This is THE DEFINITIVE Superman movie. With truly spectacular cinematography, a heartwarming coming of age story, enthralling action and perhaps the best superhero movie soundtrack ever from Hans Zimmer, this movie hits every beat for Superman fans new and old.
As a DC comics fan growing up, the critical response to this movie prevented me going to watch it at the theatre. I mean who wants one of their favourite superheroes being "humourless", "too violent", and "not epic enough"??? Well, I can truly sit here now having said "lesson learned". Never again will I allow critical response to prevent me from experiencing something I had waited a lifetime for. I will never get to see Man of Steel in the theatre, and this movie was shot for the big screen. Some of the shots are truly beautiful, especially when he wakes up in the ocean with whales, and when he learns to fly in the snowy mountains.
The story is often criticised for not having the kookiness of the original four movies with Christopher Reeve - and don't misunderstand this for hating on the first few iterations, I have nothing but fond memories of growing up with those films - but I challenge anyone to watch those movies now and claim that they still hold up. A truly great movie as well as standing the test of time, has rewatch value, and Man of Steel is one of the few superhero movies that I have watched time and time again. This requires a great story.
The story of this movie focuses on a boys relationship with his fathers, and his coming of age through those guises. His cautious and protective Earth father who tought him the morality and goodness we expect from our Superman, who sacrificed himself in order to keep his sons secret; and his Kryptonian father who encouraged him to embrace his difference and be the man Earth needs him to be.
A bonus is that the relationship between Lois and Clark doesn't seem forced. You get to see how she is a great investigative reporter and through her reporting she discovers Superman's true identity. By protecting it, you can see Clark's appreciation and the weight of not being able to talk about it to anyone - something that bothers him throughout the great flashback scenes as wonderfully portrayed by Dylan Sprayberry and Cooper Timberline - being lifted.
The character development of the antagonist, General Zod is done in a way other superhero movies can only be envious of. The message that this character, like all other Kryptonians are born with a specific purpose, in this case to protect Krypton at all costs, comes across well. From his perspective he is the superhero of his own story, trying to save his planet and his people, and that is the truest of tests for supervillain development.
And this brings me to the epic and controversial (for some reason) third act. As mentioned earlier, Superman has a strong moral code instilled in him by Jonathan Kent, which is shown throughout the flashbacks. Any observer who doesn't see that Snyders portrayal of Superman has the most morality of any Superman in cinematic history is simply not paying attention. He doesn't spin the Earth backwards to rewind time just to save his girlfriend like in the original, and he doesnt go back to Smallville and hook up with Lana because the love of his life Lois is ignoring him a little bit like in Superman III. That Superman, despite all of his displayed morality (e.g. where he refrains from fighting the bullies) feels he must kill General Zod is one of the most powerful moments in superhero movie history. He repeatedly begs Zod to give up his quest to destroy Earth and humans now that his quest to return Krypton has failed. Zod makes it clear as day that he will NEVER give up, and that he will destroy humanity at all costs as an act of revenge. What was Clark supposed to do? He was left with no choice! Add to this the fact that Zod's laser beams were inches away from killing a whole family, Superman reluctantly had to break his neck. Yet unlike other superheroes he did not gloat in victory, the pain and anguish in that scream that follows is filled with the heartbreak of breaking both his moral code and killing one of the few other fellow Kryptonians in the universe.
Overall, this movie gets better every single time I watch it. If you haven't watched it since it came out and had mixed feelings the first time, please give this movie another try without the immediate negative reviews that were extensively covered in the media at the time of release. It truly deserves it. Man of Steel is THE DEFINITIVE Superman movie.
It's okay guys. I can just rewind the episode and Trenton and Mobley will be alive!
Wow, quite a lot happened on this one. I guess that on all storylines, the main message is the same: Whiterose fooled everyone: Elliot, Mr. Robot, Angela, Tyrell, Price, the FBI, the world, and most of all, us - the fricking viewers.
Tyrell finally finds out what happened with his wife and son from that piece-of-shit of a FBI boss. I swear I'm more pissed off at that guy than anyone involved in the Dark Army, despite the mom issues that are displayed to us at some points. I was not a fan of how they got rid of Joanna early in the season, but seeing the effect it takes on Tyrell and how it might affect his approach to the Dark Army, it makes me think it's for a good cause. And he was lied to as much as the others, including Mr. Robot himself, which means there could be an anti-Dark-Army revolution soon enough. That shot with Tyrell and the brown-ish background before he was told the truth had an eerie, fitting look.
When the "previously on" montage before the episode showed Trenton and Mobley, I got very excited - we finally get to see what happens on that side of things! (and by the way, I loved the editing done on the "previously on" in pretty much all of the season so far) Then... I continued watching, and got very sad. FBI learns from Tyrell the identity of those responsible for the attacks... and of course they are Trenton and Mobley. The way they set it up during the whole episode was so unpredictable, because they made things to look predictable. Not just showing that couple after all this time, but the attempted escape and all those scenes, it makes it seem like there is something these characters will do - the scenes and those great TV discussions with Leon make it seem like we shouldn't worry (I'd love to have a conversation with that guy, quite honestly, as long as the Dark Army isn't involved).
And even at the end, when the agents are approaching, even when it's clear they are staging this, I'm still thinking "this is typical TV, I'm sure they are suddenly in some other basement, and they are deceiving me"... but they were not. Trenton and Mobley are dead and Mr. Robot is fucking far to being typical TV.
Dom, a character who I didn't really pay attention to (compared to others) until this season, immediately knows something is off and, without skipping the beat, goes to the wall with all the persons of interest and knows Whiterose is responsible. I think she is also aware that something stinks regarding her boss, shown when she almost confronted him - I'm hoping she starts realising this and calculates her moves towards not getting kicked out of the FBI. If that Tyrell-Mr. Robot alliance ever happens, it would be interesting to have an FBI source...
The episode had almost no Elliot this week and small amounts of Mr. Robot, who went looking for Irving. But before he did that, he made Krista - a character I'm always glad to see appearing again - realise that Elliot/Mr. Robot could be involved in Five Nine and the attacks, which is an interesting wrinkle. I'm shocked to see that Mr. Robot has also been deceived and was unaware of the plan regarding the attacks - and pleasantly surprised at his disapproving reaction. I imagined he might excuse the attacks for other purposes, but he didn't. Perhaps the low point of the episode was Irving taking Mr. Robot to that place, showing him that odd party only to waltz in and leave him there, it feels like a careless loose end to spark Mr. Robot's anger. I wonder what follows from that.
The work Portia Doubleday has done as Angela Moss has been wonderful, but this season in particular her scenes leave me in awe. This actress has portrayed every emotion in the wide range of emotions Sam Esmail required in a way that feels demanding of admiration. I keep thinking that I cannot imagine Elliot's story would have been possible with another actor, but now I've added Angela to that train of thought and I really hope Doubleday gets the deserved recognition for this season. I feel like a fool for still being confused at the "back to the future" hints, but at the moment it feels like Whiterose blinded Angela with science and she was the most tricked of them all. Can she bounce back after being one of the main instruments of thousands of deaths?
Perhaps the best scene overall was the conversation between Price and the big culprit, Whiterose, with the revelation that Whiterose's motives are a grudge against Price because he had to ask for something twice. The intensity of the conversation, the little glimpses to blurred figures in the background looking at them as Price's tone was being raised - until everyone looked - and that stupid pink color, how memorable can a scene be?
Also, for those who watch the show on Amazon Prime (I do in the UK), I just noticed the description for the episode and it's hilarious, just had to share it, it says exactly:
"mr. robot wants answers. price whiterose. fbi closes in. knight time in the desert. angela hits the rewind button. a lot."
The last episode was a lot more hyped up, but I feel this episode was even more nerve wracking.
That scene with Dom searching the Red Wheelbarrow basement was longest 2 minutes of my life.
An absolutely beautiful episode. So many twists and top-notch acting; this ep had it all. Definitely a top 3, maybe the best, episode of the series. I can't wait 6 more weeks...............
What an episode. So many twists and turns in every scene.
Having to stab your soulmate to death, Daisy hiding among a bunch of Daisys, Jemma-Quake hug, Daisy fighting for FITZSIMMONS, the inevitable android annihilates creator, fake May learning to make her own decisions, and the Framework...
When Daisy had long hair and the text said "boyfriend" I just knew it had to be Ward even though she said "Lincoln?" And is Jemma dead in the Framework? How will they meet at the rendezvouz point?
This show somehow always delivers these amazing episodes. Yeah, there will be some average to above average episodes inbetween, but it leads to a series of mind-blowing episodes.
Oh, man. And Hydra. I wonder how that fits into the Framework. The Framework is gonna be hella fun!!!
We're finally out of the Framework! It was a very well-written alternate reality, but the whole thing where you try to convince people that it's all fake and they don't believe you gets tiring after a while. I'm glad it's over. Now we can focus on fixing things in the real world.
Just to kick things off, May calling Jemma "little pop tart" is the most adorable thing in the history of everything and I want to get it tattoed.
I loved Daisy and Trip's interactions so much! They are so cute together. But I feel sad, too. When Trip asked Daisy if they dated in the real world... They almost did. You could see just a hint of longing in Daisy's eyes. For a second she imagined all the things that could've happened between them, but never did, all the possibilities that are now lost. And then she had to say goodbye to him for the second time. I may have teared up little bit.
(Who am I kidding? I definitely teared up. And that was only the beginning of the heartbreak.)
I knew Mack would decide to stay with Hope. I freaking knew it. To be honest, I'd probably do the same if I were ever in that position, but it was devastating nonetheless. Yo-Yo looked absolutely crushed. And Daisy crying and telling Mack that she doesn't want to lose him... I just want to hug her so badly! Chloe was so good in this episode. She channeled all the emotions perfectly.
Coulson and May had some nice moments too. Framework May saving Coulson and then trusting him and taking the leap of faith was great. And her little smile when she woke up and he was there! Try to watch that scene and not go "Awww", I dare you.
Poor Fitz! Iain de Caestecker strikes again and blows me away with his performance. He was so horrified by what he had done. And he genuinely thinks that he's a bad person now. I felt like screaming when he called Aida "Ophelia". I can't really blame him though, anyone would be confused after being brainwashed and manipulated by a batshit crazy android. I know he can fight it. I believe in him.
Apparently Aida has some weird teleportation powers? Where the hell did she take Fitz? Bitch, Simmons is coming for you. If we don't get a fight between the two of them, I'll be so bitter.
And Jemma, baby! The look on her face when Fitz put the gun to her head destroyed me. It was like she had accepted her fate and was ready to die at the hands of the love of her life. I can't believe I'm saying this, but thank the heavens for Radcliffe. He did the right thing in the end.
Thank whatever higher power is up there that this show is finally back. Had I had to wait one more week, I swear I would've exploded from anticipation.
Unfortunately, every once in a while real life gets in the way of my watching TV shows, which is why I was unable to review 4x15 when it first aired. So, if you don't mind, I'd like to very quickly say a few things about "Self Control":
That was the best fucking episode this show has ever done and I still haven't fully recovered from it.
I CAN'T BELIEVE ELIZABETH HENSTRIDGE AND IAIN DE CAESTECKER INVENTED ACTING. These two smol humans are so incredibly talented and their performances in that episode were earth-shattering.
I love FitzSimmons. I really do. But I ship Jemma and Daisy so hard that it actually hurts a little bit. The sweaty hug, the lingering looks, the hand-holding, it was all so gay that my brain short-circuited. I've spent the last month binge-reading BioQuake fanfiction. Send help.
Robot May made me cry like a baby. Yup. That's another sentence I never thought I'd write, but here we are!
And now, moving on to 4x16:
I can't believe they just went and changed the logo to Agents of HYDRA. I'm internally screaming. That is so extra.
So, the Framework is a bleak, nightmare-inducing reality. I don't get it. If you had the power to create a whole new world, why would you make it like this? It's awful.
I love Brett Dalton and it's good to see him again, but damn, I hate Ward's bitch ass. Watching that slimy motherfucker put his hands on Daisy made me want to throw up. And then he turned out to be a good guy? That's a twist I didn't see coming. I think it's very cool. It doesn't redeem real-life Ward's actions, of course, but it's interesting to see a different version of the character, one that isn't a homicidal lunatic.
Evil Fitz is terrifying. His dad must've been one messed up dude. Also, I sincerely hope that Jemma will punch Aida in the face for seducing him. I was so grossed out when they kissed. It's just wrong.
I appreciated all the little things that Coulson had in his file. The references to Tahiti, the Cellist, LA Quake (good one, writers) and Lola made me smile.
Jemma, my baby! My tiny badass! I love her so much. She just doesn't give a fuck. She'd fight all of HYDRA by herself armed with nothing but a plastic fork and a lot of determination if she had the chance. And yet another wonderful performance from Elizabeth. I shouldn't even be surprised anymore, but she still blows my mind.
"- Are HYDRA all Nazis?
- Every last one of them."
Cue the "My longest yeah boy ever" video.
"Daisy, they're coming! You need to do something before Psycho Stalker shoots us!"
I've never wanted to marry anyone more in my life. Your fave could never.
To be honest, the thing I would like to see the most in the Framework is FitzSimmons meeting. It could be such a fantastic scene. Just imagine, Fitz interrogating Jemma or something and feeling oddly drawn to her despite the fact that she's an enemy of HYDRA, Jemma desperately trying to get him to remember, emotions all around... I really want this to happen.
Seeing Daisy with long hair and hearing people call her Skye made me reflect on how much she's changed since the show started. I definitely prefer season 4 Daisy to season 1 Skye. I mean, I've loved her since day one, but her character arc has been phenomenal and I adore the person she's become.
Coulson remembers Daisy! Agents, assemble! Aida's electrical ass won't kick itself!
I can't wait for the next episode. I'm so excited that I can't breathe.
I'm already in love with this. The way it's shot and edited is goddamn amazing.
I'm literally shaking right now. These Framework episodes are really freaking stressful.
Aida/Fitz is such a disturbing relationship. It's so creepy that Aida manipulated the Framework to make Fitz love her. She brainwashed him not only into having feelings for her, but probably into having sex with her too, which basically means that she rapes him. She's doing to him exactly what she resents Radcliffe for doing to her: turning him into a thing to be used however she pleases. That makes me nauseous and I can't imagine what Fitz will feel when he wakes up.
Jemma "I'm tiny but I have more than enough rage to go around" Anne Simmons is so going to fight Aida when she gets the chance. At least I hope so. It would be amazing to see her cut the bitch.
Elizabeth has no fucking chill, does she? She just goes and gives us these incredible, deep, powerful performances every week, never failing to bring tears to my eyes and turning me into a distracted, weepy mess for days. Jemma pouring out her heart talking about Fitz was too emotional for me to deal with this early in the morning. And that moment when she screamed his name and their eyes locked? I'm still in shock. The raw intensity of that entire scene killed me.
I never thought I'd be scared of Iain, but I am now. That smile at the end made me want to crawl under my bed and stay there for the rest of the season. How are FitzSimmons going to recover from this?
Stop hurting my baby Daisy! She's already in emotional and psychological pain 99% of the time and now she's going to be tortured? Just fucking rip my heart out while you're at it. I hate that they keep making her suffer. Daisy Johnson deserves the world. And yes, I will fight anyone who thinks otherwise. I love my emo daughter.
Mack joined SHIELD! Also, Hope is adorable and now I feel bad that Mack will have to live without her in the real world. The hits just keep coming, I guess.
The Framework is an absolute nightmare for a lot of reasons. And now it looks like regular people don't have access to the Internet. No smartphones, a woman getting arrested for having a laptop... We've officially crossed into the hell territory in my book.
A part of me wishes I hadn't discovered this show until season 4 ended. That way, I could just binge watch the remaining episodes instead of having to wait a week or longer for each new chapter and spending my days doing the mental equivalent of pacing nervously around a room. I just want to know what will happen next and it's killing me.
The show is back on our screens and our heroes are back on Earth! That scene where the team stopped for a second to just enjoy the sun and the fresh air was so beautiful to me. They spent so much time trapped inside a crowded, grim space, so getting to go outside (and more importantly, actually having an outside to go to) must have felt so good. It left the biggest smile on my face.
Deke is alive! It caught me by surprise. His reactions to everything around him were so precious and hilarious. If I were in his shoes, I think I'd hug trees too.
Daisy Johnson in a suit is a sight that I was not prepared for and I pretty much flatlined as soon as I saw her. Damn, girl. How is it even possible for one person to be so attractive? Like, we get it. Tone it down, please. It's bad for my heart.
Piper, you traitorous bastard. You should know better than to trust the military. Did she really expect them to treat Coulson's team fairly? Come on. They want Coulson's head on a stick. They won't be satisfied with anything less.
YoYo getting her arms cut off was traumatic. I did not expect it to happen, I thought Kasius was the one who did that. What a plot twist. I hope Fitz designs some sick prosthetics for her like he did with Coulson.
Ruby seemed so out of place at the beginning of the episode, I couldn't imagine how a moody teen was supposed to fit into the storyline. Now that I know, I'm emotionally scarred for life. Thanks, I hate it. General Hale is just a fucking delight, isn't she? I can't believe I'm saying this, but I miss Talbot. At least he didn't keep his kid locked up in a cell.
Carl Creel? They're really bringing back a lot of old storylines, aren't they? We've already had Gravitonium and T.A.H.I.T.I. this season, and now this. And we also got the team recounting all the horrible things that happened to them, including Simmons jumping out of the Bus in "FZZT" to save the team, FitzSimmons getting dropped to the bottom of the ocean by Ward at the end of season 1, and May being forced to dance in that sparkly, silver dress in season 2 (that made me snicker).
Did anyone else caught Noah saying something about an Asgardian spotted on Earth? That's gotta be Thor when he came looking for Odin at the beginning of Ragnarok, right? I kind of like the fact that they're only making very small references to the movies now, since the movies don't acknowledge this show's existence in any way, why should it be the other way around?
Good episode overall, I'm pumped to see where we're gonna go from here. See you next week!
I just can't.
They let Troy loose in the wilderness, like he's not going to make it back and kill a bunch of people, A-GAIN
Man, I missed this, although actually I don't know how to feel about it. I certainly expected more after this three-week hiatus. But any episode with Lena Luthor is a good episode. It was a bit light, but it had some great things. I freaking love the way Lena knocked out Beth like, listen bitch, I'm a Luthor. I love her character. I don't really want her to be bad,but I feel like we're attending to the evil turning of Lena, like the origin of evil Lena. I love this Clark and Lex vibe going with Kara and Lena. I'm assuming she doesn't know Kara is Supergirl, and that is what will drive Lena to the edge. She's gonna be so pissed and hurt and although at the end she could understand it, my spidey senses tell me she's gonna be mad at Kara and thus, her villain origin story begins.
I also loved that the intro of this episode finally makes sense. I mean, Kara hasn't been a reporter for a long while and now she turned the page. Snapper is not Cat but I like the guy. His last conversation with Kara at the end was fantastic. And his line about not starting a food truck was hilarious.
The Lyra stuff, on the other hand, was kinda boring. You already know how it is gonna end before it starts. I love seeing Winn being happy with her and the writers giving everyone who works for the DEO having a backstory. But Lyra really seems legitimately crazy. I don't go them to go full on psycho crazy girlfriend.
Kara and Mon-El were great today. He's a funny sidekick with a lot of potential and this is the right amount of screen time he needs, enough not to make me hate him again. For once, Mon-El was more than a pretty face and was actually there to help Kara, despite his adorkability and awkwardness. Non-relationship scenes are the ones I enjoy with him and Kara. "This is creepy journalism". I loved that line.
And that Jack Shpeer is a handsome motherfucker. Man, I get he's Lena's krytonite.
I thought they were going to wait for season 2 before Jennifer discovers her powers but boy was i wrong.
Sorry about my comment on last week's episode, I guess he does have guts. I've never been more embarrassed.
And I thought this show couldn't get any worse before this episode. This one is the straw...
You know all those great shows where you don't know a characters' true intentions because the writers have woven a complex web of motivations and character traits. Well this show has that, but without any discernible reason due to character or motivation.
You know all those great shows where favorite characters are put in precarious situations and the intensity comes from wondering how they'll escape, well this show has that except it happens off screen and in this case totally stupid stuff happens off-screen (again), because it is patently unjustifiable in the context of the story, an experienced ZA survivor gets bitten in the stomach of all places, and is now doomed.
You know all those great shows where you're rooting for the villain to get his comeuppance but he always just escapes because of ingenuity, smarts or just that bit of luck, well this show has that except the villain escapes because the heroes are dumbasses. Freakin' Negan escapes death again, when all Rick has to do is hit him hard with the bat, instead of that love-tap, or just jump up and shoot him through the window instead of running away.
You know all those great shows where the action is intense and yet still easy to follow because of amazing direction, well this show has that, except the exact opposite (hard to follow and no intensity because of convoluted story-telling).
You know all those great shows...yeah, I'm just going to watch those...instead.
I'm done with you TWD.
I guess they spent all the CGI budget for the season already. RIP Shiva, I cared more about your death then the 20 kingdom people that died too.
John Wick was so badass. It was directed by a choreographer and stunt double (for Keanu Reeves) for the Matrix trilogy and it really shows. A brief introduction to the titular character, as is typical of revenge thrillers, quickly gives way to the action and damn is it good. Fantastic and stylish action sequences make up 90% of the movie and when it looks this incredible, I'm definitely okay with that.
Those windows won't hurt anybody now. Seriously wtf were they shooting at?
This is how you do an action movie. Just the right amount of everything without being over the top. Spot on !
This episode was great fun. All the "waaa! I hate musicals" children can, in the words of Abraham "suck my nuts".
P.S: I'm pretty sure singing "Runnin' home to you", on key, to your girlfriend will earn you unlimited sex for the rest of your life.
My name is Barry Allen and I am the saddest man alive. To the outside world, I am an ordinary Emo Allen, but secretly with the help of my old friend Cisco at wherever he is staying, I make sure to disappointeveyone and wear a wig. In an attempt to stop the sadness in me, I accidentally met my past self, and I saw myself without a sad-wig. But I won't let that happen, I'm gonna do everything in my power to pit him a wig, and I'm the only one sad enough to do it. I am the Sad!
I'm a simple girl. If a show has anything to do with superheroes, if it's in any way connected to Marvel or DC, there's a good chance I'll watch it. And I'll probably love it, whether it's dark and gritty like Jessica Jones or charming and family-friendly like Supergirl. Legion is no exception to the rule.
I'm not a comic book reader. I didn't know the first thing about the character when I started the episode, and I had no idea what to expect. Having just finished it, I think I can safely say that this show is unlike anything I've watched before. In a good way. I enjoyed every second of the pilot. The cinematography is spectacular. The bright colors, the flashing lights, almost horror-like moments, blurring the lines between reality and David's delusions, scenes of people dancing - because why not?, seemingly random shots and flashbacks, and the general insanity all create a completely unique atmosphere. It's almost hypnotizing, making it impossible for you to look away, drawing you in. The plot isn't the most revolutionary, but the way the show is shot and edited still makes it feel fresh and original. I like the characters and I'm excited to see what will happen next.
That scene with the trip wire and the herd of walkers was one of the greatest zombie massacres the show has ever produced. This episode was the bomb.
My name is Savitar, and I am the fastest God alive. To the outside timeline, I'm an ordinary happy Barry, but secretly with the help of Killer Frost, I troll everyone with my use of grammar and fight past me. In an attempt to prevent Me from destroying myself, I walked out of my armor to show Me to Myself. But I won't let that happen, I'm gonna do everything in my power to not change the past, and I'm the only one fast enough to do it. I am Savitar.
Rick is like 'give me all your stuff so we can fight the bad guys that are forcing others to give up all their stuff'.
Absolutely great episode, action, confrontation, background politics and the ongoing "runtime error", all at just the right composition.
Oh hell naahhhh! This is some bullshit right here!
Also, why didn't Rick hit Negan really hard with the bat? You're waiting for a long time to kill the bastard, and then it's like you're tickling him. A girl would've hit harder than that. WTF!
