We’re still a full year from it’s release date. Calm down
It’s a teaser intended to create buzz in the early days of the campaign, it’s true. Trouble is, it’s probably created, at best, a confused murmur, or at worst, a negative reaction that the full campaign will have to work against.
No, this is a teaser, and there is a difference. This is supposed to create intrigue and awareness. It’s a Good Thing a few people were thrown by the lobster boat. The end is obviously Superman, and it leaves the audiences piecing together the disparate elements, asking questions and realizing that this is a new (ish) angle on an old hero.
How amusing, I mention that these trailers kill any excitement for the movie and you think I’m excited about that.
Pay attention: I’m bored by these trailers.
Has it?
I loved the trailer. Totally unexpected setup; thje entire theater was oohing and aahing at Superman soaring through the clouds. I can’t wait to see the movie.
Remember, superhero movies are not aimed at really big time comic book fans, or else they’d fail spectacularly. That’s why B-level comic book heroes have such a spotty track records at the box office; beyond the Holy Trinity of Superman, Batman, and Spider-Man, the general public has only limited, or no, awareness of superheroes like Iron Man, Green Lantern, and the like. If you do it right, as they did with Iron Man, maybe you get a hit; do it wrong, and you lose your shirt.
The Batman series was not for the comic book fanboys; it was for the general public, who generally know who Batman is but for the most part don’t care about this or that “silver age” or New This or That backstory stuff. Christopher Nolan’s genius was in taking the fundamental Batman concept (and to a large extent the funamental concepts of Gotham and The Joker) and making an honest-to-God movie about them. If they can do that with Superman, they’ll make a billion dollars.
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DC is going to continue to be pounded by Marvel’s movies.
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Yeah, DC certainly had quite the clunkers with the, uh… the Batman movies.
Iron Man made a mint because it was a light, fun movie made by smart people; same with Raimi’s Spider-man. Batman, I think, is fairly unique in how the character’s core involves psychological torment, and so the introspective approach suits the property.
What do the general public associate with Superman?
In other words, people think of amazing feats, action, adventure and awe… from a hero who symbolises archetypal values. Not mopey introspection against the monochromatic backdrop of a fishing trawler.
And FWIW, nobody in Batman has superpowers per se, unless you count wads of cash and mental instability as superpowers. So you can give Batman some sense of credibility by keeping it grounded and nothing will seem amiss.
Flying humanoid aliens who can shoot heat rays out of their eyes obviously necessitate a different approach. Making that earthy and grounded is a recipe for disaster.
These are teaser trailers. Released a full year before the movie is coming out. Meaning the complete trailers are yet to come.
If the full trailer shows some good exciting action, what does it matter if these teasers bored you?
Or do these teasers depress you so much that nothing now will change your mind?
My greatest concern is the soundtrack. What will the theme be like? To me, the John Williams score is iconic. I can’t imagine a Superman movie without that musical score.
A big part of Iron Man’s appeal was built on the back of one of the greatest movie trailers ever. It did big things well, it did the small things well, and it really sold the idea that Robert Downey Jr. is a hero.
Compare and contrast with other superhero movies and I think you’ll find that the right or wrong trailer is the deciding factor every time.
To me this trailer was the first good thing I’ve seen about this movie. Superman is one of my favorite characters when he’s done well, but he’s extremely difficult to do well in a modern setting. The fishing boat was awkward, but the sight of Superman breaking the sound barrier was awe inspiring. I think there is tons of room for a grounded, gritty Superman film. Yes, Superman should be pure and good, but the world doesn’t have to be, and there’s plenty of drama in that conflict. Superman seems bright and friendly to us because we know him, but Superman is also scary in a world that isn’t less trusting of anything than of icons of purity and goodness.
Superman is powerful and that’s scary when you don’t yet trust the one wielding that power. Hell, even when you do trust him, the effect of power is notorious. The world of Superman is damn lucky that Superman is as perfect a boyscout as he is, because if he were even the tiniest bit less so, they’d all be dead at his feet. Most Superman stories, whether in film, television, or comic book, show Superman flying through the air from about 6 feet in front of him, where we see his gleaming smile and honest baby-blue eyes. But the view from the ground is different, and this is one of the first instances I’ve seen of showing that view.
Superman has to be good and pure and optimistic and candy-colored-cheerful in order for the character to work, but in order for the story to work today, the world has to be weary and corrupt and suspicious in a believable and honest way, and the villain or menace has to be monstrous and evil and seductive enough that when Superman overcomes it, both the world and the viewers actually believe that he’s as good and pure and hopeful as any little boy reading a comic in the Silver Age ever knew him to be.
Me too, I got goosebumps.
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In other words, people think of amazing feats, action, adventure and awe… from a hero who symbolises archetypal values. Not mopey introspection against the monochromatic backdrop of a fishing trawler.
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All the more reason to see it. It’s not going to be a remake of the corny 1978 movie? Shit, I’m there opening night.
Yes, Superman is idealistic and pure; as Alan points out, he really has to be. But here’s the thing; he wasn’t born Superman. He was born Kal-el, and adopted Clark Kent. Superman is something he becomes. Logically, and thematically, he has to choose that.
It has to be a choice logically because, well, it has to be. He’s a man… well, a Kryptonian, whatever he is, with free will. He was raised as Clark Kent in Smallville, Kansas. He knew he was different, and the Kents knew, but logically he must at some point have chosen to be Superman. Whether it’s shown in the screen or not, that choice happens. It would appear that Nolan and Snyder have elected to show us him making that choice. For all we know it’s just three minutes out of 140, but either he makes the choice in screen or the audience is just asked to accept it; I don’t see how showing up the choice ruins anything.
On top of that, it works thematically. If Superman is simply good and pure, if he doesn’t make a decision to be good and pure, then it means nothing. Superman’s powers give him the chance to be a superhero, but they don’t make him one. We are our choices. If Superman is implied to be inherently good - which you could do, because he is after all an alien - then he has no character. He’s just a machine.
Indeed, it seems to me that’s the story the trailer tells. Here is a child; here is the child, now a young man, on a voyage; here is the man as hero, soaring into the heavens. His upward trajectory is no mistake. It could hardly be clearer; he has decided what to do with his immense power, and that is to be Superman, a force for good. It’s so much more meaningful to know he wants to be that.
In both the 1978 movie and the 2013 version (apparently) Jor-el instructs Superman that he is an example, something to look up to. “They can be a great people, Kal-El, they wish to be. They only lack the light to show the way.” But Superman’s example can’t be his powers; no human has those. So what’s he showing them? His purity and altruism, right? But he doesn’t have those unless he has a choice to have them.
I would assume this is the first of a series, and I suspect, if the movies have an appropriate Christopher Nolan influence, that the movie will, at least a little, explore that; the choice to be good, to act with altruism, that Kal-el/Clark Kent makes, to become Superman.
But we’re here talking about them, which from the standpoint of studio marketing is a Good Thing even if there’s disagreement about their quality.
Vigorous disagreement makes more noise and creates more buzz than a consensus of unenthusiastic qualified approval.
The trailers look good to me. Russell Crowe (Gladiator voice) as his Krypton dad, and Kevin Costner as his Earth dad, both have real potential in those roles. And I guess ol’ Supes was going Mach 3 by the end!
The trailer I saw over the weekend didn’t impress me. I saw the trawler and thought it would be something like The Perfect Storm (which I’ll admit I haven’t seen). And then there was a glimpse of Kevin Costner. Not a good sign.
Honestly, I’m just not sure that Nolan and Snyder are a good team for Superman. If nothing else, Superman should be optimistic, and I just don’t see that coming from them, or from the trailer.
…WOW. I don’t really like Superman as a character that much: but just reading what you wrote, I want to see THAT movie. Here’s hoping they make a movie half as good as the picture you’ve just painted!
That is what it boils down to. Superman inspires people to be better. Batman scares them into doing it. The former is a lot harder to film than the latter.
“You’re not just anyone. One day, you’re going to have to make a choice. You just have to decide what kind of a man you want to grow up to be. Whether that man is a good character or bad, it’s going to change the world…” - J. Kent
“You will give the people an ideal to strive towards. They’ll race behind you. They will stumble. They will fall. But in time, they will join you in the sun. In time, you will help them accomplish wonders.” Jor-El
Assuming Kryptonians and humans have the same psychological make-up, this is a lot of weight to put on a teen’s shoulders. (Of course, I guess there’s no escaping the fact that he is a demi-god among men. Might as well not pussyfoot around.)
What’s the deal with vehicles passing him as he tries to hitchhike? Is there going to be sad piano music for this scene?