Not so Man of Steel

     So Warner Bros' new movie, "Man of Steel" came out the other week.  Who saw that one?  What'd you think?  MoS was supposed to be the king of the summer blockbusters this year...however, it's not.  Warner Bros has a lot riding on MoS's back, including future Superman movies, the Justice League Movie, and all other DC superhero movies.  Man of Steel needed to be perfect, it had to be the movie that would re-solidify our faith in DC heroes.  And unfortunately, it's not perfect...it has audiences divided.
     Some love it, some hate it...and like me, a lot are kind of just in the middle.  I enjoyed the movie, it had great action, some great emotional beats, and looked great.  However, there were a lot of issues, I felt. The pacing in MoS was completely off.  Goyer's script was one of the biggest problems for the film.  I also felt that certain emotional beats were missing, and if they'd been hit, the movie would have connected way more with audiences.  The main thing that kept my head shaking though, was the massive amount of collateral damage caused by Superman and Zod in the film.  I couldn't get over how the devastated the entire city of Metropolis.
     I'm sure Warner Bros wasn't expecting the film to get smashed, critically.  There's no doubt that the film will make it's money back, but like I said, this movie will be an indication on how well the rest of the DC universe does, cinematically.  The main crush to DC's campaign, happened this weekend.  Man of Steel was knocked out of the number 1 spot in the box office, by World War Z and Monster's University.
     This is a huge hit for WB, as they were expecting Man of Steel to be number 1 for quite a while.  In just one week, it was knocked down.  It's doing pretty well for itself, but compared to other big franchise movies like Iron Man, Spiderman and Star Trek, it's not holding up.  This is very unfortunate for Superman and DC, alike.  I would love for DC to buck up and make a decent film (that's not Batman).  I'm an avid movie and comic fan, so I love when a movie is based off a famous comic.  It's just so unfortunate that Hollywood can't seem to get it right, even when it's put in very capable hands.

Marketing

     So who's excited for the new "Man of Steel" movie?  I know I am.  It looks like they've finally figured out the perfect tone for not only a Superman film, but a comic book movie as well.  One thing I've been incredibly impressed with, is the way Warner Brothers is marketing the film.  They're really taking advantage of the viral online marketing route.  I've always been a fan of this, and thought it to be the most effective.
     When they first set up their website, it was a very simple black site with a logo on the back.  There were secret links you could click to a simple one sentence message.  As time went on they released a viral "message" from the film's villain, Zod.  It was a staticky, scary message to planet earth of his arrival.  I thought this was great.  It was a great way to send a message to audiences as well as immediately set the tone for the film.
     I think films should take more creative routes like this in marketing their films.  I think advertising and marketing should be involving like that, and not come off as annoying.  Audiences enjoy the interaction, it makes it fun.  I think films should try and be secretive about what they're making.  It takes the surprise and the fun out of seeing a movie, if everything has already been spoiled.