Superman, Man Of Steel

I saw MAN OF STEEL, and I enjoyed the hell out of it.

I think 'Superman: The Movie' is fantastic, and always will be. but its also a Superman movie of its time. It took the character as depicted in the movie serials and TV shows before it, and put him in the 1970's. It's a very safe and PC movie. 'Superman II' is very one note, and poorly thought out all around. And that series of movies imploded almost immediately afterward with 'Superman III' and 'Superman IV:The Quest For Peace'. 'Superman Returns' was the rock bottom. A movie so driven by nostalgia and afraid of change that it twisted itself, and mutated, into what may be one of the worst Superhero films ever made.

Really the strongest interpretation of Superman outside the comics in the past 20 years was seen in 'Superman: The Animated Series', 'Justice League' and 'Justice League Unlimited' on television. The guys behind those shows as well as the other DC Comic animated shows and movies got it, and got it wonderfully. Superman looks for the positive, he can get pissed, he can punch the hell out of the bad guys, he's not invincible, he's not perfect, he tries to do the right thing but sometimes he doesn't. The comics have been doing that for decades already, and the folks from Warner Brothers animation went for it with those series'.

MAN OF STEEL feels like a combination of both the comic book Superman and the STAS/JL/JLU Superman. The energy, the positivity, the heroism, the humanity, its all there. People have issues with the destruction, with the drama, with the fact that the film takes the material seriously, but most of all they have a problem with the ending of one of the characters. I understand where they're coming from, I really do. But where was the outrage with the endings of certain characters in Christopher Nolan's Batman Trilogy, or the endings of certain characters in any of the MARVEL movies. And if you want to talk about destruction how about the huge amounts of destruction in all of MARVEL's movies. MAN OF STEEL is what it is, and I enjoyed it. Its a perfectly legitimate interpretation of Superman, and one that doesn't make me want to rip my own head off in frustration.

Go see it.