This movie is pure joy. And amid all the hijinks and great tunes, the message is pretty clear. We all do need someone to love. I am fortunate to have several people in my life that I care about, especially my wife Shawna. Hope you like the tune hon. I love you!
I would also like to send this one out to all who have played a part in this journey that is my life. Whatever the part is or was, I appreciate it all, and remember it all (even though some of it is now almost 30 years ago!) Guess the old "If you remember the[insert decade], you weren't really there" adage has moved up at least a couple decades...yikes!
I love you all. Have a great night!
And on the off chance that Mr. Dan Aykroyd reads this, thank you sir. For this and for everything.
MTMG
Wednesday, January 8, 2014
Soul-Swapping Superman
As far as Man Of Steel goes, it is a marked improvement over 2006's Superman Returns, which amid the 70's Richard Donner styling got mired in the muck of TV plotting and acting more suited to the long-running TV show Smallville.
So any other films under the Bryan Singer Returns template were wisely scrapped, and everyone at Warner Brothers went back to the drawing board for seven years.
And after all that time, these were the three main things I noticed about Man of Steel:
1) Russell Crowe and Michael Shannon, playing Supe's father Jor-El and General Zod respectively, do a great job of fleshing out a story arc hinted at in the 1978 film. We understand now how they moved from being comrades on Krypton to bitter enemies. We can even understand Zod's path from patriotism to megalomania, even if we don't agree or sympathize. There is enough plot in the first half-hour for a Netflix Original series called Jor-El And Zod.
2) Kevin Costner anchors every scene that he's in as Jonathan Kent, the future Superman's adoptive father, who offers Clark life-shaping advice on determining exactly what kind of man his son is going to be.
3) As Lois Lane, Amy Adams is just warming up for her absolutely dominant, confident performance in American Hustle. In Man Of Steel, she does her best to liven up the obligatory love-interest role. She does this by alternately bucking Clark up and saving his butt. Holy cow, could the mighty Superman be just another henpecked male like the rest of us?
You may wonder why I haven't mentioned Henry Cavill as Clark/Superman yet. The reason is simple. Both Superman and Clark - and consequently Cavill - are overwhelmed by everyone and everything going on in the film. Cavill certainly has the right Superman physique, and projects a certain aura. But the sad fact is...
...in Man Of Steel Superman has no soul.
Plain and simple.
The truth and justice motif is there, but it has been sucked out of Superman and transferred to fathers Kent and Jor-El by screenwriter David S. Goyer. Superman is a mere cipher, just waiting to be lectured to, loved and saved, only reaching his true potential in the last fifteen minutes or so.
And the success of the Dark Knight trilogy notwithstanding, does every superhero movie have to be so dark? Or can we at least have a dark/light mix, as Marvel has?
MTMG
So any other films under the Bryan Singer Returns template were wisely scrapped, and everyone at Warner Brothers went back to the drawing board for seven years.
And after all that time, these were the three main things I noticed about Man of Steel:
1) Russell Crowe and Michael Shannon, playing Supe's father Jor-El and General Zod respectively, do a great job of fleshing out a story arc hinted at in the 1978 film. We understand now how they moved from being comrades on Krypton to bitter enemies. We can even understand Zod's path from patriotism to megalomania, even if we don't agree or sympathize. There is enough plot in the first half-hour for a Netflix Original series called Jor-El And Zod.
2) Kevin Costner anchors every scene that he's in as Jonathan Kent, the future Superman's adoptive father, who offers Clark life-shaping advice on determining exactly what kind of man his son is going to be.
3) As Lois Lane, Amy Adams is just warming up for her absolutely dominant, confident performance in American Hustle. In Man Of Steel, she does her best to liven up the obligatory love-interest role. She does this by alternately bucking Clark up and saving his butt. Holy cow, could the mighty Superman be just another henpecked male like the rest of us?
You may wonder why I haven't mentioned Henry Cavill as Clark/Superman yet. The reason is simple. Both Superman and Clark - and consequently Cavill - are overwhelmed by everyone and everything going on in the film. Cavill certainly has the right Superman physique, and projects a certain aura. But the sad fact is...
...in Man Of Steel Superman has no soul.
Plain and simple.
The truth and justice motif is there, but it has been sucked out of Superman and transferred to fathers Kent and Jor-El by screenwriter David S. Goyer. Superman is a mere cipher, just waiting to be lectured to, loved and saved, only reaching his true potential in the last fifteen minutes or so.
And the success of the Dark Knight trilogy notwithstanding, does every superhero movie have to be so dark? Or can we at least have a dark/light mix, as Marvel has?
MTMG
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