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Superman: Man of Steel starring Henry Cavill and A lot of Oscar Winners (&Nominees)

Posted on June 19, 2013 Written by ripitup

man-of-steel-man-of-steel-henry cavill-russell crowe-michael shannon — Image via fanpop.com. From left: Russell Crowe, Henry Cavill & Michael Shannon.

On the Cast and Crew

I don’t think a comic book movie has ever seen such a cast. Superman’s father is played by Russell Crowe, stepfather by Kevin Costner, stepmother by Diane Lane, love interest Lois Lane by Amy Adams. The main villain is played Michael Shannon, one of the most gifted actors of his generation – who is better known for awesome low-budget films (Shotgun Stories, Take Shelter).

The special effects are pretty spectacular-to the point of being overdone, but then again it’s Zac Snyder (300, Watchmen). The story is written by David. S. Goyer (Dark Knight trilogy) and Christopher Nolan (Memento, Inception, the Dark Knight trilogy…)

As a fan of the 70s/80s Superman series, (as horrible the effects seem today and the story isn’t cool, it holds a tremendous nostalgic value for me . After all, it was my first superhero movie, and Christopher Reeve was my first Superman). And it is hard to fill in Reeve’s shoes as an actor (and as Superman)- he had this uniquely suave look about him, and he stood at 6′ 4″ (1.93 m). So you hardly questioned Lois being head over heels, or him being an alien with super powers

christopher-reeve-superman — The late Christopher Reeve as Superman. Image via allposters.com.

But then Henry Cavill came, having worked out so much that he could have been the next choice as Wolverine (pay attention to his look and mannerisms in the first rescue scene.) He looked the right amount of innocent, frustrated and otherworldly. Something I don’t think Brandon Routh was able to bring.

henry-cavill-shirtless-on-set-5-762x1024-1 — Henry Cavill as Wolverine. Oops, I mean Clark Kent. 🙂 Image via celebuzz.com.

Yes, with such cast and crew, you’d keep your expectations high. And I’m thinking you are more likely to be impressed than disappointed. Let’s go over the plot before moving on to other thoughts:

Man of Steel Plot

Jor-El (Russell Crowe) and his wife (Ayelet Zurer) manage to have the only naturally born son (Kal-El, later to be named Clark by his stepparents) in a long time in the dying planet Krypton. General Zod (Michael Shannon) tries to take over, hoping to save the planet under his rule. His hostility and betrayal aren’t approved by Jor-El, and he sends his son to earth, a plan he came up with his wife.

He sees that his baby leaves the planet safely, but ends up being murdered by Zod. Eventually Zod and his men are captured, sentenced to a very long time in a black hole.

Their capture doesn’t prevent the planet from ultimate destruction, however.

Later we meet the adult Clark (Henry Cavill) who has managed to keep his special abilities secret by working the odd jobs, and not staying in one place for too long.

Through flashbacks, we get to see how Clark struggled as a young boy to control and hide his abilities, but managed somehow through the guidance and support of his stepparents, Jonathan (Kevin Kostner) and Martha Kent (Diane Lane).

Jonathan explains him that he came from another planet, though he doesn’t have a lot of details. He encourages him to keep his powers secret for the greater good of his planet’s and the earth’s.

The adult Clark’s final gig lands him in Canada, where Louis Lane of The Daily Planet is also on a case. When Lois follows Clark into the spacecraft (a vehicle that the army was trying to figure out), Clark gets to save her – revealing his powers, but not before having gotten the message of his biological father.

He leaves soon, and Louis writes about the mystery man. But when her boss (Laurence Fishburne) refuses to print it, she makes sure people hear her story via a conspiracy theorist. She later decides to track down the mystery guy herself. But when she finally finds him, he tells her about Jonathan and his doubts about the world being ready for someone like him. After this, Louis decides to keep his identity a secret, strengthening the bond already formed between them.

But things get out of her control when Zod announces that he’s coming to the earth with his men, and all he wants is the alien. And of course he won’t accept “no” in peace. This puts Lois at risk, and Clark knows better than to trust Zod.

And the real action/effects feast part of the movie start after we find out that Krypton’s demise has freed Zod and his men; and he intends to recreate Krypton on earth, while destroying humans…

Review

Man of Steel provides solid entertainment with substance.

It does a good job explaining the backstory and answering the questions of the superhero’s fans who don’t necessarily read the comics: Where does the name/costume come from, why there is an S symbol on his costume (and a lot of other places), how he “officially” became a hero among others.

It starts presenting Krypton in all its different glory and giving Crowe a piece of the action.

Then we move on to an adult Clark who has nothing to do with newspaper reporting or glasses, which is refreshing.

The movie does a fine job of balancing drama with action, though I have to say I prefer to part of the movie before Zod arrived in our world. Because the fight sequences between Clark and Zod’s two soldiers took a bit too long for my taste- and as Transformers showed, too loud and long can be a major turn-off. And I can also say it for the final battle between Zod and Clark. However these are my only two complaints about the movie. I had a great experience. I can’t wait for the next installations.

I’m also happy to announce that the movie made more than half its budget at the box office on its first day. May Nolan and Snyder collaborate on more features.

How did you like the film?

Also on Kevin Costner:

The Company Men starring Ben Affleck, Tommy Lee Jones, Chris Cooper, Maria Bello & Kevin Costner

Nicholas Sparks vs Happy Endings- Kevin Costner’s Message in a Bottle

Kevin Costner: An Amazing Lead Who Should Just Stay Away From Sci-Fi

When Adultery is OK- Revenge (Movie Review of Revenge, Starring Kevin Costner and Anthony Quinn)

The New Daughter starring Kevin Costner

Also on Russell Crowe

The Next Three Days starring Russell Crowe & Elizabeth Banks: Emotional, Captivating, Entertaining

State of Play starring Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck, Rachel Mcadams and Helen Mirren

A Good Year starring Russell Crowe and Marion Cotillard

A Beautiful Mind starring Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, Ed Harris & Paul Bettany

The Dark Knight Rises: A GREAT MOVIE!

Posted on November 18, 2012 Written by ripitup

The Dark Knight starring Christian Bale, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Tom Hardy & Anne Hathaway

The Dark Knight Rises movie poster via iceposter.com.

Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale), physically and emotionally damaged after what happened with Joker and Harvey Two Face, has stayed away from the public eye- both as Bruce the billionaire businessman and Batman.

Not that Gotham seems to miss Batman much. Organized crime has come to an halt, or so it seems, and the police can handle the petty criminals. And everyone remembers Harvey as a hero, blaming his death on Batman. Of course Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman) knows the truth, but is not quite ready to reveal it yet. Another person who intuitively knows the true nature of Batman is Officer Blake (Joseph Gordon-Levitt).

And while Bruce is being more reclusive than ever, Selina Kyle/Catwoman (Anne Hathaway) won’t let his “retirement” get in the away of her acquiring what her dangerous clients demand from her, and she is more interested saving her own butt than protecting the Gotham citizens.

But when it becomes obvious that a very dangerous ex-convict, Bane (Tom Hardy), is putting a very dangerous plan into motion, Bruce decides that it is time to put on the costume. Unfortunately his company is in financial trouble, and he needs help to protect their biggest invention yet.

His biggest allies are Fox (Morgan Freeman), board member Miranda Tate (Marion Cotillard) and Blake. Unfortunately, Selina keeps sabotaging his efforts and Bane is a lot smarter, more patient and more well-connected than any other villain he has encountered. And his plans…well, even Selina’s “the storm is coming” warning” doesn’t quite cover it…

The Dark Knight Rises is not just the best Batman movie I saw (and I have seen them all, apart from the George Clooney one, but you can hardly blame me for it), but it is one of the best movies I have watched. It’s just the perfect action/drama.

Now, diehard Batman (comic book) fans might prefer the first or the second movie. But as much as I love the idea of Batman, I had never been able to find the perfect Batman movie, up until The Dark Knight Rises. They were either too absurd (whether it was Burton or Schumacher – Schumacher exaggerating even further) or too dark and depressing. Nolan’s first two films didn’t make me like, respect or root for Batman. I didn’t understand him either. Bruce seemed one-dimensional, and so did the villains.

The female characters were there to complicate things for Bruce and to look pretty, but they didn’t add anything interesting to the flow. Not for me. And both movies left many questions unanswered, and I was extremely disappointed in the second movie when it came to character development and motives. We were given a second villain like 20 minutes into the movie and supposed to accept the transition. Please don’t say it is silly to expect character development from a comic book movie. It’s directed by Christopher Nolan!

But The Dark Knight Rises is different. It does add the other dimensions to all of its characters. We understand Bruce better. He is not just depressed/rich/reclusive or dark – he is human, with many other adjectives to describe his personality. There are two women, who are way more important to the plot than to being just eye candy or be part of a love triangle. Hell, it even makes me see why the first two were made.

Commissioner Gordon is more significant than ever, and the Blake character also challenges and motivates Bruce a lot more than any other ally or friend he has ever had.

And the villain…We understand him, and we are intimidated by him. He is just worthy.

The Dark Knight Rises has it all for the comic book adaptation lover that doesn’t necessarily read the comics. But in addition to being fun and engaging, it is really intense, emotional and full of good twists. I have never seen 165 minutes run faster. And it has one of the best casts ever: Christian Bale, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, Marion Cotillard, Anne Hathaway, Matthew Modine, Tom Hardy, Brett Cullen, Gary Oldman…And hell, we even have Liam Neeson for about 10 seconds!

Other Posts on the Cast:

Christian Bale:

Equilibrium starring Christian Bale: Powerful, Action-Filled, Spot-On Observation of Human Nature

Public Enemies starring Johnny Depp, Christian Bale and Marion Cotillard

Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Inception starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseoh Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page, Marion Cottilard, Ken Watanabe and Tom Hardy

10 Things I Hate About You starring Heath Ledger, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Julia Stiles & Larisa Oleynik

500 Days of Summer starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel

Latter Days starring Wes Ramsey, Steve Sandvoss and Joseph Gordon- Levitt

Inception starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseoh Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page, Marion Cottilard, Ken Watanabe and Tom Hardy

Posted on July 29, 2010 Written by ripitup

Inception poster — Inception stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Ellen Page, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ken Watanabe, Cillian Murphy, Marion Cotillard and Tom Hardy. Written and directed by Batman Begins, The Dark Knight and Memento director Christopher Nolan. Image via: filmofilia.com

Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) has a highly unusual career: he extracts information (secrets) from people’s dreams when they are asleep, by joining in on the dream. He works with a team and his most frequent member is Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt).

Though his assignments are exciting, Cobb is far from being happy because his job isn’t exactly legal, and he is declared a criminal in the States, where his two little children live. He is also starting to lose his unique ability or at least getting a huge blow with the constant interruptions from Mal (Marion Cottilard), with who he seems to have a very complicated past with.

Cobb finally seems to have a shot at seeing his children, however, when he makes a very risky agreement with the powerful businessman Saito (Ken Watanabe). This time, the mission is not to extract information but to plant a thought in someone’s head, and make him think that this was his idea all along. Their “subject” is Robert Fischer Jr. (Cillian Murphy), the son of Saito’s biggest competitor. Now that Robert Sr. is dying, Jr. will be left to rule the business and it is best for Saito if he lets his father’s business fall apart.

Cobb puts another team together for the mission. Along with Arthur, he recruits Ariadne (Ellen Page) –a young and very successful architect who can design the dream world they need, Eames (Tom Hardy) –a great thief and forger and Yusuf (Dileep Rao), a chemist who will provide them with the most powerful drugs to help intensify the dream stage.

But the mission is very dangerous and complex and Dom just might not have been honest with everyone. And Robert Fischer Jr. just might not be as an easy target as they initially thought…

Now, obviously this is not a movie where any plot summary can do justice. It is a brilliant movie with an awesome script, stunning visuals and a great cast. And the best part is, you don’t really need to be a science fiction fan to enjoy this film. I am not, for instance. You just need to have an interest in mind-benders and well, a little fantasy. Sure, there are people who didn’t like the film but I have a feeling they are not in the majority since the movie just got to number 3 on IMDB’s top 250 movies list, voted by over 88.000 people. And it is currently number 1 at the box office. Now, don’t let the 9.2 rating scare you. I know it scared me. I thought I would find a vastly overrated movie.

And while I’d not quite say it is the best third film ever made, it is certainly much more impressive, original and clever than most films that made it to that list, which is formed by movie-goers themselves. I also didn’t know what to expect as I didn’t exactly have a great time at Batman The Dark Knight (Batman movie co- written and directed by Christopher Nolan) and I do find it a bit too long and indeed overrated (don’t hate me, my idea of a good comic book character is Iron Man as he is not that “dark” and “serious”) and I definitely believe writer/director Christopher Nolan comes up with much better stuff when it is coming from his own imagination. While I am not a Dark Knight fan, I really love Memento, another Christopher Nolan film that is also on the top 250 list and I am pretty sure by this time you have either heard about or seen Memento.

I am not sure if I like Inception as much as Memento, but I definitely enjoyed the ride. I wasn’t all that engaged in the first 10 minutes of the movie but then the movie picked up pace and never really slowed down. But it is not all action and it is not all fantasy. And Nolan has made marvelous observations about the dream state and what we remember afterwards or how our dreams are structured. There is a chance you will end up having different interpretation of the movie, even with your friends. The emotions Cobb goes through are very humane and you can’t help but empathize with his pain. But I found all the actors to be perfect for their roles. And among with all the mind-bending, paradoxes and complexities that seem to threaten even sanity, the movie does have some really good one-liners to put a smile on your face. But of course they light the mood up for about a split second.

As with the different interpretations, this writer seems to have collected the most popular ones and presented them with their strengths and weaknesses. If you have seen the movie, I suggest you take a look at that review and compare notes. But while that writer has his interpretation, and I have mine. My initial reaction to the film was in line with interpretation number 5 and I do want to believe in 6. But I mostly enjoyed reading number 3.

And obviously I’d love any comments here too. While I didn’t include spoilers in the summary, I do welcome them in the comments.

8.8 on IMDB. I think anywhere between 8-9 suits this movie fine. Brilliant. A little dark for my taste, but I just can’t resist it.

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Note: Michael Caine has a small role as Miles, Cobb’s father. And both Michael Caine and Cillian Muprhy appear in both Batman Begins and The Dark Knight.

Favorite Scenes:

Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s fighting scene at the hotel, without the gravity.

The fall of the van to the water, synchronized with the dream levels.

Pretty much any chasing scene, as they are glorious.

The dreams falling apart.

Anything we find about Mal…

OK, I have a lot more. Please share yours.

[pro-player width=’530′ height=’253′ type=’video’]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3XzUYd6nrU&feature=PlayList&p=7FD12EDD62CA1846&index=0&playnext=1[/pro-player]