Planet which is interesting to see.

As a conclusion, I think Man of Steel is so far the best action movie this year. This movie really is a Snyder movie. But it also has a quite lot of nolan-esque feel to it especially in the around first 45 minutes.

If this was compared to Iron man 3, if Iron man 3 was a 7, this movie is a 8.6.

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[amateurfan227]

Trailer Talk Review - IT and Justice League

Hey guys, I’m back with another review on 2 separate movies this time, The reboot (or remake in this case) of Stephen King’s miniseries based on the novel, IT as well as DC’s recent trailer for the upcoming Justice League which does look promising though it has some flaws.

I’ll start with IT first as I will dive into Justice League more openly, So Pennywise is back with a new movie, I saw the trailer and I have to admit, it does look creepy like the book’s feelings but it doesn’t have the same scares as the book or the miniseries contain; for making a movie based on a book which is over 1000 pages long is going to be quite difficult, I mean Peter Jackson did make a trilogy of Lord of the Rings which is technically six books.

I think it’s both a good and a bad idea, I’ll go with the negatives first, the book is more focused on Fear which is what the creature IT resembles, as well as the child protagonists returning back in the future when they are more older and more wiser to fight the creature off for good. The novel also seems to fit into some horrific imagery as well such as Homosexuality is frequently mentioned as well as Derry’s background history is mentioned towards Pennywise.

However seeing that all the things mentioned above are frequently mentioned in the book, I wonder on how this will be mentioned in the film, another note to add on the trailer is that in the book, there was a bully who tormented the children who went to the same school as them, who also encountered Pennywise who would become a secondary antagonist for the heroes.

I would also like to add on how in the book, it mainly revolved around the adults who were suffering from major flashbacks which would explain why they were afraid of it, mainly towards Billy as he feels more responsible on getting his brother killed, this too is mentioned in the book as he’s a lot more aggressive against Pennywise.

I dislike the fact that they refuse to show Pennywise as he was more of a fearful essence rather than a standard figure in the miniseries as well as the book; that would include the balloons as they would resemble his abilities aside from his appearance. Though the saying, ‘less means more’ is a huge negative when it comes to the trailer.

Another thing that brought to my attention is that in the first few chapters, Mike (apologies for racial stereotyping, the black kid) now grown up is researching a series of child deaths which closely resemble It’s return which is a huge motivation to call the older kids back to finish it off, however in the trailer this is never mentioned, only missing persons posters.

The main concern is making it into one movie as it should be panned out better into 2 movies like the miniseries which got it completely right, though the miniseries had some flaws; I think that the movie however would suffer the most consequences when it comes to adapting it straight from the novel.

The positive notes however is that the appearance on Pennywise looks more deceiving than Tim Curry’s performance as the killer clown, mainly because he sticks more to the shadows than Curry did when he was out more in the open, this would raise a bunch of questions though when it comes to displaying Pennywise’s abilities of fear manipulation mainly shape-shifting into other people as he did in the miniseries.

Though the movie does look interesting, I’m going to have to watch another trailer to give my final thought, now for the next trailer which is Justice League which is going to trigger a few people off who hate Man of Steel as well as Batman Vs Superman.

I’m going to put the elephant in the room first by stating that I love Man of Steel, it’s possible one of the closest adaptations to the Superman mythos especially when it comes to an origin story, though the movie is heavily flawed, it’s easier to see the movies logic to get past them.

A lot of people are stating that Superman is officially dead after watching this movie because he breaks his rule by stating ‘Superman killed Zod’ ‘What’s with Jonathon Kent giving him different advice’ ‘Why is Louis Lane so important in this film’ ‘Why was Superman so important to Zod’.

I can see the negatives in those questions but I see more positives that were answered by the movie’s logic, to answer the first question on him killing Zod, which are a few statements I like to mention first.

There was a reason why this movie was called Man of Steel, meaning that Kal-El is not Superman yet, he’s still learning his abilities as well as his heritage which leads up to the name Man of Steel; The reason why he killed off Zod is that Kal-El destroyed the remaining Kryptonian technology as well as the people who were the last survivors of the planet which gave Zod a motive in stating that he will either kill everyone on the Planet.

Leading Kal-El to kill him to save the rest of humanity, another thing that got my attention is that everyone hated him for killing of the last Kryptonian; may I just remind you that he killed Zod in a noble fashion rather than in the second movie in 1980 where he removed all of Zod’s abilities rendering him mortal leading him to break his hand only to throw him into an eternal pit, only to smirk off after it.

The other question is relating to Jonathon Kent on giving Clark different advice, I only managed to trace a few answers to this occurrence including his fatal death, I believe that he was testing his son at the very beginning shortly after suggesting to let a bunch of kids die such as he wasn’t meant for this world.

It also includes later on which lead to them both having an argument on how Clark should act when he’s older which lead to the ultimate test, letting Jonathon die into leading Kal-El’s persona as Clark as an average person to avoid attention, which is pretty hard-hitting. Though the answers I made are misleading but put your-self in his shoes.

The Louis Lane one for me is pretty misleading though it does show something that we’ve not seen in any Superman Movie, Louis Lane doing actual research when it comes to investigating journalism, this is possibly one of the best things I’ve seen her do aside from casting smug remarks and just being there as a damsel in distress.

Though why Zod requests her to be brought in is another thing as well as her being the one that Clark/Kal-El eventually fell for is entirely beyond me.

And now for the final question on why does Zod want Superman, seeing that he’s the most common villain towards Superman, a lot of people miss the fact that in the beginning of the movie Jor-El placed the remaining Codec into Kal-El’s body when he was young infant whom is the last natural birth on Krypton.

The Codec however was important to the Kryptonian army as it contains billions of years of Kryptonian DNA, which would grant Zod the ability to create a new army of Kryptonian hybrids of modified DNA. Which I believe most of the people viewing the film would mistake as the only reason why Zod wanted the Codec as it was the only secondary thing that was natural to Kryptonian history.

The trailer for Justice League... this is something I’m pretty confused by as well as invested, let’s get some of the negatives out of the way first, the ideas of making the heroes act more like teenagers was a bit of a bad situation which made it more deceitful to the material, mainly the new 52 which the franchise would be based on.

But I’m going to have put credit where it’s due by stating that it is an interesting looking trailer for a team superhero film rather than an independent hero movie, unlike the Avengers (who pretty much killed people through their independent movies), let’s get through some of the characters first, the first attention would go to Victor Stone himself aka Cyborg and boy Mr Snyder, you’ve made a pretty good choice on this one.

I hate to say it but this is pretty much from the comic, a random teenager who was badly injured leading his father to place him in a biological metallic suit which was created by one of the signature mother boxes that Darkseid was using, though I’ve not seen Ray Fisher in his broadway appearances, I’m pretty sure that he’ll do a good impression on Victor Stone.

Aquaman on the other hand was more of a running joke which I despised mostly because his powers were more closer to godlike level rather than just a man who can control water and fish, but now seeing Jason Momoa is playing the character which is given a huge bonus as he looked absolutely incredible in the trailer.

Don’t get me wrong, Momoa is seen as a bad-ass actor in different shows like Stargate but most notably in Game of Thrones where he relies on brute strength when it comes to his character but seeing him in this would be the definition of both strength in physical form as well as diplomatic form depending on which route they go with his character.

The Flash on the other hand is way different from the novel as he’s more of a science fan rather than a colleague with the CCPD (Central City) but seeing that the actor Ezra Miller who starred in We Need To Talk About Kevin, is an interesting choice but I’m not 100% sure that he will be the iconic scarlet speedster that most people will fall for.

Wonder Woman however is something that I’m expecting will possibly be the greatest out of the film as she was more independent in the New 52 as she would be more active towards her own missions which would allow the league to join her, such as going after Cheetah (whom was a former friend when she arrived in the U.S.A from Themyscira.

As well as Batman for example who I believe would show the same aggression towards the oncoming threats that would scour our world but though the trailer as he searches for the other heroes, it appears that he’s more able to find the truth on others aside from seeking Clark’s/Kal-El’s forgiveness for attacking him in the first place.

Though the trailer does look interesting in some parts such as the introduction of James Gordon as well as the landscapes that Bruce Wayne goes to find Aquaman as well as the visual effects of what’s to come towards the movie, though the main problem is the fact that it’s more based on being kid friendly which is something I do admire but at least make it less childish or less immature towards the future trailers.

There is another trailer talk review in development which will come shortly after this will be posted.

I would also like to post my sincere apologies that I’ve placed less reviews this year which is going to change very quickly.