TM2YC said:
This BvS witty rant/review video had me in stitches
. It's mostly the Geordie accent, especially when he's voicing the character's internal monologues in said Northern English accent. He also makes quite a few interesting critical observations. Do check it out but it's peppered with naughty language so be warned...
Thank you @"TM2YC" for that vid. I still haven't seen BvS, and by all accounts, I refuse to reward Snyder or Warner Brothers for this. I'll eventually catch this on cable, but every review, even ones where it's clear the reviewer is just being as harsh as they can to pile on, makes it abundantly clear just how much this movie pisses all over the DC universe, and in particular, one of my all-time favorite characters in Superman.
Now granted, it's really impossible to say that there is a 'definitive' Superman to betray. Superman has become, like James Bond or Westerns, a method for exploring stories using a filter of the current time period, culture, values, fears, and beliefs. But through all the various origin mythologies, rules for his universe and tonal varieties, Superman is always consistently about a few core things:
- Unflagging moral certainty in right and wrong. Yes there are short-run off-shoots or stand-alone stories where Superman may have doubts on how he integrates those beliefs with culture of the day, but Superman is confident and unflagging in his moral uprightness. Now some people despise this boy scout nature of the character, and that's fine, you can despise his construct or scoff at such a binary world view, but it is a constant core aspect of his character. He may have some issues with particulars of a politician or government, but he operates from a place of moral certainty that defines how he responds to any crisis. He is decisive. He is a character of action, but pretty much always with a sense of humility (war years Superman was admittedly a little rough around the edges and could be a bit cocky from time to time when dealing with villains)
- Idealist - A representation of all the best things that we aspire to. Now this may be a particularly, or acutely American thing to latch on to with regard to his character, but throughout the ages, throughout his various incarnations, Superman is idealistic. Again, right or wrong, naive or silly, this is a core aspect of his character. He seeks to help humanity (the United States in particular.. again, right or wrong) be better.. to be all that they can be, to fight for the little guy and defend them against the wrongs of oppressors.
- Hope - Lastly, Superman is about hope. FFS, it's even a straight line from MoS, but they can't manage to translate that on screen. Superman is at his core, a symbol of hope. A reassurance that we SHOULD be aspiring to be high ideals and value morals, that wrongs can be righted, that the little guy CAN overcome impossible odds.
Man of Steal was a jumbled mess, but not so far off target that it didn't have promise. While it didn't spit on Superman, it fell way short on most levels. In fact I found the most interesting/intriguing part of the film to be the Krypton sequence. I left the theater wanting a prequel that told more about Jor-El's story on Krypton, and not wanting to think about the destruction porn that the Smallville midpoint and Metropolis finale represented. This wasn't Superman fighting shadows from his father's past, it was just two low-brow near-gods having an MMF battle in Metropolis. Even worse, I found Zod's character infinitely more interesting and compelling than Superman's. Snyder's take on Superman was the least interesting or compelling part of the story (never mind the horrible screen treatment)
Unfortunately every indication is that this newest iteration of Superman takes all of the worst aspects of MoS and doesn't just double-down, but bets the entire house on them. The video merely confirms all the worst aspects of every write-up I could stomach through.
So in response I've been immersing myself in my Son of Jor-El edit, the joy that is Chris Reeve, Tom Mankiewicz and Richard Donner's take on Superman, as well as Brian Singer's tragically maligned love letter that is Superman Returns.
Hope. Grace. Humility. Confidence. Those are the trademarks of what make a compelling and enjoyable Superman for me, and there doesn't appear to be an ounce of that in Snyder's cynical, violent and murky approach to Earth's Greatest Protector.
