Sunday, November 9, 2014

What Exactly Made Man of Steel Great?

Another thing about Troodons is that their eyes were actually not on the sides, they were coming more inwards. So the idea is that had evolution been allowed to take it's course, the troodons with greater depth perception would survive. These troodons of course would eventually have eyes that look like ours, so, isn't it fantastic how different history could have become? Of course, say we all went extinct, there would be hardly any of our remains (as is with dinosaurs) left. So for all we know, the deinonychus' were intelligent and working on nanotechnology when the asteroid hit the Yucatan.

You see, I've explained quite a few, no several, times that Man of Steel, is a great movie. Last time I sort of surmised why it's greatness would make the sequel, Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, a great movie. However, considering that whole post was an excuse to talk about the new Star Wars flick and how it would take over the market soon, I feel I should give you guys why exactly I think that Man of Steel is great. It is a polarizing film, if you look at the reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, the amount of negative reviews are literally almost as many positives, so when you try to even that out you get over fifty percent. That falls into the rotten category in Rotten Tomatoes, but that system is skewed, basing a movie being rotten on percent instead of actually looking at the fraction. When you look at user reviews, they usually total up in the 7/10 area. In comparison, Spider-Man usually gets 6/10 and Tim Burton's Batman gets 8/10. So given the fact that those two movies are great and for the most part tend to hold up, most people enjoy Man of Steel. So with it established that Man of Steel is an enjoyable film, let me explain why it is a great film. I'm putting this into one sentence here: if you did not like Man of Steel, the Superman movie for you was already made and it was called Superman Returns, go watch that instead.

Impressionism:  I'm going to use my original review of the film several times here. One of the first comments I made was that the movie is not intentionally dark or realistic like The Dark Knight was. It is dark in the sense that the original Crash Bandicoot is dark and realistic in the sense that Tim Burton's Batman was realistic (as in fathomable, but still out there). I used the words "impressionable method", then and let me clarify on that now. What I mean by impressionable method is that it reminds me of impressionism. For those of you who don't know what that is, it is the movement that went around in the painterly world regarding the shift in light and colour and how they are used. Sunset and silhouettes and dark corridors that are at times unnerving make up a lot of Crash Bandicoot and while clearly a kids game, the fact that it evokes such an impressionistic feeling makes it seem like so much more. As such, Man of Steel uses lighting in a different way than most films do. It may remind one of the Christopher Nolan Batman movies, and that's fair, given that Superman and Batman are the same story in different ways, but Snyder manages to capture the feeling perfectly. He uses the score (more later) to truly bring it out. If you notice, Krypton is all colourful and unique as an alien world, but there is a sense of glumness and decaying Victorianism about it. When we shift to Earth (horrible transitions, I'll admit), the tone only sinks in deeper, the lighting gets more blue and morbid and at times, Henry Cavill's skin seems pale.... but as we move on, slowly by slowly everything gets brighter. By the end of the movie, we have maintained that dimmer approach, but through it can show a brighter world. The impression makes the theme, and the theme is hope.

Music: The impressionism is matched by the music. Krypton's scores tend to have a sense of rushed energy about them and by the end, they all resign in defeat. Scores that go out against Zod or early in the move are dank, but still filled with the hope that things could get better, but they match the impression left by the lighting. As the battle with Zod gets more and more intense, the music gets deadly and when Superman kills him, Snyder makes the snap as such that it's all you can hear and think about. Done with magnificence, the thud when Zod hits the ground, the emotion on Cavill's face and the fact is that it was symbolic matches the audio. When all is said and done, the inspiring music finally comes full circle and rises above the dimness.

Symbolism: The movie, as I pointed out in my original review, has a GATTACA-esque approach to Krypton. Zod and everyone on Krypton but Kal-El are the products of genetic engineering and Zod respects this, he worships it. The removal of choice means the removal rebellion and even his own revolt, was done in the name of his engineering against those whose engineering didn't agree. The point is that Krypton robbed itself of it's own opportunity to have a choice. Zod didn't have a choice when it came to killing the humans, to save Krypton, he was programmed to take them out. Superman had a choice and when he snaps Zod's neck to save the family (who symbolized humanity in general), it showed that he rejected the idea of removing choice for happiness. It meant that he would be willing to give up Krypton, in order to make sure that humans get to choose their own destiny, not some alien invader. The symbolism is so subtle, so in the background that it's sometimes hard to notice and we need to think about it.

I'd go on about the actors, but I think you guys get the point of the post. So here's my makeup for yesterday's post, good morning guys. Oh, and for my Canadian readers, no post on Remembrance Day.

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