Category Archives: DC
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 6/15/13
This is a big week for Superman. Not only did his super big, important movie come out, but it’s also the launch of the heavily hyped and potentially good Superman Unchained. As you may have seen already, I didn’t care for Man of Steel, but I’m a little warmer towards Superman Unchained, even though it didn’t contain any chains whatsoever. I also enjoyed the first issue of the new Batman: Zero Year storyline. If only DC had put out a new issue of Wonder Woman this week, they would have had strong comics for all three of their major characters.
Though when it comes down to brass tacks, only one of them can come away with the coveted Comic Book of the Week. And even though Superman Unchained had some pretty fancy art, only one comic book this week provided the origin story for Batman’s giant penny. Batman #21 wins!
I apologize for the low number of reviews this week. Between Man of Steel and just a hectic work week at my day job (a double homicide, a single homicide and a missing baby) I ran out of time. Still, all good comics all around.
Comic Reviews: Batman #21, Nightwing #21, Superman Unchained #1 and Wolverine and the X-Men #31.
Review: Man of Steel
I’m going to spare everybody any obvious Superman references in my opening. No ‘it’s a bird…it’s a plane’ stuff. Nothing about Kryptonite or telling you to ‘look, up in the sky’. This isn’t a time for geeky references. This is a time to hang my head in disappointment that Man of Steel was not the movie I hoped it would be. I had such high expectations for this film, almost all of which were supported and lovingly caressed by a series of awesome trailers. And I’m a huge fan of director Zack Snyder’s previous films. I thought Man of Steel was going to be great. Instead, it’s a mess, from beginning to end.
Your enjoyment of Man of Steel will rest almost entirely, I think, on your tolerance for excessive CGI and fake explosions. Personally, those sorts of movies mean nothing to me anymore. Never once during Man of Steel was my pulse racing, and even Superman Returns managed that much.
Movie Rating: 2.5/5 – Pretty Bad
The worst thing about Man of Steel is the pacing. The film is in love with snap cuts that have no transitional elements whatsoever. One minute Superman is having an important conversation with Lois Lane and some military generals, the next he and Lois are suddenly standing in a desert just staring at one another. Man of Steel never takes any time to cherish a moment or a scene, even when it’s called for. First and foremost, this a Superman movie, but Snyder also tries to make it a movie about first contact with aliens, and that’s fine. It’s a perfectly reasonable plot to give a Superman movie. But the films never fully connects with that theme. You can feel the movie trying to grasp the concept, even flirting with it, but before anything meaningful can happen, it’s straight on to the next CGI explosion or spaceship.
The only thing Man of Steel really has going for it is the acting, which is generally well done all around. Henry Cavill is a generally OK Superman, at least when he’s called upon to act. Kevin Costner and Diane Lane are great as Pa and Ma Kent, though Russell Crowe is pretty much just playing Russell Crowe when it comes to Jor-El, Superman’s alien dad. I think after Les Miserables, I’m only ever going to just see Russell Crowe on screen from now on. I can’t imagine him ever inhabiting a character again. And Crowe shows up far too often in this film.
The standouts of the film are Amy Adams as Lois Lane and Michael Shannon as General Zod, the villain. Adam’s Lois is far more than any sort of damsel in distress, though it’s shocking how much leeway the U.S. Military is willing to give a lowly newspaper reporter. And Shannon is just really villainous, though the attempts to make him more than just an evil, snarling bad guy don’t really work. But that’s fine. He’s good as an evil, snarling bad guy.
Join me after the jump for my full review. There will be some SPOILERS, but probably not many.
More Superman Celebrations on the Way!
I’ve got my ticket for Man of Steel for the 7 p.m. showing Thursday night, so hopefully you guys and gals will see my review Friday morning. Man of Steel was my most anticipated superhero movie of the Summer, and I’m very excited to see it. I hope it’s damn good. Fortunately, it couldn’t do any worse than the now classic Superman IV: The Quest for Peace.
Good old Screen Junkies. I can always count on them to be a hoot! Now we just have to wait for them to do an Honest Trailer for Man of Steel! You just know it’s going to be good.
Even Newer Batman: Arkham Origins Trailer!
The video game conference E3 is in full swing, and the first bit of news I’ve snagged is a new trailer for Batman: Arkham Origins. It purports to show a little gameplay, but it’s so stylized there’s not much to see. Mostly it’s just cool new footage and story beats.
Plus the Joker. Joker is definitely in the game.
I like the trailer, but it just feels like there’s something off about the whole thing. I don’t know what, though. Possibly the fact that Rocksteady isn’t the one making the game. That leaves a sour taste in my mouth. But perhaps I’m just being pessimistic. All indications are that this will be another awesome chapter in this franchise…only without Robin.
It’s a Superman Thing
Man of Steel comes out this week, and what better way to prepare than with this awesome Superman shield collection! The infographic was made by Kate Willaert for Halloweencostumes.com. Really? Halloweencostumes.com is into this kind of thing? I have grossly underestimated them. Click the jump to see the whole thing.
Henchman-4-Hire 