Man of Steel review

I've put off writing about Man of Steel because I'm starting to sound like a broken record (do people still use that expression in the iTunes era?) about this summer's blockbusters. I have not been enjoying them, which is especially disappointing, considering that I did very much like last summer's Avengers. MoS unfortunately features the same kind of soul-deadening violence that I've seen too much of this summer. (But at least the violence in MoS is coherent, something I would not say about most of the action scenes in the latest Iron Man or Star Trek movies). The main problem, though, is pretty obvious. Warner Brothers had a big hit with its Dark Knight trilogy so it tried (as far as possible) to turn Superman into Batman. Not the same guy. Box office aside, Superman has always worked best when the film (or TV series) is at least partly facetious -- "comic," as in "comic book." (The Avengers certainly had that quality.) But MoS varies from sincere to grim: an epic saga with Superman as some kind of space messiah. Those fanboys who've been complaining that Superman isn't Superman without his external red undies (surprisingly) have a point. A world in which those crimson skivvies don't belong is just too serious for old Supey.

Star Trek: Into Darkness

Disappointing. To start with, many of the action scenes are so badly edited as to be almost incoherent. But the major problem is that, like some other big-budget movies, this one follows the playbook by piling on the soul-deadening violence. With entire skyscrapers being destroyed, the body count here is incalculable (but clearly large). Around the edges, there are some little touches for Trekkers. A decent joke about Spock's ears. Bones saying, "I'm a doctor, Jim, not a [fill in the blank]." Spock (at last) revealing his human side. Etc. But even many of these touches come off as pandering because they don't arise naturally. The main thing the film has going for it is the fine, young cast (especially Simon Pegg as Scotty), but finally that's not enough. It's depressing that the film is so popular: Live long and prosper, indeed.