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Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)
2016 | Action, Sci-Fi
Wonder Woman (0 more)
If I ever have to see Bruce Wayne's parents die on screen again, I'm never watching another Batman movie. It was so unnecessary. I didn't mind Ben Affleck as Batman (my unpopular opinion=Christian Bale was an awful Batman). Henry Cavill was the quiet, conflicted Superman, as he was in Man of Steel. No comment on Amy Adams as Lois Lane (because I have nothing nice to say). The shining moment: Wonder Woman. Though, if I didn't know who Wonder Woman was, I wouldn't have had any idea of who she was, because they never actually introduce the fact that she's Wonder Woman. Jesse Eisenberg as Mark Zuckerberg, I mean, Lex Luthor, was, well... interesting?
Hey, it was a better movie than Suicide Squad.
  
AO
Adventures of Superman Vol. 1
8
7.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
This is a collection of standalone comics featuring the Man of Steel. Lex Luthor stars in several, as well as Bizarro, Lois Lane and many other infamous characters.

One comic includes Metropolis in a bottle, while another requires Superman's help with a child that has been moved across the timeline. In one, Lex even reveals plans to run for US president.


There's a great undercurrent of humour in many of these, and several comics give an insight to the day-to-day lives of different characters. The final episode in this volume is possibly my favourite - featuring fans of Superman who require his assistance. I thought this story was so clever, and pretty emotional, too.


This is very nearly in my favourite books list. Each story is so interesting and unique. 4.5 stars.
  
Superman for All Seasons
Superman for All Seasons
Jeph Loeb | 2002
6
8.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
So, Superman For All Seasons.

Told over four seasons, with each season from the point of view of a different character, starting with Spring (Jonathan Kent) before moving onto Summer (Lois Lane), Autumn (Lex Luthor, here portrayed more as a business man than as a crime lord) and finally Winter (Lana Lang), this is really all about Clark Kent's early days as The Man of Steel.

Not long ago, I also read [b:All Star Superman|7719640|Absolute All-Star Superman|Grant Morrison|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1374351837s/7719640.jpg|10465171], which (I believe) is also commonly considered one of the better Superman stories. Of the two, I have to say: I preferred this one. Less fantastical, with more of the background that all we (should) know, showing how Clark Kent came to be who he is (and with easier-to-follow art panels!)
  
SB
Superman: Birthright
Mark Waid | 2005
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
It's funny, but while - like, I'm sure, most people out there - I may know (of) the origin of the Man of Steel, I've never actually seeing it written down anywhere.

Thinking about it, I think that knowledge comes from the Christopher Reeve Superman films, and the more recent TV series Smallville.

That TV series was still running when this graphic novel series was released.

This goes back to Superman's earliest days in Metropolis, with a brief flash-back to his high school Smallville days, to present a new take on the origin of the character - Jimmy Olsen? Check. Ma and Pa Kent? Check. Perry White? Check. Lois Lane? Check. Lex Luthor? Also check!

As such, I found this an interesting take on the character, with some dynamic action sequences and some stand-out visuals (Clark Kent soaring over a herd of stampeding Zebra's, for instance).
  
Man of Steel (2013)
Man of Steel (2013)
2013 | Action, Sci-Fi
"KNEEL BEFORE ZOD!"

Oh, wait, wrong version of that character!

This is Zack Snyders reboot of the Superman story; basically an origin story for The Man of Steel and setting out is stall pretty early with the absolutely bonkers scene where Russell Crowe's Jor-El rides a dragon as the planet Krypton (a very different take on said planet than in the Christopher Reeve films) begins to die.

It also ends with the massive destruction in Metropolis - to be fair, a consequence of which is shown in the following DC film Batman Vs Superman - and with a shocking scene where this version of Superman commits an action it is almost impossible to imagine his Silver Age counterpoint to do.

Michael Shannon's Zod comes across as less campy than Terence Stamps, while - in this version, at least - the reason Lois Lane is a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist *is* actually shown.
  
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David McK (3185 KP) rated Superman Returns (2006) in Movies

Aug 26, 2019 (Updated Jul 16, 2023)  
Superman Returns (2006)
Superman Returns (2006)
2006 | Action, Drama, Sci-Fi
Edit: Brandon Routh finally got to return to the character in (TV) Arrow's 'Crisis on Infinite Earths', about 15 years later ...

The film that Bryan Singer left the X-Men franchise to make, this completely ignores anything after Superman II, setting itself up as a pseudo-sequel to that movie.

Starring a (pre-Arrowverse) Brandon Routh as a Superman/Clark Kent, this also recasts Margot Kidder's Lois Lane in that ape of Kate Bosworth, and Lex Luthor in the Shar of (the now-disgraced) Kevin Spacey. Unfortunately, there's seemingly a distinct lack of chemistry between Bosworth and Routh, perhaps covered up somewhat by a scenery-chewing Lex Luthor, who is back to his old criminal ways.

On the plus side, however, this Superman is a far more jovial and brighter version than the current Zak Snyder version, truly standing for 'Truth, Justice ... And all that other stuff', while the film still does contain some spectacle, such as Superman trying to stop a falling plane or even the final 'lifting-Kryptonian-infested landmass-into space' (although it then gets very heavily allegorical, with Superman even falling with his arms out in a cross shape).

I have to say, as well, that I was never a fan of its most controversial elements (no spoilers here) ...