Are people really this brain washed? Do they seriously not see that Black Panther is simply a retelling of Lion King, substituting T'Challa with Simba? I can't have respect for a hallow film with no originality or risks taken. Man of Steel has more heart, soul and originality in it's opening scene on Kyrpton than in the entire Black Panther movie. The World Engine, Smallville Battle, Zod vs Superman, Colonel Hardy's and Faora's fear/respect dynamic, the maturation of Clark Kent into Superman, one of, if not the most iconic characters in all of fiction. The killing of Zod was more unpredictable and shocking than any single moment of Black Panther, and it's not close. Black Panther is one of the safest most generic movies you'll ever find, which docks it major points in my book.
In all reality, Man of Steel is a much better film, it simply suffers from the division between the old and new guard Superman fans. The old guard didn't like it cause "not muh Superman." They are generally older, grew up with Reeves Superman and read Superman comics. These are the people that had positions of authority in the reviewing community, and the reason it suffered critically. Ironically, and funnily enough, these same critics have now become revisionists, claiming they actually grew to love Man of Steel and the risks it took, it's tone, visuals, soundtrack, and character development, or were one of the few who liked it at it's release, not without a tone of imperiousness or foresight.
Then you have the new guard, which would include myself. Typically younger, we didn't grow up on Superman movies in the 70s and comics. The primary medium for which I got to know superheros was CBMs. Now, what the old guard forgets, is they tried to bring back Superman in his good ol blue boy scout iteration, and it didn't work. Superman Returns was critically panned and underwhelmed financially, generally considered being boring and safe. So what do they do; they hire a director known for action and visuals, the producers and writers of The Dark Knight, a not just CBM but cultural phenomenon, start up a cinematic universe, and give them exactly want they wanted in Man of Steel, a new, darker, contemporary view of Superman, action packed with high tier fights, and even a showing of Kyrpton, never before seen on the big screen. As a member of the new guard, untainted by previous iterations, I immediately loved almost everything about it, and still consider it the best Superman movie and CBM period. But what does the old guard predictably do? Old is good, new is bad, not muh Superman. It's a common trait in human psychology to reject something new for something you're more familiar or use to. The issue here is, these so called "professional" critics, criticisms aren't even valid. Just look them up. Too much Jesus symbolism. Not my Superman, he's too emotional and self conscious. Superman doesn't kill and would find another way to stop Zod, despite there being no form of incarceration that could hold him. Superman wouldn't cause so much collateral damage in a fight spanning the globe and into space with a murderous villain who's primary goal is to cause as much destruction as possible and is as powerful as he is. Pa Kent's death was meaningless, despite him sacrificing his life to keep his son's choice of when to reveal his identity in his own hands. Lois and Clark don't have enough chemistry, despite the fact they literally just met, and it's an origin movie. Every single one of these criticisms are either invalid, outright false, or laden with preconceived biases. It also comes from the fact many critics were already in Disney's pocket by 2013, and didn't want to see a potential rival cinematic universe with higher quality than the MCU, which is why they feared and downgraded Man of Steel. Man of Steel is better than any Phase 1 MCU movie, and I prefer it over Avengers as well, and of course Black Panther. They turned a blind eye to the flaws of even some of the worst MCU movies like Iron Man 2, yet nitpick every aspect of Man of Steel. I think all of this can be attributed to why Black Panther has higher critical acclaim than Man of Steel. Of course, it's the opposite for users, who seem to pretty overwhelming prefer Man of Steel. The box office goes without saying. Black Panther was the 18th film in the MCU, received massive support pre release from every reviewing site, and even celebrities and executives were straight up buying out movie theaters to bring whole classes of black children to see the new "black empowerment" movie. The only surprising thing about it is that it didn't do better overseas considering Marvel's connections in UK and China.
Rant over. At the end of the day, Man of Steel simply evokes stronger emotions from me than Black Panther, which is how I judge movies. I could care less about the technical details or by the book script writing. Man of Steel just feels better. It's also a much more attractive film visually, much more enjoyable to rewatch due to the some of the best action/fight scenes in a blockbuster ever, and Superman is a better character with better mythology than Black Panther. We have one movie that took no risks, copied a previous Disney script, and played it safe the whole time, versus a movie that took risks and attempted to bring a new original perspective on the most written and iconic character ever. I have more respect for Man of Steel as a film because of that, and it will be remembered more favorably, no matter how many fake decorations Black Panther may receive.
I'm not saying Man of Steel is perfect, or Black Panther is trash. But Man of Steel is great, Black Panther is okay.
Man of Steel>Black Panther.
Oh, and the people in this thread saying BP has a better soundtrack, really? I mean, to each his own, and I like Kendrick Lamar as much as the next guy, but I'd rather have Hanz Zimmer cover my epic CBM personally.
Log in to comment