Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Man of Steel Trailer Breakdown

Jack and Dominic Ciolli examine the latest Man of Steel trailer

BY: Jack Ciolli and Dominic Ciolli

The latest Man of Steel trailer came out yesterday and needless to say, Jack and I were pretty pumped.  I've already watched it about ten times, and I'm sure Jack's right up there too.  Jack hits the trailer with points of interest and thoughts, while I pull out four moments which really spoke to me.  Here are some of the highlights that you should take away from the trailer.

Jack:

0:04 – Krypton’s destruction may be due to war, not natural disaster

0:20 – “How?”  Kind of awesome, but I have to say that I could do without tons of time spent on Krypton or the idea of them sending him to Earth intentionally and stuff.  I always prefer the idea that Superman was sent off Krypton just so that he could have a chance at life, and then being raised by the Kents is what prompts him to develop the moral compass that drives his heroic actions

0:22 – The ship has the S shield on it.  That’s pretty awesome.

0:34 – Jor-El’s speech here makes it sound like they sent him with the intention of becoming the hero figure he becomes.  I don’t really like that, but it’s a very minor complaint.

0:45 – Little Clark wearing a cape and doing the Superman pose is great.  Makes me smile every time.

0:50 – The woman’s delivery is very strange.  Is she upset that Clark saved her son?

1:02 – “You’re the answer to ‘are we alone in the universe?’”  Kinda the douchiest way to inform your son that he’s an alien…

1:06 – That is a pretty great moment.  Makes me more confident in their portrayal of Pa Kent.  The “maybe” from the first trailer was bad, but this has renewed my faith.

1:25 – I love this.  Lois having an interest in Superman before he even comes out as Superman is really cool, to me.  And the idea of adult Clark just sort of wandering the world helping and saving people.  That’s just awesome

1:29 – “For some, he was a guardian angel.”  That and this shot of him holding up the oil rig or whatever it is he’s doing, is just too much awesome.  I love it.

1:35 – The doors opening to reveal his silhouette is pretty sweet. 

1:37 – Jor El’s speech.  Yes, it’s the thing I don’t like, which is his origin being by design, that they selected Earth, and that they wanted him to be who he becomes.  I prefer that coming from the Kents, but this speech is so damn incredible that it really doesn’t matter to me at all.

2:00 – It really starts before this, but right here the music picks up from the way it was building and it’s just perfectly in tune with what was just being said.  It’s a really inspirational sound, just fills me with energy

2:10 – “You believe you’re son is safe?”  Based on the fact that Krypton seems to consume itself in war, it looks like Zod is behind it and Jor-El has something to do with his prosecution, which is why he seems to be intent on getting Clark.

2:15 – Superman’s costume is very clearly the same as the clothes worn by Kryptonian soldiers, so that’s a cool reason for it to be indestructible.  That’s just a cool unity in design.

2:18 – “My father believed…”  That speech is pretty great too.

2:21 – I love this, where the planes are tearing up the street with bullets and he does a cool superspeed thing away.  That’s neat.

2:28 – This shot is so damn cool

2:35 – “What’s the S stand for?”  Love this interaction.  I know some people don’t like the idea that the S is a Kryptonian symbol, because that seems like a hokey idea.  But it’s also kind of against Superman’s character to call himself that on his own.  What makes sense is for him to wear a symbol that means hope in some form, and then for Lois to name him Superman, which he just accepts and goes along with. 

2:48 – This sequence, where he’s sort of battering around someone, Zod or some lackey, this is cool.  This is why I’m happy Snyder is directing this thing.  They clearly have the hope factor as a big deal, but now we’re also gonna get the first Superman movie where he’s actually badass and awesome.  So for those more shallow movie-goers among us, Superman can become cool again.

Dominic:

00:23    Jor-El:  “He’ll be a god to them”

            Captures Superman in six words.  He could be a god to us, he is so powerful that he could bend us to his will, rule over us with an iron (steel?) fist.  But he doesn’t.  He uses his god-like abilities to save people.  And Jor-El knows that he is going to do this. Clark is a hero and he was always going to be.

1:05-1:09    Pa Kent: “You’re the answer to, ‘are we alone in the universe?’  Clark: “Can’t I just go back to pretending I’m your son?”  Pa Kent: “You are my son”

            Clark is different, there is no way around that.  But he does not want to be, he wants to be just like us.  He does not see himself as different, he sees himself as one of us.

1:15-1:30   Exploits of Clark before Superman

            As Jack described it, he appears to be doing “random acts of superheroness,” but it’s really more than that.  Clark didn’t go off looking for chances to be a hero, he traveled to find himself, find out who he really is.  And what did he find?  People who needed help, people in trouble, people who needed to be saved.  That’s when he discovered who he is:  he is the person who can save those people.  He is the one who can protect those who need protecting.

1:37-1:20    Jor-El:  “You will give the people of Earth an ideal to strive towards.  They will race behind you, they will stumble, they will fall.  But in time, they will join you in the sun.  In time, you help them accomplish wonders.”

            Once again, Jor-El knows what Clark will do before he does it.  Superman is of course a hero, but he is so much more than that.  He is a symbol of hope (he even wears it on his chest, as the end of the trailer indicates).  Superman inspires us to do the right thing and to protect others.  There is no way that we can live up to this ideal, but we have to chase it all the same.  


This trailer paints a solid picture of what we’re going to get.  A Krypton torn apart by war, Clark sent to Earth, learning about his origins and using his abilities to help people, even before ultimately becoming Superman and stepping out to put a face to his actions.  It clearly represents the inspirational nature that’s at Superman’s core, all of which is basically summed up by what Jor-El says.  “You will give the people of Earth an ideal to strive towards.  They’ll race behind you.  They will stumble, they will fall.  And in time, they will join you in the sun.”  That pretty much says it all.  And then the rest of the trailer sells us on two more things people may have been concerned about.  The action is going to be big, and it’s going to be awesome.  And Superman’s interactions with Lois (at least from this one scene) look like they’ll be spot on.  Easily our most anticipated movie of the year, far and away above anything else coming out.



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