First and foremost recognize the PG13 rating as it is well deserved and not something appropriate for under 13 year olds. This movie deals with some very powerful themes that should be taken very seriously and this movie thankfully does. The title, cover art, and look of the films films all said to me that this was going to be a so-so Superman movie that follows typical animated super hero cliches. What I got was easily the best Superman story told to date and maybe even the best story about capital punishment as well. The ending of this film I never saw coming and was deeply moved by it's message that I won't spoil here. I make a point of watching anything from DC animation and especially Bruce Timm The films EP because they always do great story telling. This is among their best work ever and a must watch for any fan of Superman, or DC Animation. I plan to watch this with my son when he's old enough and then discuss the films themes. Hopefully others will do the same.
I have no idea how anyone could enjoy this movie. I went into expecting an absurd amount of action and amusing cheesy one liners. In fact I would have been happy if the whole film was just a series of explosions with no dialog at all. What did I get, a lot of walk-on shots of action stars that don't do anything other than look bad-ass. Granted the walk-on shots are mostly cool (except for Arnold who was miscast as a the movies token government douche bag) but this alone does not make a movie. Stallone is usually a great writer (no sarcasm here, seriously the man can write), I don't know what happen but I'm pretty the script writing involved a great deal of cocaine use. Ironically the film fails because it's not mindless enough. It tries to have character development and story but it fails when it does so. It couldn't even decide what story it was. It starts out like it's a guy protecting an old flame from a violent relationship then it's girl from a far away land needs help to save her people. Movie couldn't even decide who the villains were. Dolf starts off as a good guy, betrays the team, and then at the end he comes back to base to have a brew with the boys, WTF!!!
The was the first time I had seen a movie with knowing absolutely noting about it. It was a great surprise and one of my favorite movies. This is what I would call a smart action movie. As an action movie it shouldn't be taken too seriously and the premise may be hard to swallow but underneath it is a story about the human spirit and some of the most spectacular action sequences you will ever see.
I'm big fan of the book and of Ayn Rand's work and watched this movie. It was one of the worst movies I have ever seen and a waste of my time. Some movies are so bad, say Batman and Robin, that they are almost entertaining for being so bad. This is the worst kind of bad, bad and boring. The cinematography, set design, and costumes are actually kind of breath taking. A lot of care and love went into that aspect of the film. Some of the casting is good and those actors deliver the best acting. The adaptation of the source material is pretty good too, believable anyway. The writing, direction, most of the acting and casting however are awful. The look of the lead character Dagny Tagart is spot on but her acting is dull, lifeless and devoid of any personality. One could argue that is how she appears in the book but I would have to disagree. Dagny couldn't be bothered with nonsense but when something excited her she was like a child filed with wonder and excitement. None of this come out in the film which is probably a fault of the director. This film didn't bomb because of a conspiracy against free thinking or the Tea Party. This film was a critical and commercial failure because ironically brains and ability lost to hubris and arrogance.
