1. If you're going to reboot a franchise as big as Superman you CANNOT forgo the origin story - you can't just 'Star Wars wall of text' that stuff! We go into the movie with no pretext on how Superman became Superman, the trials and tribulations he had to endure, what caused him to have such unwavering moral standards - none of it. For adults familiar with his story, its not a big deal, but if you are rebooting this for a new generation then they will have no pretext to a literal beacon of morality with the power to back it up.
2. Too many humorous parts that didn't land. It's not that there were too many funny instances, I'm okay with that, it's that the jokes didnt land 50% of the time. Krypto being an unruly dog can only work so many times. When the dog ragdolled Lex at the end, I literally put my hands on my face like ... come the fukk on. Mr. Terrific and Green Lantern did a great job keeping the lighthearted tonality but still maintaining a serious tone when it was needed (not Green Lantern with the middle finger tank flipping scene.. CORNY).
Superman prioritizing settling a debate and working on his relationship with Lois Lane over tending to the alien battle going on in the window with the Justice 'Gang' is totally off kilter. Sure, he values his relation with Lois Lane. Would he sit back and not help his comrades in a battle that threatens lives in Metropolis? Naaaah dawg.
3. The emotional scenes just didn't hit. I didn't care about Lois Lane whatsoever. The scene with Clark and his father outside of the house fell flat as it seemed that Clark was the father figure in that instance. His mother displaying no motherly bone whatsoever and calling the father mushy because he cared just struck me as weird, not good or bad, just weird. There were really no heavy moments or significant tension in this movie that made you stop eating your popcorn or sit on the edge of your seat to see what would happen, it was totally low stakes background noise.
4. Building on number three, Superman gets his ass whooped in 95% of the movie yet you never feel concerned. Granted, its Superman so I'll give that a pass but no scene in this movie made you worried or feel like the odds were in danger of changing to the villains favor. The only scene that made me feel like, "Damn... that really happened", was the moment when Lex Luthor was playing russian roulette with the arab guy and killed him. Everybody I was with, including me laughed - I was surprised it happened, but it was so inconsequential that it really didn't matter nor did I have any kind of emotional connection with him. Superman underperformed in his reaction to that moment.
5. .....fukk it, I'm not writing anymore lol. There were some good elements in this movie, particular the Justice 'Gang' scenes, Mr. Terrific especially. Lex Luthor was played by Hoult pretty well. The extra characters such as the president of Bravia (or whatever its called), Ahmed (the arab sacrifice), the robots in the fortress of Solitude, even Eve (I think thats her name, mutant toes). The production was off the charts, very well done. The sound, soundtrack, special effects (except when he was flying, my brother pointed out how you can tell his face is CGI applied onto the head during those sequences).
I am not Snydergang. I do love MoS. I can enjoy Justice League but I hate hate hate Rebel Moon and everything related to it. He is a director that needs to be reeled in with a good script and confined strictly to directorial status only.
I do prefer a more serious, darker Superman - why? Because as adults, we see the world differently than we did when we were kids. Kids are full of hope, purity, innocence and we align more with the idea that things are black and white. As adults we come to understand the nuances of what life brings you, situations that aren't easily solved, morals that are tested, pyrrhic victories, redemptive losses. My friend said this movie seemed to be made more for kids, and I agreed with him. It's surface level, flashy, puddle depth, lighthearted and attempts to be too 'catchy'. But like I said earlier, if there's no origin story for the kids, then it doesn't do well there either.
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