the Dalaverse

So I finally saw "Man of Steel." I had heard both good things and bad things, so I went in with an open mind. In the end my feelings are...very mixed.

There were elements of plot in there that I liked, but they didn't really hang together well. Like, it wasn't so much a plot at times, as much as just...stuff happening. Random scenes here and there, without transitions that made sense. It was bizarre.

I knew from the trailers that I was going to have problems with the color palette, and lo, I did. I just hate the washed-out, grayscale, dull and dreary visual style, especially for a Superman movie. Look, Superman's costume is blue and red with a touch of sunshine yellow, okay? That shit is okay for Gotham City, but it does not fly in Metropolis. And I actually would like the new costume, if it wasn't surrounded by all the unbroken darkness. Everybody's clothing was dark/neutral. Krypton was dark. Kansas was dark. The Fortress of Solitude was dark. I choose to blame this on Christopher Nolan. I blame so very much on Nolan, y'all.

But the worst was the dialogue. It was like...you know how you wince whenever Halle Berry lets out that line about what happens to toads when they're struck by lightning? Like that, but instead of one dud line, it's nearly two and a half hours of dud lines. I'm honestly trying to remember one genuinely meaningful or poignant or clever string of words, but it was just scene after scene of flat, predictable, painfully on-the-nose dialogue. The actors are doing their best; Russell Crowe very nearly succeeds with his effortless gravitas, but those are fleeting moments. And this is not the standard for a Snyder movie, but looking at David Goyer's writing credits, I see nothing I've enjoyed, so.

He does have a lot of video game credits, and there's another flaw: the violence wrought upon the landscape (mostly CGI of course) is so over-the-top that it becomes cartoonish. I realize half the cast are super powerful aliens but come on, how is anybody in Metropolis still alive after the events of this movie? It's jarring with the visual style because you can't have your superhero realism and eat it too - the movie takes itself uber-seriously, yet the action scenes devolve into video game destruction.

This is all a shame because the casting is spot-on. Henry Cavill has real charm and he plays Clark with believable sincerity. His body is...a good body to have. And his smile could stop my heart. And Lois! Lois is so freaking awesome! Lois has important shit to do, and does it competently, while wearing - wait for it - a sensible ponytail, a loose-fitting flightsuit, and actual combat boots. COMBAT. BOOTS. I really, really loved the characterization for Lois, wow, she is so much more than just a love interest in this movie. There are also lots of other ladies in varying degrees of supporting roles, including Zod's second in command (although the actress is unfortunately wooden). It might be the most gender-blind action movie I've ever seen, honestly. So huge props for that.

Is it just me or was Jonathan Kent kind of a dick? I wasn't really all that sad when he bit it, though that was a misstep, I think, having Clark lose his father so young. Made it seem like a rip-off of Uncle Ben.

Regarding the opening sequence, I liked the idea of seeing Krypton as a real pace, but it ended up feeling kind of generic Roman Empire-cum-space to me (and so damn dark, GOD). The only really nice, distinctive bit of world-building was the display during Jor-El's exposition scene, with the fluttering pewter stuff illustrating his words.

Oh, a concrete example of "random things happening and making no sense" - when those older kids yanked Clark out of a car (?) to bully him. What? Where were they? Why was Clark in a car? Did they all drive him out there en masse to pick on him? And where were they? Because his dad was right there. Who DOES that? I got the point they were trying to make about Clark using his strength, but it was so goddamn weird and poorly staged. And when he talks to the priest - again, I could see what they were trying to do, but it was short and random, and I was thoroughly distracted by the heavy-handed imagery of stained-glass Jesus offering himself up juuuust behind Henry Cavill's head. I like a good Christ allegory; I don't like to be beaten over the head with it (see also: "Snow White and the Huntsman").

I was a bit let down by Michael Shannon's performance - he is a phenomenal actor with extraordinary screen presence (go watch "Take Shelter" if you want to see one of the best acting performances of the past decade), but I didn't get a solid sense of Zod's megalomania and madness through most of the movie. Just that bit in the opening where he's shrieking about going to find Clark - more of that, please. But it's a fairly minor complaint.

It was fun spotting Helo and Gaeta. Alessandro Juliani was lookin' good with a little extra weight. Although I thought Chris Meloni was criminally underused.

A bit more on the Clark/Lois front - I have always shipped it like burning, and I do in this film. Cavill and Adams have nice chemistry, and I kind of love that she goes after him so hardcore, thus torpedoing the whole "Nobody knows Clark Kent is Superman" schtick. Which, yeah, is traditional, but I like this fresh take. That being said, it doesn't come off as romantic chemistry, necessarily, and I also appreciate that about it. It feels like they're slowing building a friendship that will develop into a romance. Which is why the kiss seems so out of place. It's just...weirdly placed, and not given the weight it should have, and Perry and Jenny Olson are awkwardly looking on, and then they ruin it with yet more face-palming dialogue. The moment that really works is after Superman kills Zod, when he's anguished at having taken this life even though it was necessary, and Lois comes to comfort him and he buries his face in her stomach. That was beautifully done and it should have served as the only 'shippy moment in this movie.

Oh! I did love the score. Not the customary Zimmer BRAAHHM-ing, but that lovely spare piano and the theme they used in the trailers.




Yeah. It was rather a frustrating movie-going experience. I really, really want to be on board with this franchise; Superman is the only DC property I really care about, and this cast could shine. But for the love of god, get somebody who has an ear for how humans actually speak to write the next one.

And fuck Christopher Nolan, who needs to keep his hands off the things I like. People can say whatever they want about JJ Abrams (although I am really getting sick of having the same conversation over and over), but I wept tears of joy when Nolan didn't get the reins for Star Wars.