This summer in movies has seemed to continue the new trend of releasing multiple high budget, money making machines, known as super hero movies. Last year we got the Avengers, Spiderman and Batman, and this year we have been given Iron Man 3 and the Man of Steel. However looking at this year , though we have yet to see Wolverine or Thor yet, the two big players have been released. An although one way to look at it, is to appreciate that both are good and be glad they were released, it is almost too natural to compare them and ask the all too common question : Which one is better? Its a natural thing to do especially with both representing different companies (Marvel and DC comics respectively), and both likely to be the top box office earners of 2013. Lets face it, its what we love to do in today's society, compare things instantly for the sake of it.
I was thinking about this myself immediately after watching Man of Steel, however decided that movie was way to fresh in my mind to objectively compare it. Now I have seen Man Of Steel a total of three times and Iron Man 3 two times, I feel like I have enough insight into the movies. However I realized a direct comparison between the two movies is not so simple for a variety of reasons. For one the tones of the movie are extremely different, with Iron Man 3 being much more lighthearted, in contrast to the very serious Man of Steel. Additionally Iron Man 3 was a sequel to a franchise in a successfully established shared universe, while Man of Steel is a origin tale, a reboot, and a hopeful spring board into Warner Brothers version of a shared cinematic universe. This made it difficult for me to make a snap judgement.
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| Iron Man 3 V.s Man Of Steel ...Who wins? |
I decided to break it down in a few categories, and compare the two movies in them, and help form a detailed pinion on which one I think is better. The categories are : Actor Performances, Plot, Action, Visuals, and how they treated the source material.
Round 1. Acting: In the lead roles we have Robert Downey Jr. reprising his role as Tony Stark and Brit Henry Cavill donning the role as Superman. Simply put Robert Downey Jr. steals the show in his performance as Tony Stark. he just embodies the characters personality so well with his charisma and he really is in a league of his own. Cavill does a good job brooding in this film, but we do not get to see him with much dialogue, or play much of just Clark. I feel Cavill plays a good Superman, but we have yet to see enough of his range in terms of heavy dialogue.
In Iron man 3 Gwyneth Paltrow does her usual fine job on this film, nothing outstanding but hard to knock the performance overall. Don Cheadle and Sir Ben Kingsley however are amazing supporting actors and really knock it out of the park on this one. Both bring a great degree of humor to their respective roles of James Rhodes and the Mandarin, and Cheadle performs admirably with a great range of action scenes. These two add great depth to surround Downey Jr's. brilliance. Guy Pierce is a serviceable as the arch-villain Aldrich Killian, however I believe he was really bland in the role, Rebeca Hall did not have too much screen time as Mia Hansen, yet I was unimpressed with what she did, and she was better in "The Town"
In Man of Steel, Russell Crowe as Jor-El, and Mcihael Shannon as General Zod , provide amazing performances in support of Cavill. I believe Shannon embodies Zod's purpose and drive so well, and Crowe steals the scenes he is in. Adams is a pretty serviceable Lois Lane, and a massive upgrade over Kate Bosworth in Superman Returns, however her chemistry with Cavill (which is integral to the role), just was not there and I blame Adams for it. Kevin Costner played a different yet really powerful Johnathan Kent, while Dianne Lane as Martha was a great mother. Relative new comer Antje traue as Faora, brought a fierceness to her role, which made her a very enjoyable watch. Christopher Meloni as Colonel Hardy was also a very nice gem in the movie.
Winner of Round 1: Iron Man 3...though Man of Steel had a strong overall cast, comparing it to any cast with Robert Downey Jr as Tony Stark is no contest.
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| RDJ IS Tony Stark |
Round 2. Plot: Iron Man 3 focuses on the threads of the "Extremis" story line from their comics, combining it with the threat of terrorism, with a very "Bin Laden-esque" (if you will) figurehead in the "Mandarin". With a very elaborate plan of murdering the President, and having the current vice President in his pocket and his self made Mandarin threat, Aldrich Killian plans to control the supply and demand of war on terror. Tony has to deal with anxiety from his near death experience from the "avengers", and has to build himself up again when his suit has run out of battery and Jarvis is shut down , in the middle of nowhere (Sorry Rose-hill Tennessee). We get to see what type of grit Tony has behind the suit as he manages to use his intelligence and will in order to infiltrate Killian's hideout and eventually save the president (of course with the help of his suits). A very fun adventure plot, though the details are a bit light.
Man of Steel on the other hand deals with many sci-fi elements, and stresses to the audience that Superman/Kal/Clark ... is a alien...he is not one of us. The first contact with us, is not the usual happy times it has been in the past. He is met with fear from the government and the media (such as Perry White). we explore deep into Krypton's origins, and the story becomes about trust for Kal, if he can truly trust his adopted world or the General Zod who offers a chance to rebuild his true home. In the end it leads to a climax of Kal choosing Earth and eliminating all ties to Krypton (even killing the Zod). It was a detailed origin, that was not simply a re-tread and offered much depth to the gravity of Superman.
Winner of Round 2: The Man of Steel... the depth and scale of the story was a true bright spot in this film.
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| Superman Surrendering to Humanity |
Round 3. Action: I will make this section short and sweet since I really believe there is no contest. Man of Steel , bar none has the best action in any of these types of movies, period. The gravitas of each sequence, and the impact is just so thunderous. The final fight scene in Iron Man 3 between Killian and Stark is quite good, but it can not compare to Kal v.s Zod or Kal V.s Faoroa and Non in the Smallville scene.
Winner of Round 3: Man of Steel....like comparing any hockey player to Wayne Gretzky
| "You cannot win!...for every Iron Man suit you blow up, we will blow up a million more buildings" |
Round 4. Visuals:
Iron man 3 has many well designed suits to look at, such as the Iron Patriot, his new colour suit, and the iron legion. As well as the Extremis effects are really top notch. Iron man sticks to the trend of really well done effects to make the films as believable as they could possibly be.
Man of Steel if a masterpiece visually, especially with the Krypton scenes. The array of Alien structures and creatures, along with the detail in the suits and ships, allow for beautiful background. The visuals are top notch including the revamped Superman suit, and machines such as the world engine and the Fortress of Solitude. Things such as the flying and heat vision are done to the best they have ever been done.
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| You definitely believe this man can fly. |
Winner of Round 4 : The Man of Steel, both are strong, but I feel the visuals are the best part of the Man of Steel.
Round 5. Staying true to the Material: Being comic book movies, it would be criminal not to at least discuss this, since the fans hold it so dear. ( check out my previous blog post on my thoughts on the importance Never Serious #1: From The Pages to the Big Screen)
Both films stray with details, such as the Mandarin not being a real character, Superman killing, Pepper and Tony dating, aesthetics like a black Perry White etc. However I would like to focus more on the tone and how it matches with the source material.
Marvel has done a amazing job in truly sticking to their source material, it truly is remarkable. When I read Tony Stark and watch him, he really is the same guy, in demeanor, mannerisms,looks etc. The way the plots develop and how Tony likes to handle things more solo and prevent them from being widespread is true to form. The Mandarin twist, was a bit drastic, however it worked well in the story.
With Superman, this really did not feel like the Superman we know and love. Superman is not THIS DAMN SERIOUS. He should smile more and maybe crack a few more jokes then NOLAN'S FREAKING BATMAN. Additionally I will not blame him for all the destruction, but the traditionally Superman would make a effort to move the battle elsewhere (such as in Superman 2). The Lois and Clark relationship did not feel right and, though the movie was good, it definitely was different. Obviously the killing thing is a huge contrast to the status-quo as well.
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| I mean RDJ playing a alcoholic on the path of redemption! |
Winner of Round 5: Iron Man 3, the characters and the world feels right and comfortable. perhaps give Man of Steel's franchise some time.
OVERALL WINNER: Man of Steel!!!!!
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| THE CHAMP!!!! No one beats Big Blue! |
Recap: A visually stunning movie that will make you think about the impact a visitor would have on this Earth, you can't go wrong with the Big Blue Boy Scout. However Iron Man 3 is a worthy competitor, and both warrant a watch. The decision was close, and with contrasting styles , it really comes down to taste. Overtime perceptions may change, but let me unofficially (like really unofficially) dub Man of Steel the superhero movie 2013 CHAMPION!!!! (can Wolverine steal the belt.....I doubt it).
Nice, well written article! I agree with much of it, especially the fact that they both were good movies. One of the things in the review I disagree with is that I think Iron Man 3 had better action sequences. IM 3 had much more creative fight scenes, particularly the scene where Tony flies around with only a boot and gauntlet. Man of Steel's fight scenes reminded me of so many episodes of Dragon Ball Z. I also thought the hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of deaths that would have occurred during MoS’s fight scenes didn’t have the impact it should have.
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading!. I would say the action really blew me away in MOS, esecially the Smallville fight. One art I liked in particular was Zod taking the gurder, then swiniging it, Suerman burning it mid sequence yet Zod still hitting him. I felt the fights were very well produced and were a strength of Snyders.
DeleteBut again I think the two movies are both great and both have merits, and the difference between each category is razor thin that its all prefference. Really hard to judge. I jus thoe my opinions were detailed enough for eople to understand where I'm coming from.