Superman Is Dead

I had  a busy day.  Ruel and I were out the whole day.  We had to bring Ruel's laptop to the service center this morning, and then we attended the parent orientation at my son's school this afternoon.  

It wasn't all work though. The fun began at 4:10 when we watched Man of Steel with my parents and my son.

My son, who is a true Superman fan (ask him any trivia question about the history of Superman throughout the years and he can answer you with detailed explanations) watched it with his dad on the first day of showing last June 12 but he watched it again with us today.  

It was fun watching a movie with all of them.  I haven't been to a movie house with my parents for maybe more than five  years so it felt good to watch something with them again.

We had dinner at Max's afterwards.

I bet you want to hear what I think about the movie.  

Ok. I didn't like it.

It didn't seem like I was watching a Superman movie.

There's something that makes Superman different from all the other superheroes.

It is something I can't fully explain.  I can't put my finger on it.  

But I will try.

Superman is a superhero, he's something that's out of this world, but he is in no way intimidating.  You look at him in awe, but he doesn't scare you.   There is gentleness in his manner, friendliness in his colors, and he just shines in a way that Batman, Thor, Wolverine, Spiderman, Iron Man can't.  Superman exudes an aura of lightness.  

That's what's missing from this Man of Steel.

This movie's Superman had a warrior-like quality.  Handsome, yes but more in a warrior-like way. His costume was not friendly.  It looked heavy and dark.  He didn't exude an aura of lightness.

I found the movie very dark.  Krypton was dark, the costume of Jor-El and of the other Kryptonians were all dark and warrior-like.  They didn't seem to be peace loving creatures at all.  There were times  I felt like I was watching the movie, Thor because of the look of Krypton, their space ships and other technology.  The farm where Clark grew up was also dark.  Their house was kind of dreary, in need of a paint job and everything about it just looked too sad.  My husband said it looked as if everyone was in need of a shower.  Funny, I know. But I agree. 

I don't like how Jonathan died.  I just can't believe that Clark couldn't think of a way to save his father and that he would just let him die like that.  For a Superman and a Smallville fan, I just refuse to believe that Clark would allow his father to die without doing anything to stop it from happening.  They should have thought of another way for Jonathan to die, maybe they should have just stuck with heart attack. 

I think the fight scenes dominated more than half of the movie.  It was long and dragging.  There were young kids inside the movie house. I don't think they should have been allowed there...even with the presence of their parents.  Kids absorb everything they see and hear.  It's not enough that parents are there. Superhero movies today are all too violent for kids to watch.  

I usually feel good after a Superman movie.  The Superman theme also had a lot to do with that.  There's a lightness of feeling when you hear the Superman theme...something that's heroic, that perks you up and leaves you breathless in a lighthearted kind of way.  

This time,  I didn't leave the movie house feeling good.  There was no light feeling in my heart at all. Even the main theme was forgettable.  The movie just didn't strike a chord in me.  

For me, Christopher Reeve is still Superman and because he is dead, then Superman is dead.