Was Man of Steel Unimaginative Science Fiction?

Now before you fans loose your cool, come read what I have observed.

Editorial Opinion
By VIRILEMAN - Jan 27, 2014 03:01 PM EST
Filed Under: Man of Steel

I love Superman. I liked Man of Steel. Was I disappointed? Sure. Was it terrible. No. But I noticed something the other day when I had a movie marathon with my wife.

We watched a film about a young man. A young man who was living on earth when an alien invasion came and demanded that the world governments hand over this young man. This young man had something inside him. Something from the alien culture that would restore the life of their lost planet and their lost culture. This lost relic was literally inside his body, his body absorbed this alien artifact and somehow imprinted on this young man's body. Planet earth is then eventually saved by the same kind of alien that was threatening our world. The alien saviors of earth then declared earth their new home.

That young man was played by Shia Labeouf, the film was Transformers, and the similarities were uncanny. It really blew my mind. Man of Steel seemed like it straight up ripped off the plot from the Transformer films.

Now I get that science fiction inspires other science fiction. And art inspires other works of art. But the fact that Transformers came out only a few years before the big Superman reboot seems kind of suspect.

What do you guys think? Is it just a crazy coincidence, did David Goyer see Transformers and the plot was recycled accidentally by his subconscious? Or did they straight up rip off the plot? Because I've read Superman comics for a long while and I don't recall that story line. The codex, the alien invasion story line, as far as I know that was all made up for the film. Correct me if I'm wrong. Thanks for reading.

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kinghulk
kinghulk - 1/27/2014, 3:58 PM
i feel like this is gonna start a flame war, hopefully im wrong
Klone
Klone - 1/27/2014, 4:03 PM
LOL! Get ready for desperate MoS apologists to grasp at the tiniest [frick]ing things to make this shit seem like a masterpiece!
DEVLIN712
DEVLIN712 - 1/27/2014, 4:04 PM
DEVLIN712
DEVLIN712 - 1/27/2014, 4:05 PM
I can see what you're saying, then again, what do we expect from good ol' G-spot?
DEVLIN712
DEVLIN712 - 1/27/2014, 4:07 PM
Gonna leave this hear for anyone experiencing the sensation of "butt hurt"

kinghulk
kinghulk - 1/27/2014, 4:09 PM
DEV-LOL
KoonEl
KoonEl - 1/27/2014, 5:06 PM
If you want to boil it down so simple, then all of the CBMs we watch are a ripoff of the first one ever. Here, I'll break it down to you. Hero discovers/gains abilities/finds a purpose. A bag guy comes in to do bad guy things. Hero must step up and fight bad guy. The stakes are high, and bad guy almost wins. Bad guy loses, and hero saves the day. Set up for sequel, where new new bad guy comes to do bad guy things. And so on.

I'll give you the similarities on Witwicky having a piece of the cube in him vs the codex, but after they found the cube Sam was unnecessary. He did however save the day by killing the big bad guy. Zod needed Superman beyond finding him.
DEVLIN712
DEVLIN712 - 1/27/2014, 5:11 PM
Zod would have won... If he'd just landed on Mars...
SauronsBANE
SauronsBANE - 1/27/2014, 5:16 PM
You can boil almost any movie down to the simplest parts of it's story, and it'll seem like a complete ripoff of any other film. This isn't conclusive in the least.

That said, MoS really was worse than disappointing. I mean, it's ridiculously hard to butcher a Superman movie and they somehow managed to do so.
DeathstrokeTerminator
DeathstrokeTerminator - 1/27/2014, 5:57 PM
No hurt butts here. If you didnt like MOS, an awesome action movie (because that's what superhero movies are, action movies), you can go enjoy Superman Returns or the cornyass Donner Superman movies. It's all good.
kong
kong - 1/27/2014, 6:06 PM
What? The only similarity between MOS and Transformers is destruction.
TimDrake87
TimDrake87 - 1/27/2014, 6:17 PM
Dark knight rises plot hole: If Gotham was aldready cleaned up due to the dent act why would the league of shadows want to destroy it again
SauronsBANE
SauronsBANE - 1/27/2014, 6:21 PM
Wait what? First of all, what does the Dark Knight Rises have to do with anything? Second, the lack of criminals had nothing to do with the League's plans. As AlphaFlex just said, they were gunning for Batman. And what's the best way to get revenge on Batman? Destroy Gotham. No plot holes there...
feedonatreefrog
feedonatreefrog - 1/27/2014, 6:31 PM
The Avengers = unimaginative sci-fi

The Avengers = the same plot as Transformers 3. Portal in the sky and all.

See? I can do this do.
Poolio
Poolio - 1/27/2014, 6:56 PM
Iron Man 3 is even worse. I enjoyed Man of Steel more than that puke fest. Maybe because I never really cared for Superman like I did for the Iron Man character and his rogues, that is until Marvel butchered it with that shitty Disney crapfest known as IM3.
GuardianDevil
GuardianDevil - 1/27/2014, 7:16 PM
Guess what else...Avengers is a ripoff of Transformers 3. Even the aliens look the same...

MOS uses a similar plot as DOTM, so in a way DOTM influenced both films greatly.

Which is why DOTM is among the most underrated superhero movies ever, without that film Avengers and MOS as we know them would be completely different.

That's not even mentioning the first Transformers, which showed us mega scale superhero action that Avengers, Iron Mam trilogy and Man of Steel would follow up to.

The TF trilogy is arguably the most underrated superhero film series ever, that's even considering how much hate X-Men get too.
Pedrito
Pedrito - 1/27/2014, 7:39 PM
MOS wasn't completely terrible, and neither was Transformers. But MOS apologists trying to argue against people's copious complaints with the movie remind me of Kanye West in the the Fish Sticks episode of South Park.
"Ga y fish: Not cool, stupid. Me: Lyrical genius, the voice of our generation."
They just don't get it. The best they can do is attack awesome movies like IM3.
Tainted87
Tainted87 - 1/27/2014, 7:48 PM
Newsflash: they didn't originate with Transformers.
I used a lot of these elements in my fanfic/draft for a Martian Manhunter movie, a few months before the first Man of Steel teaser came out.

The Kryptonian backstory is very similar to the Martian schisms. In my story, there's the Whites and the Greens, both living harmoniously for eons until boredom and stagnation set in. A space academy known as the Koolar would be comprised of 70/30 White/Green, and want to colonize other worlds and experience life outside of Mars. The Assembly, 60/40 Green/White deems this against their beliefs, as Mars is a life-giving planet which has granted them near immortality through it's healing soil, which is only nourishing because of it's give/take relationship with the Martian race. To leave the planet would be to forsake all of them - heresy. The Koolar leave anyway, and are exiled as a result.

Generations later, the Koolar have failed their colonization attempts and are dying. Their children's children who rely upon clones to survive, make the decision to return to Mars for the first time, and recuperate. The Assembly denies them this, and a war breaks out. Commander Blanx of the Koolar would have the doormant/assimilated Whites still on Mars support them, and wants Mars to take a long hard look at the Assembly before surrendering them to his custody.

Ma'alefa'ak, a spurned mind-wiped recluse, is given a holographic recording from his former life, showing that he was in league with the Koolar and feeding them secrets to stage a coup, before he was caught by his sister-in-law. He mind-raped her in order to extract her memory of the encounter, and once caught, was removed of his identity and telepathy. He finds kinship with the Koolar, and returns to his former role, only this time, all the more motivated. He injects himself with their last defense, H'ronmeer's Curse, which would set aflame any Martian who telepathically assaults the carrier. When it becomes clear that the Koolar will be defeated, he gives the pathogen a boost and surrenders himself as a traitor to the Assembly, ready to stand trial again. They attack his mind, and doom the entire race.

It was refreshing, however, to see it realized on the big screen in a way so very similar to your own - breathtaking actually. Kind of hopeful too, considering someone thinks like you do.
GinjaNinja
GinjaNinja - 1/27/2014, 8:01 PM
woah....
OptionFour
OptionFour - 1/27/2014, 8:13 PM
Its a pretty standard take on the Hero's Journey, honestly; the monomyth. Most superhero origin stories are, in one way or another.

Additionally I have a hard time imagining anyone ripping off Transformers for plot, of all things. I mean . . . the plots and dialogue were the weakest parts of three really, really weak movies.
OptionFour
OptionFour - 1/27/2014, 8:21 PM
Just to show how this works when we boil things down that far . . .

There's a young man who lives in a relatively idyllic, though not perfect setting. He's suffered some minor setbacks, but overall remains a good person. He doesn't live with his mother and father, though.

After a frightening encounter that expands his horizons, he speaks to a much older man, who would become his mentor and has a penchant for wearing long, flowing clothes. This mentor offers him a weapon - and not just any weapon, mind you - but a blue one. The young man eventually accepts this offer and his ability to use that weapon to do good things for the world.

I could go on like this all day, but what I described above? Is that Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, The Matrix, or Man of Steel?

Luke lives happily with his aunt and uncle, encounters tusken raiders, Obi-Wan (in long flowing robes) offers him his father's (blue) lightsaber, and eventually he helps to bring balance to the Force.

Frodo lives with his Uncle, his an encounter with a Ring Wraith, meets Gandalf (in long flowing robes) and receives his uncle's sword (which glows blue when there are Orcs or Goblins about), and eventually restores balance to Middle-Earth.

Neo lives on his own, has a strange encounter in a night club/with Agent Smith, he meets Morpheus (in a long flowing coat) who offers him a (blue) pill. Eventually he . . . I dunno, electrocutes machines, or some shit, and then has a rave? I don't remember.

Clark lives with his adopted parents, has strange encounters with . . . well, himself, and he meets his real father (in a long, flowing cape) who offers him a (blue) suit, and he saves Metropolis.
Er . . . he saves -parts- of Metropolis from General Zod.
QuestionDAnswer
QuestionDAnswer - 1/27/2014, 8:21 PM
@DEVLIN712

What if they could only build on earth because it was very similar to Krypton. What if they could only build on planets that already contained life in them. Which is why they sent a scout ship to earth and colonized a bunch other planets, killing millions of other alien races, until they ran out of resources. Which is why Jor El said that he and his wife were tied to kryptons fate and couldn't leave the planet because like zod they were genetically engineered aliens, who were meant to keep colonizing planets for ever and ever. And all Jor El wanted was for the cycle to end, which is why they had clark so he could choose his own destiny and that of his people.
acheronmagnuz
acheronmagnuz - 1/27/2014, 8:47 PM
Dear TS,

Sam (Shia La[Whaterver his name is]) is not an ALIEN!!!

He is from EARTH, he is HUMAN.

PLEASE GET YOUR FACTS STRAIGHT!
acheronmagnuz
acheronmagnuz - 1/27/2014, 8:52 PM
Furthermore, the ALLSPARK was not embedded in his body.

If I remember correctly,

The LOCATION of the ALLSPARK is the only thing embedded/hidden
in his body/memories.
SauronsBANE
SauronsBANE - 1/27/2014, 9:08 PM
OptionFour completely hit the nail on the head. Great comment!
acheronmagnuz
acheronmagnuz - 1/27/2014, 9:41 PM
And most of stories like these are about YOUNG MEN.

Would be really weird if the main protagonist is OLD.
Although it might work on some setting.
OptionFour
OptionFour - 1/27/2014, 9:54 PM
Uh . . . not to derail too hard, but this whole "why didn't Zod just go to Mars" business. That's not, like . . . serious, is it? That's a joke, right?

Zod was on Earth not only because its probably easier to terraform a planet with atmosphere already capable of holding oxygen, lots of water, and abundant natural resources, but because Kal-El had the Codex. And further, Zod obviously had history with the House of El, and still resented what he viewed as a betrayal by Jor-El. How was he to think that one lone Kryptonian would stand a chance against him? He went to Earth specifically for Superman, to finish old business, and to [frick] with the son of his oldest enemy. Right up until the moment that things turned sideways he literally thought Superman stood no chance against them, and was very much going to enjoy messing with Jor-El's legacy.
Not to mention, anyone who expects someone who was already a touch mad at the start of the movie to go into The Phantom Zone for an unknown amount of time, then to wander the galaxy lost and alone, bearing the weight of such a tremendous failure . . . and then to come out with totally sane, reasonable, sound logic? They may have something of an overestimation of the ability to remain sane, and the power of the psyche.

Also, @SauronsBane1 - thanks very much!
Wallymelon
Wallymelon - 1/27/2014, 10:49 PM
Genre films are genre films dude...
ThunderKat
ThunderKat - 1/27/2014, 10:54 PM
Cliches are cliches.

However, much the comedy you know is coming, it is your delivery that makes it funny/compelling/unique.
MoS was none of those things. I was left so disenchanted I kept thinking about how crooked Cavill's teeth are.

How sad is that?
DaVinci31
DaVinci31 - 1/28/2014, 12:31 AM
It is too damn late for this, go and have yourself another movie marathon, you need to watch more movies son.

@OptionFour Oh, and what you said, too.

http://www.totalfilm.com/features/50-great-movies-accused-of-being-rip-offs

http://www.cracked.com/article_20439_7-classic-movies-that-are-shameless-ripoffs.html

http://www.cracked.com/article_19852_5-famous-movies-that-shamelessly-ripped-off-obscure-ones.html

http://moviecultists.com/2009/11/09/10-famous-movies-that-are-total-ripoffs/





DaVinci31
DaVinci31 - 1/28/2014, 12:33 AM
MOS was dry, though. Needed humor.
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