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Man of Steel, a review by Dragonfire

Man of Steel



This is a reboot of the Superman movies, going back and dealing with the origins of the character again.  I really enjoyed Superman Returns, though I know a lot of people didn't and the decision was made to restart the movies.  Christopher Nolan is a producer and he worked on the story as well, so that made me hopeful before I saw the movie.

Once again, the movie starts on Krypton, though more time is spent there and a little more about the planet is shared.  I liked that more of Krypton is shared and thing it looks very interesting.  Jor-El has a decent amount to do this time, something else that I liked.  A sort of hologram of him does turn up later in the movie too and it seems like it is more able to interact. Zod is an actual military general, in charge of the safety for the entire planet.  He agrees with Jor-El about the planet being in danger, but his method for dealing with it is very different and gets him and his followers sent to the phantom zone.  After the bit on Krypton, the movie jumps forward to show Clark as an adult, trying to figure out how to use his abilities.  Important moments from his childhood are shown through flashbacks.  That does mess with the flow just a bit, but it works overall.  Clark discovers who he really is and meets Lois Lane when Zod shows up.

I did end up seeing this one in 3D because of the start times.  The 3D didn't add anything, though I have discovered that fewer people tend to go to the 3D shows, so it wasn't as crowded.  The effects are done well, though I do get why some people have said there was too much focus on the effects.  Later in the movie, there is massive action that wipes out a lot of Smallville before moving on to Metropolis where several buildings are destroyed when Superman and Zod fight.  That does go on a little longer than it needed to, though I do think it is needed to show that Zod is just as strong  and he won't be stopped easily. 

While some things are the same, there are other things that are a little different.  Most of those things I think worked for the movie. Jonathan especially is shown to keep telling Clark that he has to keep his abilities a secret no matter what.  That just doesn't exactly seem like Jonathan to me.  While it is clear he loves Clark, he doesn't seem as supportive as other versions of the character have been.  A lot of people have been upset by something that happens late in the movie.  I'm not exactly thrilled by how that thing worked out, but I also see why it was done and how it will play into the future for Superman as well. 

I really like this version of Lois.  She was always capable, and smart, but somehow, this Lois seems a little smarter.  Superman does save her at times, but she isn't just a damsal in distress and she is active in an attempt to deal with Zod and everything that is going on. 

Man of Steel has a few issues, but it is a very good movie that works well overall.  It is worth seeing.



I did post a longer review on Epinions.

Man of Steel

(From Man of Steel - No Spoilers on June 25th, 2013)

Main Hoon Na, a review by dfmorgan

Main Hoon Na: Collector's Edition (2003/India) (United Kingdom) Director: Farah Khan Writing: Farah Khan (Original Material By), Rajesh Saathi (Screenwriter), Abbas Tyrewala (Screenwriter) Length: 175 min. Video: Widescreen 2.20:1 Audio: Hindi: Dolby Digital: 5.1, Commentary: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround Subtitles: English

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Stars:
Shahrukh Khan as Maj. Ram Prasad Sharma
Sushmita Sen as Chandni
Sunil Shetty as Raghavan
Zayed Khan as Laxman Prasad Sharma
Amrita Rao as Sanjana

Plot:Extras:

• Scene Access
• Feature Trailers
• Deleted Scenes
• Featurettes
• Production Notes
• Music Videos
• Closed Captioned

A quite enjoyable film. It started as a full blown action fest but soon changed to the more normal Bollywood song and dance, with minor action bits, leading to the romance elements before ending in another action fest. There were elements of The Matrix and Mission Impossible within the action sequences and to me the final action sequences set in a church were a nod to John Woo films especially with the white doves flying around. Overall this was enjoyable but I had a couple of quibbles, but then again the expected outcome wouldn't occur if you didn't suspend belief at points in the majority of films. My main quibbles were the resolution to the family conflict and the fact that to fall in love all you have to do is dress feminine if you're the female and b) cut your hair if you're the male.



Rating: an enjoyable 3

Editted to remove an incorrect aspect within the review.

(From Dave's DVD/Blu-ray Reviews on March 5th, 2012)

The One Where It All Began: The Pilot Marathon, a review by DJ Doena

What's the show about?
Dean and Sam Winchester are brothers. 22 years ago a yellow-eyed demon killed their mother. Since then their father has been on the hunt for all kinds of supernatural beings and phenomenon.  Sam once tried to get out of the "family business" but after his father went missing and his girlfriend was murdered in the very same way his mother was he has rejoined with his brother. They fight against vampires, ghosts and everything else you dare not think about in the middle of the night.

"Pilot"
22 years ago. John Winchester has to evacuate his son Dean and infant son Sam out of the house after something pinned his wife onto the ceiling and set her on flames. Present day. Sam has stopped hunting two years ago and studies at Stanford now. But suddenly his brother Dean stands in the door and announces that their dad has gone missing while being on a hunt. Sam agrees to accompany Dean on this one thing to find their father - only 'til Monday.

My Opinion
I was never really into horror stories, but shows like Buffy and Angel brought me closer to the topic and since I liked Jensen Ackles in Smallville's fourth season I thought to give it a try. And it's a great show. Except for the fact that there's a monster of the week every episode is totally different due to the very nature of the supernatural being. There's also an overall story arc that includes the yellow-eyed demon, fallen angels and the apocalypse.

(From The One Where It All Began: The Pilot Marathon on September 2nd, 2009)