Man Of Steel Review

A hard-hitting reboot that draws heavy inspiration from Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Trilogy, but for all its over the top action ironically lacks the one important thing associated with the character - heart.

 

Man, who takes these pictures? Did Superman get someone up here with him and say, "Alright, make sure you get me with my cape billowing in the wind and with a really serene expression on my face."

Man Of Steel has been out for the weekend and if you haven't seen it...it's your loss. There is so much to love about this movie. However, we live in a world where nothing is perfect, and Man Of Steel does falter in some aspects such as dialogue. Mild spoilers lie ahead but real spoilers will be hidden, so relax.

What Worked:

Up, up and away!!

The casting. Henry Cavill may be the best Metropolis Marvel yet. His defined cheekbones and muscular physique are more than enough to convince us that he is the right guy for the role. He really brings his A-game here, expressing a range of emotions that help to portray a man that is struggling to find his place in an alien world. Another favourite would be Russell Crowe as Jor-El, Kal-El's father. His somber yet at (rare) times fierce performance really is something. Michael Shannon as General Zod, Diane Lane as Martha Kent and Kevin Costner as Jonathan Kent are also worthy of mention, each bringing something unforgettable to the table, be it psychotic rage or tender care.

The flashbacks. A lot of the movie depicts Clark's journey from a boy to a man, constantly struggling to accept and deal with who he is.

"Oh cheer up son, I meant whiny twat in a good way."

My favorite among these scenes is when he is in the classroom as a child, and suddenly discovers that he has these extraordinary abilities and is subsequently overwhelmed and disoriented by the sudden onslaught of noise. Another would be would be how he takes the drink being poured all over his face after he defends his girlfriend and demonstrates incredible self-control and restraint, but still proves his humanity by totaling the guy's ride. They help to convince us that Clark is human and give more payoff to the story.


The Action:

"I can do this all day!!"

The action in this movie is amazing. Superman's powers (except frost breath, but that may be a good thing as it leaves him room to evolve in the sequel) are all a visual treat. Heat vision in particular is just awesome. You can really feel the intensity and pure power when he uses it. Kryptonian combat is a joy to watch, as since they all possess super speed and strength, there is some real impact and weight during the fight scenes. Oh and the scene bellow -

If your inner child didn't scream in delight when watching this, you are most likely dead inside. Or a girl.

Pure epicness. Easily my favourite scene in the movie. The other would be when Clark saves his mother from Zod by tackling him and and pounding the living crap out of him.Steak sauce.

What Didn't Work:

The dialogue. There is very little humour or wit in this movie, and that makes it a little dry sometimes.It definitely doesn't have to be over the top, but they shouldn't take Supes so seriously. The dialogue is all very expository at times and doesn't feel very human or natural (and not in the good way).

The romance. I understand why Clark would fall for Lois since she's the only one that really gets him as Superman and Clark Kent, and Lois would like Clark because Henry Cavill. But given the short amount of time they had together on screen and the relatively unemotional conversations that they shared, it seems way too quick to introduce the romance.

"...so the "S" stands for hope huh?"

The deaths. Jonathan Kent's death is just stupid. Instead of a clean, simple heart attack like in the comics, which really drove home the fact that for all of Superman's gifts, he can't stop everything, Jonathan ordering Clark not to save him is just unreasonable. Does he not care how this would impact them? I didn't mind Jor-El being killed by Zod but I hated the fact that he overpowered Zod only to die because he stupidly let his guard down for no good reason. He should have at least incapacitated Zod first.

The action is overkill. I'm all for action in an action movie but there is so much and with so little non-action scenes in between to give us a break towards the end, it loses its impact and becomes a little too over the top for my taste.

What's the lowdown?: Man Of Steel is by no means bad, but there was so much potential that I find myself disappointed. Zack Synder clearly has a lot of good ideas (which is probably why the trailers seemed to promise us a complete candy-land) but the un-natural dialogue and over the top action prevents this movie from being all it could have been. 8/10.

What's Next?:

Isn't it sad that none of these characters have ever seen the big screen? I mean...oh wait I remember now...damn that explains why DC is afraid to get off the Bats and Supes train.

A Justice League movie is inevitable, but the lack of a post-credit scene makes me wonder when and how will they start properly creating some REAL connections to allude to it (Corporate logos aren't enough, I want Batman to get his ass down and clap his hands menacingly). The New 52 Justice League story "Origins" seemed like what we could expect from a JL movie but if it is to happen, DC need to get their act together.

Man Of Steel 2 could and should consider Metallo, Lex Luthor or Brainac in my opinion. But there needs to be something that can give this god-like being a real challenge or it will feel meaningless.

Iron Man 3 Review

 “As he fights his way back, Stark discovers the answer to the question that has secretly haunted him: does the man make the suit or does the suit make the man?” – Movie solicitation, Walt Disney Pictures

Let's get one thing out of the way. This movie was better than Iron Man 2. It is on par with Iron Man. It is really something that you can't miss. Alright, here we go.

After the events of The Avengers, Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is left suffering from feelings of insecurity and anxiety as a result of the startling events that he has witnessed. He has therefore amassed a huge number of armors during the period between the events of the two movies (he's on Mark 42 now) and repeatedly emphasizes the importance of Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) in his life. 

Unlike the previous disaster that was Iron Man 2, Iron Man 3 doesn't attempt to up the stakes with shoddy attempts at alcoholism. Instead, Director Shane Black decides to focus on the ramifications of Captain America's question to Tony Stark in The Avengers; "Take that (the suit) away, what are you?" Thus, in case the trailers and TV spots did not make it clear enough for you, there is a lot of focus on Stark starting with practically nothing and having to use his genius to spend limited resources well, which makes for an extremely interesting plot. The director wisely keeps Stark out of the suit for just enough time to make those moments when he actually IS Iron Man more worthy of the buzz. Going any further would encroach on the forbidden spoiler territory, so let's move on. Just know that the script for this movie deviates significantly from your typical run-of-the-mill superhero flick.

The acting for this movie for the most part, is top notch. I get the feeling that Downey Jr. is somewhat more relaxed and is having more fun than usual in his role as Stark. He quips and quivers in equal measure and successfully displays a wide range of emotions. Ben Kingsley's performance as The Mandarin is also commendable, although die-hard Marvel fans may disagree. The rest of the cast pulled off their roles as well, so no qualms in the fields of casting.

The action in this movie is great. I think everyone will have this image in their heads upon hearing "action".

That sound you just heard was your inner child screaming in ecstasy

Yes, this scene was as good as I had expected it to be given the budget restraints, but it was still really entertaining. The times when Stark is out of his armor and given his own fighting scenes and has to solely rely on his wits are also surprisingly engaging.

There are just a few nitpicks that I have with the movie. Firstly, there are definitely some pacing problems with some scenes given too much time and the ending being way too neat and convenient which made it feel rushed. Also, I'm not a fan with this over comical presentation of the Iron Patriot and the Mandarin. The question of where are the rest of the Avengers and SHIELD during Tony's crisis is also never answered. Even the after credits scene felt a little underwhelming given the after credits scenes of The Avengers and Captain America.

At the end of the day though, Iron Man 3 is a slightly rushed but still wholly entertaining action flick that raises the bar for future Marvel projects. 

8/10

SNSD - I Got A Boy MV + Song Review

Oh boy oh boy...there is so much crap to cover with SNSD's first Korean comeback in over a year. Let me start by talking about the MV. On the positive side, the girls all look pretty good. I'm nuts for Yulsic, and they looked really cute so that was nice. 

CANT TAKE IT

im the teddy bear

The rest even Hyoyeon look ok as well. But Sunny...oh dear lord. Did you piss off some stylist into giving you blue hair on top of that ridiculous purple hair? You used to be so full of aegyo, but now i just feel really annoyed. 

Just no...

Some have mentioned that the outfits are too colorful, and that is generally true in this case. So so far so good right? A decent MV for a top girl group. So all we need is a solid title track to really drive it home and we can all celebrate SNSD's comeback. So how was the title track? In short...

weeeeeeee

Its horribly disjointed and incredibly unnatural on the first listen. A few more didn't really help as well. I'll say what i liked about the 5songs in 1 fiasco title track and talk about what I didn't in the next paragraph. The individual parts all show real potential, especially the "I got a boy handsome boy" chorus. That's why i was really hoping this was a medley instead of a title track and someone at SM made a horrible mistake. I really don't understand why they didn't just pick one of the distinct melodies and make a kick-ass title song. This is just really messy and disorganized much like my room. A lot of people are whining about the rapping, but I honestly thought it was okay, really enjoyed Yoona's part and I don't even like her that much. It was really catchy and enjoyable IMO.

Listen SM. You tested SONE's patience with The Boys. Now you are clearly just trying to see how much bullshit we'll endure just because its SNSD. That's the only logical reason I can come up with for this train wreck. I don't believe for one second that no one didn't get chills from listening to this. Maybe he/she/they brought it up and was/were thrown into the SM dungeon of the Forgotten along with TRAX and f(x). Alternatively, someone at a boring brainstorming session bet another that SONEs would accept this highlight medley and endlessly defend it as a title track. If that was the case, that guy must be laughing his way to the bank now.

This is just lazy. I've read some comments about it being "innovative" and "revolutionary". Bullshit. If being unnerving and disjointed is apparently being "innovative" and "revolutionary", then I will say without any shame that I rather go back to the Genie days. For example, the English adlibs are shameless thinly disguised veils to conceal the lack of flow between the varying tempos. The flow in this song is about as comfortable as having a man dig his ear with his finger, lick it and rub it all over his sweaty body before inserting his unholy finger into your ear. Speaking of which, just because you know English doesn't mean that you should overuse it to this extent. I don't know why you do so anyway, because the punchline in this joke of a song would be that they hope to promote in the US with it.

I'm a SONE. But I won't bend to fan opinion and accept this smoldering wreckage. I want to like it, I really do. I was extremely excited with the teasers. But as much as I was underwhelmed with The Boys, it never came close to anything this has made me feel. At least that song had structure and form. IGAB may grow on me eventually, but while I have disliked previous songs for minor flaws such as repetitive and slightly dull choruses e.g. "MAMA", this song's flaws are just too unsettling to forgive.