Movies

Early Buzz: Is 'Man Of Steel' This Summer's Best Blockbuster?

superman-man-of-steel-poster-3-header
By Angie Han

Between a small handful of very good, very early reviews and a strong marketing campaign, Zack Snyder's Man of Steel has been getting pretty great buzz for some time now. And as the release date creeps closer, the positive word-of-mouth is only getting louder.

While there aren't any official reviews up yet, a vague but promising consensus so far is that Man of Steel is an action-packed epic worthy of the world's most iconic superhero. That's no small feat. Hit the jump to read the comments.

MOS is awesome. :) Best summer movie yet.

I loved MOS. Completely disagreed with people nitpicking "not enough personality." It's different: Bigger action, tight, VERY focused story.

Dickey also picked up these glowing comments from Daniel Dalton.

Man Of Steel is unlike any Superman film you've ever seen. Initial thoughts: Looked amazing, action was stunning, Cavill & cast excellent.

Best film he's made. I loved his Watchmen, but this is a better fit for his skills. Oh, and there was no slo-mo :)

Rusty was great, got a nice opening scene. K-Cost rocked the world weary farm wisdom of Pa Kent like a boss.

as much as I enjoyed Returns, this is an entirely different beast. Returns felt anachronistic somehow. MoS is of this time.

Singer's film was too tied to Donner's. This shrugs off any creative shackles and paints with a free brush.

An anonymous tipster who wrote in to AICN had similarly nice things to say.

Overall, it's gloriously flash and fun, bold and hallucinogenic, all the while having a touch of grit, grain and gravity. What it is is seriously geeky, and was probably made to appeal to Superman fans first and foremost. This is because it takes its mythology seriously. It's a long movie, but it's never boring. It does return to the greatness of the first two movies.

The embargo imposed by the studio is keeping most folks from saying too much, but a few couldn't resist dropping vague but encouraging hints.

Other movie lovers couldn't or wouldn't divulge their own reactions, but were happy to comment on other people's excited reactions.

Of course, every film has its detractors. One who didn't seem so hot on Man of Steel was Jenn Murphy, as quoted by Comic Book Movie.

There's a reason why they told us not to tweet about the movie we just saw: IT'S TERRIBLE!!!

Also it definitely fails the Bechdel Test. Seriously can big budget movies create a decent role for a woman? It's getting pretty ridiculous.

Meanwhile, one blogger wrote in to inform Dickey that their sources had strongly disliked Man of Steel.

I haven't seen MoS, but from those that have (and are under embargo) I've heard it's abysmal. .... four or five said to go in with way, way lowered expectations, that they've removed all sense of the character from film

It's worth taking all of this buzz with a grain of salt. Early reactions like these can be hyperbolic, and that goes double when so much of the chatter is based on third-hand accounts. But if the film is even half as good as rumored, it sounds like Warner Bros.' DC universe could get a serious boost when Man of Steel opens June 14.

Recommended