Man of Steel. Entertaining but no "Super"man.

I went to see Man of Steel over the weekend with my 8 year old son.  He actually started getting a bit bored after about 1-1/2 hours.  In general the movie was entertaining and the flashbacks showing Clark growing up weren't bad.  The explanation of why Krypton was being destroyed and how Kal-El was different from other Kryptonians wasn't a bad twist either.

Although Henry Cavill and Amy Adams were the top billed stars, my favorite was Russell Crowe's portrayal of Jor-El.

Overall this reboot had one of the same major flaws that Star Trek Into Darkness had.  Plot direction.  When you are trying to create a new direction and new vision, don't go back and re-use the same villain from a previous version/movie.  Zod was a great villain in Superman II.  There are lots of other superpowered enemies Nolan and Goyer could have used to guarantee action:  Brainiac, Darkside, Mongul...  Doomsday would be good for a sequel. 


SPOILERS

The scene where Clark's mother, played by Diane Lane helps him start to learn focus so his super hearing and x-ray vision was good and it helped create a temporary vulnerability in other Kryptonians - who were overcome by the sounds picked up by their super hearing and got a bit freaked by the sudden onslaught of odd sights with uncontrolled x-ray vision when their helmets were compromised.  I get it.  Their suits/armor and helmets create a filter, but ONLY for those powers?  They still flew, has super strength, and super speed? 

Also, I wasn't fond of how easily Lois Lane tracked down Clark/Kal-El based on stories and rumors and then called him Clark throughout the movie, went to his mother's house...  Makes it kinda hard for him to setup a secret identity.  Superman himself doesn't make it any more discrete at the end when he knocks down the spy plan tracking him and then tells the General "I grew up in Kansas.  What could be more American?"  Did he have to be that specific?  He could have just commented on his growing up in the U.S. and never trying to seize power.  Zod had helped confirm that mentioning that Earth had been "sheltering one of his citizens." 

Bottom line.  Man of Steel was entertaining, but not super. 

So, 3 movies about Justice League heroes in recent years and only one really measured up?  If the movie powers that be are really thinking of a Justice League movie to match up with X-Men or Avengers success, they need a new direction.  Maybe hire the team that handled Smallville?

My Review of Captain America - Minor Spoilers

In a rare circumstance, I was actually able to be able to see a movie before it goes to the cheap theater or DVD.  I think it's funny that SyFy's been running marathons of The Greatest American Hero (loved that show) followed by a group of old second rate (or worse) Craptain America movies from the 70s and 80s (maybe early 90s, but they sucked).

Personally, I enjoyed doing my review of Transformers:  Dark of the Moon.  In that review, I made comparisons with the novel.  Well, the only book I could find for Captain America was for kids.  Oh well.

Bottom line is that if you aren't looking for Oscar calibre acting, screenplay or anything like that, you'll be entertained.  Not one of the best superhero movies, but certainly not the worst. 

Good:

• There was plenty of action without it really seeming too gratuitous.
• A couple of fun twists.
• Howard Stark's involvement throughout the movie.  Remember in Iron Man 2 that Nick Fury told Tony Stark that his father, Howard, was a founding member of SHIELD. 
• In the beginning, Captain America is a bit of a joke (More in the spoilers).
• Captain America's final line.  Not to sound too much like a spoiler, but there were a few references to finding the right dance partner between Steve Rogers and Agent Peggy Carter.  What's the line?  You'll have to see the movie.  It may not seem like much to most, but I liked it.

Bad:

• None of the characters seemed to have enough personality.  I've got nothing against Chris Evans, but he was a mediocre Captain America.  I really couldn't sympathize with the character when he was down.  I just didn't see the mastery of the attitudes you want like I found in Hugh Jackman's portrayal of Wolverine, Robert Downey Jr's Tony Stark/Iron Man, or even Eric Bana's Bruce Wayne/Batman.  Just not much personality.
• Hugo Weaving's German accent.  I love Hugo.  He's awesome, but a bit underwhelming as Red Skull.
• Fight between Captain America and Red Skull.  A bit anticlimactic.  In all actuality, I'd expect Cap to beat Red Skull much easier.  Why?  You get the impression Red Skull was always considered a tough guy.  Steve Rogers was the 89 lb weakling always getting beat up.  He was use to getting hit by bigger and stronger guys but he always got up.  I'd just say that he can take a punch better than Red Skull.
• Opening scene.  It takes place in modern day.  This and the ending scene are typically the scenes snuck in after the credits.

Spoilers below

• Finding Captain America's shield in the mysterious reckage during the first scene made it too obvious what would happen at the end.
• I can't help but wonder if that power source is going to be part of the Avenger's movie.  You can assume it's alien tech throughout the movie, and I think the near-ending confirms that pretty well.  Think about it - the whole plot leading up to the cube falling from the plane to be found by Howard Stark.  What happens to the cube? 
• Does anybody else thing Red Skull will return for Avengers?  It looked like he was teleported, not destroyed.  Why teleport him if you don't plan to send him back.
• Bucky dying was no big deal.  Remember what I said about the characters not having enough personality?  I didn't really fell a sense of loss from Steve Rogers regarding his friend.  I felt more sympathetic that he couldn't get drunk!
• I liked Captain America as a marketing tool for selling bonds rather than using him as a real soldier.  I don't know if that's how it worked for the comics, but I liked it.  When he's trying to entertain the troops and gets things thrown at him and the ridicule by the front line soldiers was, to me, one of  the best part.  It showed Steve Rogers that getting his new strength and power didn't automatically mean he'd gain the respect of those he wanted as his peers.