MAN OF STEEL 2013 joys, disappointments and other sentiments

Boy, he's hot. Who? Henry Cavill.

I first "encountered" this young man in THE COUNT OF MONTECRISTO as Albert, the clueless son of Mercedès Iguanada and Edmond Dantes(a.k.a the count). For me, even if he was already "cute" back then, he looked too much of a greenhorn...well, maybe not a greenhorn, but someone who has just graduated from middle-school.  When The Count of Montecristo was shown, I was already in my 30's so... ;-p

Although there were a couple of guys(Kirk Alyn and George Reeves) who played Superman before him, I  grew up with Christopher Reeve.  I fondly remember my classmate, Connie, who was really so hooked with him.

At that very tender age, I wondered how he could fall in love with Margot Kidder as Lois Lane.  I surmised that it was because he was into smart girls and not really into those bimbos.

We had tons and tons of comic books(DC, Marvel, Archie Comics, Popeye, Blondie etc.) so we had lots of issues about Kal El a.k.a. Clark Kent, but some were fed to the termites, others were stolen, others were sold and others were given away.

When Superman was shown in the 1970s we had preconceived notions on how Clark Kent should look like and half wishing Krypto the dog would be there.  Finally, it was shown.  In my opinion, even if Christopher Reeve was really, really handsome, I found his portrayal of the role quite "comical" or "cartoon-ish".  Even so, I still watched the three sequels and enjoyed almost every minute of it.

Later, I was hooked with LOIS AND CLARK. This was definitely a Teri Hatcher series than a Dean Cain one, but still, a lot of us watched it because of the very "yummy" Cain. Who cares if it centered on Lois and her brilliance than the MAN OF STEEL?

There were many others who played Superman as actors and voice actors, but let's just talk about the man of the hour:

MAN OF STEEL 2013

Directed by 

Zack Snyder

Writing Credits (WGA)  

David S. Goyer	...	(screenplay)
David S. Goyer	...	(story) &
Christopher Nolan	...	(story)
Jerry Siegel	...	(Superman created by) &
Joe Shuster	...	(Superman created by)

Whenever there are remakes, whether locally or globally, I cringe. 

Another remake? A reboot? Are they running out of ideas? 

Yet, there are remakes or reboots that actually turn out better than the original.  Some would rather call them as updates.  Remakes usually stick to the original setting and time, updates tweak things a little(or a lot) and set it up to the present time.

Of course, if it is supposed to be current or futuristic, they should adjust certain things.  The gears, gadgets and the like should be, at the very least, recognizable. 

When the Man of Steel trailer was first shown last year, my reaction was, "What? Another one and it's not a sequel starring Brandon Routh?"  But when I found out that Henry Cavill was going to star in it along with a powerhouse cast, I suddenly was very, very excited.

When June 12 was almost here, I told myself that I would not allow myself to be influenced by the critics who either lambasted it or just gave it a B- rating.

Days before June 12 we watched Superman 1 to 4 starring Christopher Reeve.  There were a lot of corny scenes, but all the four films were very entertaining.

Finally, Wednesday, the 12th of June came. My family opted for the 2D version because some of us become dizzy using 3D glasses. 

There were many changes, but they sort of retained some like: 

[as Jor-El is preparing to send his son to Earth(Yellow Star) before the destruction of Krypton, Lara enters the room with the infant, Kal-El]

Lara: Have you finished?

Jor-El: Nearly. It's the only answer, Lara. If he remains here with us... he will die as surely as we will.

Lara: But why Earth, Jor-El? They're primitives, thousands of years behind us.

Jor-El: He will need that advantage to survive. Their atmosphere will... sustain him. [He looks at his son and walks over to the area where the ship that will carry Kal-El lies. There are information crystals placed in slots on the edges]

Lara: He will defy their gravity.

Jor-El: He will look like one of them.

Lara: He won't *be* one of them.

Jor-El: No. His dense molecular structure will make him strong.

Lara: He'll be odd. Different. (an outcast)

Jor-El: He'll be fast. Virtually invulnerable.

Lara: Isolated. Alone.

Jor-El: He will not be alone. [He holds up a clear crystal and takes a long look at it] Jor-El: He will never be alone. [He places it in one of the slots along with the other crystals in the ship]
Glenn Ford as Jonathan Kent prevented those things to happen by telling Clark to act "normal".  Kevin Costner as Jonathan Kent did not lack in giving Clark reminders...he also went on ahead in a different manner.  Just watch the very touching scene(With Kevin Costner) when you get the chance(it made me cry)...Here's Glenn Ford's version of Jonathan's talk with his son Clark portrayed by Jeff East:
My friends who watched the movie around the same time I did in other cinemas had different reactions.
One lady was so disappointed because she believes it focused on the special effects rather than the story.
Although I agree with her, I still am hoping that the story developments will come later during the sequels.
Without giving certain scenes away, I like the fact that Lois met Kal El as Clark before they become collaborators (or rivals) in The Daily Planet.
Some villainous character shouldn't have died that way; some lives and building could have been saved et cetera, et cetera, but hey, this friend of mine, Director Elvert Dela Cruz Bañares,  verbalized my thoughts:
(20 hours ago near Manila) No matter what I will say about "Man of Steel", it will break box office records anyway. But hear me, citizens of Earth. This new Superman incarnation is no weakling of a movie. Aided by a team of A-list filmmakers (headed by Nolan as producer and Snyder as director) and supported by award-winning actors (Kevin Costner and Diane Lane are perfect adoptive parents! And there's Russell Crowe, Michael Shannon, Laurence Fishburne, etc), this movie is epic and has an acceptable balance of CGI (well, expect more of this!) and human drama. In my book, this is: Zack Snyder's best movie since "Dawn of the Dead" (Sorry, I have not forgiven you for Sucker Punch yet, Zack!); the best of all Superman movies (Sorry hard core traditionalists!); and, the best Supes of 'em all (Henry Cavill is the hottest, I have to agree with the irritating giggles all over the moviehouse!). Lecture me about cinema and hate me for giving in to entertainment but THIS, my fellow earthlings....THIS is HOW I wanted to see the Superman comicbooks come to life. So I'm giving it a cinema score of "A".  
Need I say more?ヽ(•‿•)ノ

Sometimes we have to take a leap of faith 
first. The trust part comes later.-(Priest to a 
very confused Clark)