Movie Tweaks: MAN OF STEEL

In movie tweaks, we give little tweaks to movies that I feel could have improved the overall film.

Today, it is MAN OF STEEL.

Man of Steel was awsome. It was emotional, deep and action packed. However, I gave it a 9/10 for a reason. Mainly that it seemed truncated and that more could have been done to drive home the deeper themes about choice and consequence.

See my review here
http://thexamtaroshowvault.blogspot.sg/2013/06/man-of-steel-2013-review.html

So here are the small little changes that i would have made in order to make it a 10/10 rating movie
*SPOILERS AHEAD*



1) An additional flashback to young Clark's encounter with a wild dog
In this flashback (placed before the flashback to Clark's encounter with his junior high school bullies) it begins with flashes of a distraught Clark standing over the bloody corpse of a wild dog. His mother Martha standing in front of the scene, speechless with shock. Jonathan Kent runs to his son and embraces him.
Voiceover of young Clark: "But i didnt do anything! It was biting this kitten and..........."
Jonathan: "Son. It's dead."
Flash to the bloody corpse of the dog and a twitching barely alive kitten next to it
Clark: "I didnt mean to, i just.........i wanted to help......."
Jonathan: "Listen son, I know you meant well"
Martha: "jonathan, now's not the time"
Jonathan: "Son. Listen to me. You couldn't save a life, i understand. But you have a strength in you that no one else has. You must never abuse that strength to hurt others, much less kill.
Clark (in tears): I didnt mean to. I was too late and............I was angry.
Jonathan (hugging his son): We can't save everyone Clark.


2) Jonathan's advice to Clark on choice
Original quote: You're not just anyone. One day, you're going to have to make a choice. You'll have to decide what kind of man you want to grow up to be. Whoever that man is, good character or bad, he's going to change the world.

Replacing Quote: One day, you're going to have to make choices. Tough choices. Choices of good and bad, life and death. And whether those be right or wrong, we have to bear the consequences of our choice. And the judgement of our conscience.



3) The moments before Zod's death
Kal-El: "Zod stop"
Zod: "Never"
The trapped family cowers in the corner as Zod's heat vision creeps closer. Kal El is losing his grip on the crazed Kryptonian warrior.
A tear drops from Kal-El's eye as time slows to a standstill.
Voiceover
Flashback to the school bus rescue

Clark: "What was I supposed to do? Let them die?"
Jonathan: "Maybe"

Flashback to the dead dog

Clark: "It was biting this kitten and..........."
Jonathan: "We cant save everyone Clark."

Events of his life flashes before his eyes in quick time. The smiles, the tears, the surprises, everything

Jonathan: "You must never abuse that strength to hurt others, much less kill."
Clark: "My father believed..........the world........ reject me out of fear."
Jonathan:  you're going to have to make choices.......Tough choices......life and death.....we have to bear the consequences.........judgement. 

Flashback to Jonathan Kent's death and Clark's cry of anguish and being unable to save his father

Tears stream down Superman's face as he makes his choice to take Zod's life.  The music reaches a sad crecendo and all sound is silent.
Neck snaps, and scenes play out as per the movie


Movie proceeds from there except we cut to the world media's reaction to Superman. As a clever metaphor of the audience's reaction to superman's suppposedly controversial act of killing to save others, the world media portrayed in the film is split in opinion on superman. There are those who welcome him as earth's new protector and there are those who warn "How far is he willing to go in order to protect?"

Will he destroy a rival nation to safeguard america?
Will he become judge, jury and executionor and kill a murderer?
Will he take the law into his own hands?

The movie ends with Clark deciding to join the daily planet newspaper in order to not just have his "Ear to the ground" but to work on polishing Superman's tarnished image through the media.