okay i know i haven't been here in a while, but i gotta say some things.
this post was originally gonna be the review for chapters 10 and 11, but i CAN'T
do it anymore. the verdict mentioned in the title is that the man of steel novelization is unreadable.
maybe it's because after the day that i read chapters 10 and 11 i read the fault in our stars, which is actually a good book, and awoken, which is a bad book that's still fun to read, but i can't make myself trudge through that elementary shit any more.
all that you missed was a short chapter where clark found out about this thing buried in ice, and then the chapter when we meet lois lane. it's just the same old shit as before, but with more annoying ***.
so, if you're like me and you don't want to watch man of steel, but want to know what happens, read the page on the DC comics wiki . It's probably better written, and it won't take as long.
idk what i'm gonna do here next, but whatever it is it'll happen after nanowrimo. happy early halloween and, if you're doing nano, good luck.
the original long blog. now on wordpress.
Monday, October 28, 2013
Tuesday, October 1, 2013
man of steel chapter 9
remember how the last two chapters were good? yeah... no
okay, let me step back: this chap isn't terrible, but it is back to the same old shit, while managing to keep all the dumb stuff we got in the good chaps. i thought we were getting somewhere, but apparently not. let's get on with it
we come back to where we left off before the last flashback, with clark floating naked in the water with the whales. the whales are pushing him back toward the surface, and, for some reason, clark thinks they want him to keep going even though he might not want to. now, that's an optimistic way of thinking, but dude, they're whales -- they don't care about you, you were probably in the way or s/t.
anyway, there is a nice use of clark's super abilities to show us that, a) he cares that people are okay and b) to tell us that we don't have to worry anymore either, things which, i've heard, were not expressed well in the film. it's ruined by the line where clark thinks 'i couldn't save everybody, but i made a difference'. like, way to show that you don't trust us to get the message of the story, author! thanks.
there's a thing that the author does a lot - especially here, but everywhere in the story - where the chars will have lines to themselves. this would be fine, and it happens in a lot of books, but they're not done well here. they draw attention to themselves instead of adding to the feeling of being in the character's head, and they happen so frequently it starting to feel like clark is breaking the fourth wall. in a good book, that could be used to the story's advantage, but this isn't a good book, so we're stuck.
there's also this thing where the author constantly reminds of things that we already know. he repeats himself a lot. i mentioned this a few times in the reviews of the krypton chapters as well, and i'm remembering why they were so exhausting. we know clark has super strength, you don't have to constantly tell us! it's superman for god sakes, no one going in to this has no idea what's going on!
in this chapter we have the resurgence of one of the important artifacts from the beginning of the book: that little black key thing! clark wears it around his neck ever since pa kent showed it to him (we'll get to that in a bit). it's not explained anymore but that's okay because none of our chars know what it is either.
we get another flashback, proving my point that, yes, they should have just put them all in one chapter. the only time i've ever separated flashback from each other was because i thought it would be too long, and even then the two chapters were right next to each other. this one was triggered by a bus passing by after clark got back on land. its when he was in middle school, and he saves the bus from sinking into the river. he goes home and some lady comes over and is like "you're son is an angel!!!' or s/t and we get that one part where pa kent tells clark that he has to keep it all a secret or bad stuff will happen. he shows clark the baby ship and the key and stuff. it didn't move me, honestly.
my main problem with this chap, though, is the number of *** that happen. the narrative changes to lana lang for a moment, which was unnecessary, and that one part is separated with the ***. this guy has a real aversion to writing transitions and it's just coming off to me as lazy. it's not hard at all! come on. the chapter ends after this flashback.
all i can say after this is uuuuuugh. back to the old exhaustion. there's a bar called the bearcat in the next chapter, so there's a ray of light. let's do some group prayer for this next one.
Friday, September 27, 2013
man of steel chapter 8
okay, we're gonna jump right into this b/c i can't think of anything funny to say uwu
we start right where the other chapter left off, but instead of being with the captain, we're in clark's head. finally! eight chapters in and we're in the main characters head. there are good descriptions of the scene peppered with weird and dumb shit, like the author constantly reminding us that clark isn't like other guys. the first half of this chapter is mostly clark running through the building and saving people.
there's a line near the middle of the chapter where the author says 'his vision shifted along the electromagnetic spectrum so that he could see through the steel walls...'. is that how that works? something about that doesn't make sense to me, but maybe it's because i know nothing about that. i'm also not used to reading or writing about characters that have x-ray vision.
clark does a hell of a job getting the guys out, even though he's set on fucking fire. i know he's superman, but he's set on fucking fire. cool as hell. there's also the part where he stops this big thing from falling over and crashing into a helicopter that's really cool too.
before i go on, though: 'copter? really? just say chopper.
after getting the thing out of the way he falls into the water with it, and there's a really nice part where it describes the polarity between the world above and below the water. the tone goes hella somber though, and it starts talking about how he just wants to disappear into the depths. and then the whales come. i like the idea of clark floating in the water with the whalesong a lot! that sounds beautiful, but for the whales to actually come along is a bit hokey. just a bit.
and then, ruining everything, is another flashback. i don't understand why this movie wasn't just presented chronologically. is nolan incapable of writing an origin story not told in flashback? it's especially annoying in this, where the writer insists on tacking them onto other chapters. this one's a bit better placed than the last, since the chapter ends when it ends, but still.
so in this flashback, we go back to when clark is in fourth grade, and he starts to get his x-ray vision. i actually like this one better than the last; it's really sad, and you get a good sense of how horrifying this was for clark back then, even around the author's usual tropes. it's heartbreaking to see clark get made fun of because the kids don't understand him, and see him go bolting out of the classroom because, to him, it's full of walking skeletons. i really feel bad for this kid!
there's that one part that's in the trailer where martha's telling him to imagine the island, and i was kind of taken out of the story when the island he imagined looked like krypton. how does he even remember that? but it doesn't really take away from the sadness of the scene, especially right before this, when he finally opens the door of the closet for his mom and he can see into her too. the chapter ends with clark asking 'what's wrong with me, mom?' and that's painful.
so, another good chapter! the content and emotion won out over the holes the author tends to fall into. the arrangement got to me too, but i'm able to look around it one more time. if this happens next chapter i'm done, though. either way, this kind of gives me hope, because maybe i won't have to trudge through the rest of this like i did the first six chapters.
we start right where the other chapter left off, but instead of being with the captain, we're in clark's head. finally! eight chapters in and we're in the main characters head. there are good descriptions of the scene peppered with weird and dumb shit, like the author constantly reminding us that clark isn't like other guys. the first half of this chapter is mostly clark running through the building and saving people.
there's a line near the middle of the chapter where the author says 'his vision shifted along the electromagnetic spectrum so that he could see through the steel walls...'. is that how that works? something about that doesn't make sense to me, but maybe it's because i know nothing about that. i'm also not used to reading or writing about characters that have x-ray vision.
clark does a hell of a job getting the guys out, even though he's set on fucking fire. i know he's superman, but he's set on fucking fire. cool as hell. there's also the part where he stops this big thing from falling over and crashing into a helicopter that's really cool too.
before i go on, though: 'copter? really? just say chopper.
after getting the thing out of the way he falls into the water with it, and there's a really nice part where it describes the polarity between the world above and below the water. the tone goes hella somber though, and it starts talking about how he just wants to disappear into the depths. and then the whales come. i like the idea of clark floating in the water with the whalesong a lot! that sounds beautiful, but for the whales to actually come along is a bit hokey. just a bit.
and then, ruining everything, is another flashback. i don't understand why this movie wasn't just presented chronologically. is nolan incapable of writing an origin story not told in flashback? it's especially annoying in this, where the writer insists on tacking them onto other chapters. this one's a bit better placed than the last, since the chapter ends when it ends, but still.
so in this flashback, we go back to when clark is in fourth grade, and he starts to get his x-ray vision. i actually like this one better than the last; it's really sad, and you get a good sense of how horrifying this was for clark back then, even around the author's usual tropes. it's heartbreaking to see clark get made fun of because the kids don't understand him, and see him go bolting out of the classroom because, to him, it's full of walking skeletons. i really feel bad for this kid!
there's that one part that's in the trailer where martha's telling him to imagine the island, and i was kind of taken out of the story when the island he imagined looked like krypton. how does he even remember that? but it doesn't really take away from the sadness of the scene, especially right before this, when he finally opens the door of the closet for his mom and he can see into her too. the chapter ends with clark asking 'what's wrong with me, mom?' and that's painful.
so, another good chapter! the content and emotion won out over the holes the author tends to fall into. the arrangement got to me too, but i'm able to look around it one more time. if this happens next chapter i'm done, though. either way, this kind of gives me hope, because maybe i won't have to trudge through the rest of this like i did the first six chapters.
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
man of steel chapter 7
WE'RE FINALLY TO THE MODERN DAY GUYS!!!! can u believe it? i can't. let's jump right in.
so we begin on a ship called the Debbie Sue in the middle of the Bering Sea. we're in the pov of the captain of the ship as he looks over the deck from the wheelhouse, which is a convenient way to justify all of the paragraphs about what crabbing is like up near the arctic circle. they're actually pretty well written too. the narrator takes particular pains to mention how dangerous it is, which is a good lead in to the part where he mentions that everyone is an experienced veteran, except for one.
that's right, everyone, baby is all grown up!! and he's a cast member on the deadliest catch, apparently!!! yay!!!
the captain is worried because the 'greenhorn' kid (that word is used, like, six times) is, well, green, and this trip is particularly dangerous. clark is just winding up ropes out of the way of the big business though, so he's okay. OR IS HE??? because he almost gets smashed by a falling cage. some guy pushes him out of the way, though.
the captain is confused because, after almost dying, clark just goes back to his lines. completely reasonable. he wonders why he signed clark on in the first place, seeing as dude never talks and knows nothing. that captain wonders where he came from anyway.
and then there's a flashback.
we rewind to 1981, when martha and johnathan kent take baby to the doctor because he hasn't stopped crying since they found him in baby ship. the doctor says it's colic, and tries to do a routine check up, but when he puts one of the machines into baby's ear and clark fucking shrieks and breaks every glass surface on the street.
now, i like this flashback, because it's a good preview into the problems of adopting an alien, but why is it here, in the middle of another chapter?? that's not how you do flashbacks!! flashbacks should be relegated to their own chapters (see batman begins for the way to do this right).
after some ***, which are used correctly this time, we're back on the ship. it's getting late, but the ship still has a quota to fill so they gotta work it. the captain gets a radio that there's an oil rig on fire and they have to stop anyway to go help. the scene as they approach the rig is written well; i especially like the description of fireballs blooming from the upper levels. the captain tells clark to get his binoculars, but when he turns around he's gone. !!!!
so, it seems like what we have here is the best written chapter so far! the arrangement is a bit off, but still, good writing! if there is one thing to come out of the flashback, it's that it forced the author to use the *** properly. hopefully the next one will go this well.
so we begin on a ship called the Debbie Sue in the middle of the Bering Sea. we're in the pov of the captain of the ship as he looks over the deck from the wheelhouse, which is a convenient way to justify all of the paragraphs about what crabbing is like up near the arctic circle. they're actually pretty well written too. the narrator takes particular pains to mention how dangerous it is, which is a good lead in to the part where he mentions that everyone is an experienced veteran, except for one.
that's right, everyone, baby is all grown up!! and he's a cast member on the deadliest catch, apparently!!! yay!!!
the captain is worried because the 'greenhorn' kid (that word is used, like, six times) is, well, green, and this trip is particularly dangerous. clark is just winding up ropes out of the way of the big business though, so he's okay. OR IS HE??? because he almost gets smashed by a falling cage. some guy pushes him out of the way, though.
the captain is confused because, after almost dying, clark just goes back to his lines. completely reasonable. he wonders why he signed clark on in the first place, seeing as dude never talks and knows nothing. that captain wonders where he came from anyway.
and then there's a flashback.
we rewind to 1981, when martha and johnathan kent take baby to the doctor because he hasn't stopped crying since they found him in baby ship. the doctor says it's colic, and tries to do a routine check up, but when he puts one of the machines into baby's ear and clark fucking shrieks and breaks every glass surface on the street.
now, i like this flashback, because it's a good preview into the problems of adopting an alien, but why is it here, in the middle of another chapter?? that's not how you do flashbacks!! flashbacks should be relegated to their own chapters (see batman begins for the way to do this right).
after some ***, which are used correctly this time, we're back on the ship. it's getting late, but the ship still has a quota to fill so they gotta work it. the captain gets a radio that there's an oil rig on fire and they have to stop anyway to go help. the scene as they approach the rig is written well; i especially like the description of fireballs blooming from the upper levels. the captain tells clark to get his binoculars, but when he turns around he's gone. !!!!
so, it seems like what we have here is the best written chapter so far! the arrangement is a bit off, but still, good writing! if there is one thing to come out of the flashback, it's that it forced the author to use the *** properly. hopefully the next one will go this well.
Sunday, September 22, 2013
man of steel 4, 5, and 6
in today's episode i'm doing three chapters because i want to get this krypton shit over and done with. i'm gonna do things a little bit differently today, and keep the recap short, since i'm doing three whole chapters.
so, chapter 4:
edit: just in case you were wondering, the codex still isn't explained. :/
so, chapter 4:
jor and kelex go into battle and try to fight off zod's men. they do good for a while until a) jor gets trapped under some debris, and b) a whole ship full of dudes lands and unloads in the time it takes for him to get out. kelex does another badass move and suicide bombs them with plasma guns to buy the baby more time. even so, zod actually gets into the house and sees what they're doing and that they had a baby naturally and he's fucking pissed so he kills jor but he can't stop baby!! and they're all caught just as baby leaves the planet's atmosphere.chapter 5:
the whole chapter is just zod and his folks getting arrested and sentenced to a bajillion years in the phantom zone. he screams at lara that he's gonna find the baby when he gets out and stuff. nothing else really happens this chapter is really short.chapter 6:
we're with lara as krypton comes to an end, just like jor said it would, of course. the whole chapter is just her floating around despondently before she goes out onto the porch to watch the world end. the very last part, though, is baby ship entering our solar system and landing on earth.so, things!:
- chapter 4 goes through three perspective changes before it ends (jor, then lara, and zod) and that's interesting, mostly because we've been stuck with jor for most of this, but weird because we're only with lara for a tiny bit.
- we finally got a stake that hindered jor!!! why did it take that fucking long???!!!
- there's more of the zod/jor friendship in this, and we got to see lara from zod's pov, which was really interesting, brief objectification aside. he actually, like, cares about her! like, when he realizes that jor and lara had a baby, like, the original way he's terrified that jor raped her or s/t. and, like, that gives very little credit to lara's free will and mind, but it does show that he's worried about her well being to some description, which is a good way to humanize the villain.
- speaking of that, it's been six chapters, and the only character i was really interested in was zod. that's a damn shame, because, if you recall, we've been following jor since chapter 1. that's not good!!
- WE'RE FINALLY GETTING TO SUPERMAN NEXT CHAPTER. seriously, the civil war and stuff on krypton is interesting in concept, and i'd be lying if i said that i wasn't invested in the jor/zod relationship, but god dammit that went on way to long. how the hell did they manage to take something that should have been prologue and stretch it out to six chapters??? i'm so glad this is over.
edit: just in case you were wondering, the codex still isn't explained. :/
Friday, September 20, 2013
man of steel chapter 3
in today's episode, we prepare the baby ship.
but first we start right where the last chapter left off, with jor flying home on h'raka. i know it seems like this is redundant, but i've never read a book that was written conventionally where the chapters take place this closely. i know it's way too much writing to be one chapter, i think, but it still feels like it should be. this might be nitpicking, but i still find it weird.
anyway, the battle over the city continues and has moved closer to them, and h'raka gets hit with a plasma beam. she manages to get to the house before she dies, which doesn't take that long, i think, but it feels like it does because the author takes the time to explain the history of the house of el as they approach it. i'm not sure about the placing, but i do like some of the descriptions. the color of the sun is mentioned again too.
there's a really weird sentence here that says "He ran straight to the observatory, where he found in all readiness". i can't figure out if he meant 'which' instead of where, or if there's a 'her' missing. hm.
either way, we get a description of the baby ship, which looks like a heart and has a state of the art phantom drive unit. fancy shit! lara's in there feeding the baby when he comes in, and she's all happy to see him but he tells her zod's on the way because of the codex. he asks if they found 'the world' and the other robot says that they have. the descriptions obviously identify it as earth, but it's during the last big ice age, apparently, so i've really underestimated how much time it took baby supes to get to there. also, why does she call him jor-el? that's her husband, why is she saying the surname too?
it seems like lara's stalling because she's all like 'what if the natives don't except him', which is a really legitimate fear, but jor's all like 'don't worry it's cool he'll be like a god to them'. obviously jor has never read the bible or seen thor. lara still doesn't want to do it, which is reasonable because come on he was born, like, two hours ago, but jor is like we have to he's our only hope, even though he sorta feels her. i have to say, though, how is he the last hope? if he's the last one alive it's not like he can bring back his race or anything. assuming kryptonians are genetically compatible with humans, like in the comics, years of breeding into the human population is gonna breed out any powers he might pass on, eventually. or maybe i should just wait until i learn the plan. hm.
also, i'm not sure how to feel about lara at this point? like i'm sad for her, but she's been characterized to his point as bone-breakingly beautiful and unable to part with the baby and that's... sexist. like way to squeeze an alien into our narrow, heteronormative gender roles guys! do you think she'll have time to make kal-el a sandwich before launch?
that being said, i do like that jor isn't characterized as thinking she's stupid of needy or overemotional for being that way. actually, he feels the same way, but he's hiding it because someone has to, or they'd never get anything done. i just wish his wife was more than a porcelain doll of female objectification.
jor gets into some kind of robot thing as the helper robot puts the baby in the ship, and then the other robot uploads the info on the codex, which i didn't know was possible, and then transmits it into the baby. this is really important, but what the heck is the codex?? how did a fossil turn into pure information? how can you upload pure information into a baby? there's science that could do this, but how can you do it without some kind of implant in the baby? and how do you upload a fossil???
none of my questions are answered as jor exits the robot and grabs a key and puts it in the ship. it's not the key for the ship, and it's described as if it's important to the story, but it's never explained what it does. what's new?
there is a touching moment where, as he watches the ship close and fill with baby juice, jor thinks about the fact that he'll never touch his son again. it's also a nice echo of when lara was saying how they'll never see him walk or hear him talk. mr. cox is really good at this emotion thing. along with that, my favorite line so far is said as he's looking at the sleeping baby.
the chapter ends with jor telling lara to ready the launch so he can go fight off the people who are attacking the house, complete with overlong descriptions of the armor and whatnot. there's another weird line where jor is like 'it seemed that his old friend had come calling' and like... yeah you just told lara he was coming ten minutes ago! he's acting like 'i don't know what i was expecting' but you knew exactly what you were expecting! why is this here?
and that's it. after one left over false stake from last chapter, this chapter goes on to raise a whole barn full of new questions that won't get answered until way later in the story, hopefully. this chapter was more about the emotion, and i dig that. that's just a breath of fresh air to see all of this put into a work written by chris nolan, especially without me having to do it. the only other complaint i have is WHEN DOES THE STORY ACTUALLY START JUST LAUNCH THE BABY. see you next time.
but first we start right where the last chapter left off, with jor flying home on h'raka. i know it seems like this is redundant, but i've never read a book that was written conventionally where the chapters take place this closely. i know it's way too much writing to be one chapter, i think, but it still feels like it should be. this might be nitpicking, but i still find it weird.
anyway, the battle over the city continues and has moved closer to them, and h'raka gets hit with a plasma beam. she manages to get to the house before she dies, which doesn't take that long, i think, but it feels like it does because the author takes the time to explain the history of the house of el as they approach it. i'm not sure about the placing, but i do like some of the descriptions. the color of the sun is mentioned again too.
there's a really weird sentence here that says "He ran straight to the observatory, where he found in all readiness". i can't figure out if he meant 'which' instead of where, or if there's a 'her' missing. hm.
either way, we get a description of the baby ship, which looks like a heart and has a state of the art phantom drive unit. fancy shit! lara's in there feeding the baby when he comes in, and she's all happy to see him but he tells her zod's on the way because of the codex. he asks if they found 'the world' and the other robot says that they have. the descriptions obviously identify it as earth, but it's during the last big ice age, apparently, so i've really underestimated how much time it took baby supes to get to there. also, why does she call him jor-el? that's her husband, why is she saying the surname too?
it seems like lara's stalling because she's all like 'what if the natives don't except him', which is a really legitimate fear, but jor's all like 'don't worry it's cool he'll be like a god to them'. obviously jor has never read the bible or seen thor. lara still doesn't want to do it, which is reasonable because come on he was born, like, two hours ago, but jor is like we have to he's our only hope, even though he sorta feels her. i have to say, though, how is he the last hope? if he's the last one alive it's not like he can bring back his race or anything. assuming kryptonians are genetically compatible with humans, like in the comics, years of breeding into the human population is gonna breed out any powers he might pass on, eventually. or maybe i should just wait until i learn the plan. hm.
also, i'm not sure how to feel about lara at this point? like i'm sad for her, but she's been characterized to his point as bone-breakingly beautiful and unable to part with the baby and that's... sexist. like way to squeeze an alien into our narrow, heteronormative gender roles guys! do you think she'll have time to make kal-el a sandwich before launch?
that being said, i do like that jor isn't characterized as thinking she's stupid of needy or overemotional for being that way. actually, he feels the same way, but he's hiding it because someone has to, or they'd never get anything done. i just wish his wife was more than a porcelain doll of female objectification.
jor gets into some kind of robot thing as the helper robot puts the baby in the ship, and then the other robot uploads the info on the codex, which i didn't know was possible, and then transmits it into the baby. this is really important, but what the heck is the codex?? how did a fossil turn into pure information? how can you upload pure information into a baby? there's science that could do this, but how can you do it without some kind of implant in the baby? and how do you upload a fossil???
none of my questions are answered as jor exits the robot and grabs a key and puts it in the ship. it's not the key for the ship, and it's described as if it's important to the story, but it's never explained what it does. what's new?
there is a touching moment where, as he watches the ship close and fill with baby juice, jor thinks about the fact that he'll never touch his son again. it's also a nice echo of when lara was saying how they'll never see him walk or hear him talk. mr. cox is really good at this emotion thing. along with that, my favorite line so far is said as he's looking at the sleeping baby.
"Sleep well, my son," Jor-El whispered. "Our hopes and dreams travel with you."mr. cox is really good with this emotion thing! this is really moving! i don't ever feel like i get this much emotion out of a nolan movie when chris has the reigns but this guy's got it! i just wish the rest of his writing wasn't so problematic.
the chapter ends with jor telling lara to ready the launch so he can go fight off the people who are attacking the house, complete with overlong descriptions of the armor and whatnot. there's another weird line where jor is like 'it seemed that his old friend had come calling' and like... yeah you just told lara he was coming ten minutes ago! he's acting like 'i don't know what i was expecting' but you knew exactly what you were expecting! why is this here?
and that's it. after one left over false stake from last chapter, this chapter goes on to raise a whole barn full of new questions that won't get answered until way later in the story, hopefully. this chapter was more about the emotion, and i dig that. that's just a breath of fresh air to see all of this put into a work written by chris nolan, especially without me having to do it. the only other complaint i have is WHEN DOES THE STORY ACTUALLY START JUST LAUNCH THE BABY. see you next time.
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
man of steel chapter 2
and we're back! in today's chapter, jor-el commits grand theft skull! yay!
so, we start right where we left off. no, i don't think you understand: the chapter literally starts with 'tor-an carried out zod's orders'. this dude really doesn't trust us with figuring out that time has passed, does he? anyway, they strip jor-el of his cape and shit before they lead him off to wherever they're taking everyone.
jor-el looks back to see zod in the throne room, not looking all happy like he thought he would, and thinks about how much of a shame it is that the war zod's starting is for nothing. you know, i really do like this relationship they've set up between zod and jor. it's suitably sad and heartfelt, even if it is a rip-off of grindelwald and dumbledore. i don't think i've mentioned it here, but one thing chris nolan movies are always lacking is platonic relationships, especially between two dudes. cox did this in the tdkr novelization too, adding in the connection between nameless dude #1 and bane during the plane scene. i'm sure this relationship is in the movie, but i doubt it's seen this in depth. good move, mr. cox.
the moment is kind of ruined by a line reminding us that jor-el has 'plans', though. sigh
everything has gone to shit now, and there's a huge battle raging outside. zod's dudes are cut off in the hallway by jor-el's one robot, kelex, and jor-el is able to make his escape when kelex fucking blinds everyone. as badass as that is, this is such a dues ex machina; we don't find out that kelex was there until he shows up in the tunnel. this could have been avoided with a single line in the last chapter, so that's big points off, man.
as jor is running away from zod's dudes before they can get back up, he skypes lara and tells her what's up. there's a nice moment when he's too busy thinking and she's like 'behind you!'. that was cool. however, that's ruined by the part where the author mentions lara's 'flawlessly rendered' lips as she starts to argue with jor-el about the baby ship. i shit you not, this is the point where i officially threw out any headcanon i had of her and she just became liv tyler as arwen. what the fuck dude? she's just some kryptonian lady, not a model or a doll or something. jesus, i'm dreading what he'll do when we reach lois lane.
now, having said how much i like the relationship between jor and zod, i hate his relationship with his wife. like, yeah it's obvious that they love each other, but they're so boring. and it's the fault of the author, because he paints lara as two dimensional and plain. she's basically edward cullen with bella's lack of conviction and personality. jor-el isn't much better, but at least we have a sense of history about him.
this next section begins the numerous mentions of the color of the sky, all of which are unnecesary, as he said it last chapter and that was enough. it wasn't like it was changing or anything. another dues ex machina happens, saving jor-el from a crashing ship that was headed towards him when he exited the tunnels. lovely. somehow this guy finds a way to remind us that superman is a boy while reminding us that jor-el has 'plans'. how would we forget that??? man is in the title - we know the gender of the child dude!
jor-el is still standing on the terrace above the shitstorm when he calls on his animal-airship thing, which is called h'raka and i literally cannot envision in my mind's eye. she's not described well enough - he doesn't even mention how many legs she has - for me to come up with anything. think of you're favorite non-avian flying type pokemon and imagine that instead, i guess. i know this is adapted from the screenplay, but i have such a hard time believing this is in the movie. it feels so out there, even for an alien planet like krypton. it really takes me out of the story. also, why wasn't she mentioned before? see, this is what happens when you ***. THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS.
but anyway, he flies her over the battle toward this building called the genesis chambers, giving us some time to see the carnage up close. there's a lot of the unnecessary paragraph breaks here and it's annoying as hell. like, i know the method of breaking for poignancy, i've done it before too, but when you do it more than once on the same damn page the effect is lost.
we get another *** (there was one right after he spoke to lara) and homie is at the genesis chamber, which is basically the literal tree of life. the place is unguarded because of the war going on, which is lampshaded by jor, and dude lands and dives right in. literally. the tree is filled with fetuses and their robot nurses floating around in amniotic fluid, which is kind of cool but mostly gross. jor's looking for the codex, which is another thing i don't really get and isn't explained well, even though i read ahead a chapter. there's a fun moment before this when kelex tells jor where the codex is, and starts to warn him of the legal action that'll be taken if he breaks in, and jor is like 'no one cares anymore, kelex, the world is ending.' i'm there dude.
in this part we also learn that krypton has, apparently abandoned the 'recklessness' of sexual reproduction for the much more controlled method of test tube babies in a tree. so superman isn't the first baby born on krypton in ages - he's the first baby born out of a vagina in ages! he gets more and more special by the minute! if it turns out that he's never going to age once he gets to earth he really will be the new renesmee!
after almost getting caught because he accidentally kicked one of the baby bubbles (i'd say that'd have a lasting effect, but the world is ending), jor gets to the codex, which is a fossil covered in writing hanging right above the pool he came out of. he doesn't even have to get out of the baby juice to grab it! how nice! getting the skull sets off the alarms, so jor has to get out of dodge while the nurse bots chase after him and bite his ankles. he's not hurt though, because he's wearing an advanced skinsuit to protect himself - so, basically, under armor. i hope you all didn't think he was running around naked, or in his underroos! oddly, this is the only thing that avoids being a dues ex, but it's so much easier to mention these things as the story demands instead of establishing they exist prior.
one of the robots manages to get him as he's getting out of the water and he loses the codex for a moment, but it was already established that these robots weren't built for fighting, so he's able to kick it off and get it before it rolls off of the branch. he came out through the wrong one in his haste, so dude takes the most literal leap of faith ever and is, thankfully, caught by h'raka before he falls to the ground. the chapter ends with him directing her home.
this chapter is full of imaginary stakes. things happen that should hinder jor significantly - zod's men, the falling ship, the codex rolling toward the edge - but they don't because of course they don't. there aren't any real stakes outside of the world ending in a week and the civil war happening. i feel like i just read a padding chapter, and the retrieval of the codex is hella important. it doesn't help that we have no idea what the codex even is yet, and i feel like we won't learn until much later in the book. we get over-explanations of everything else, but we can't get a small hint at what this is? i smell a mcguffin, everyone.
so, we start right where we left off. no, i don't think you understand: the chapter literally starts with 'tor-an carried out zod's orders'. this dude really doesn't trust us with figuring out that time has passed, does he? anyway, they strip jor-el of his cape and shit before they lead him off to wherever they're taking everyone.
jor-el looks back to see zod in the throne room, not looking all happy like he thought he would, and thinks about how much of a shame it is that the war zod's starting is for nothing. you know, i really do like this relationship they've set up between zod and jor. it's suitably sad and heartfelt, even if it is a rip-off of grindelwald and dumbledore. i don't think i've mentioned it here, but one thing chris nolan movies are always lacking is platonic relationships, especially between two dudes. cox did this in the tdkr novelization too, adding in the connection between nameless dude #1 and bane during the plane scene. i'm sure this relationship is in the movie, but i doubt it's seen this in depth. good move, mr. cox.
the moment is kind of ruined by a line reminding us that jor-el has 'plans', though. sigh
everything has gone to shit now, and there's a huge battle raging outside. zod's dudes are cut off in the hallway by jor-el's one robot, kelex, and jor-el is able to make his escape when kelex fucking blinds everyone. as badass as that is, this is such a dues ex machina; we don't find out that kelex was there until he shows up in the tunnel. this could have been avoided with a single line in the last chapter, so that's big points off, man.
as jor is running away from zod's dudes before they can get back up, he skypes lara and tells her what's up. there's a nice moment when he's too busy thinking and she's like 'behind you!'. that was cool. however, that's ruined by the part where the author mentions lara's 'flawlessly rendered' lips as she starts to argue with jor-el about the baby ship. i shit you not, this is the point where i officially threw out any headcanon i had of her and she just became liv tyler as arwen. what the fuck dude? she's just some kryptonian lady, not a model or a doll or something. jesus, i'm dreading what he'll do when we reach lois lane.
now, having said how much i like the relationship between jor and zod, i hate his relationship with his wife. like, yeah it's obvious that they love each other, but they're so boring. and it's the fault of the author, because he paints lara as two dimensional and plain. she's basically edward cullen with bella's lack of conviction and personality. jor-el isn't much better, but at least we have a sense of history about him.
this next section begins the numerous mentions of the color of the sky, all of which are unnecesary, as he said it last chapter and that was enough. it wasn't like it was changing or anything. another dues ex machina happens, saving jor-el from a crashing ship that was headed towards him when he exited the tunnels. lovely. somehow this guy finds a way to remind us that superman is a boy while reminding us that jor-el has 'plans'. how would we forget that??? man is in the title - we know the gender of the child dude!
jor-el is still standing on the terrace above the shitstorm when he calls on his animal-airship thing, which is called h'raka and i literally cannot envision in my mind's eye. she's not described well enough - he doesn't even mention how many legs she has - for me to come up with anything. think of you're favorite non-avian flying type pokemon and imagine that instead, i guess. i know this is adapted from the screenplay, but i have such a hard time believing this is in the movie. it feels so out there, even for an alien planet like krypton. it really takes me out of the story. also, why wasn't she mentioned before? see, this is what happens when you ***. THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS.
but anyway, he flies her over the battle toward this building called the genesis chambers, giving us some time to see the carnage up close. there's a lot of the unnecessary paragraph breaks here and it's annoying as hell. like, i know the method of breaking for poignancy, i've done it before too, but when you do it more than once on the same damn page the effect is lost.
we get another *** (there was one right after he spoke to lara) and homie is at the genesis chamber, which is basically the literal tree of life. the place is unguarded because of the war going on, which is lampshaded by jor, and dude lands and dives right in. literally. the tree is filled with fetuses and their robot nurses floating around in amniotic fluid, which is kind of cool but mostly gross. jor's looking for the codex, which is another thing i don't really get and isn't explained well, even though i read ahead a chapter. there's a fun moment before this when kelex tells jor where the codex is, and starts to warn him of the legal action that'll be taken if he breaks in, and jor is like 'no one cares anymore, kelex, the world is ending.' i'm there dude.
in this part we also learn that krypton has, apparently abandoned the 'recklessness' of sexual reproduction for the much more controlled method of test tube babies in a tree. so superman isn't the first baby born on krypton in ages - he's the first baby born out of a vagina in ages! he gets more and more special by the minute! if it turns out that he's never going to age once he gets to earth he really will be the new renesmee!
after almost getting caught because he accidentally kicked one of the baby bubbles (i'd say that'd have a lasting effect, but the world is ending), jor gets to the codex, which is a fossil covered in writing hanging right above the pool he came out of. he doesn't even have to get out of the baby juice to grab it! how nice! getting the skull sets off the alarms, so jor has to get out of dodge while the nurse bots chase after him and bite his ankles. he's not hurt though, because he's wearing an advanced skinsuit to protect himself - so, basically, under armor. i hope you all didn't think he was running around naked, or in his underroos! oddly, this is the only thing that avoids being a dues ex, but it's so much easier to mention these things as the story demands instead of establishing they exist prior.
one of the robots manages to get him as he's getting out of the water and he loses the codex for a moment, but it was already established that these robots weren't built for fighting, so he's able to kick it off and get it before it rolls off of the branch. he came out through the wrong one in his haste, so dude takes the most literal leap of faith ever and is, thankfully, caught by h'raka before he falls to the ground. the chapter ends with him directing her home.
this chapter is full of imaginary stakes. things happen that should hinder jor significantly - zod's men, the falling ship, the codex rolling toward the edge - but they don't because of course they don't. there aren't any real stakes outside of the world ending in a week and the civil war happening. i feel like i just read a padding chapter, and the retrieval of the codex is hella important. it doesn't help that we have no idea what the codex even is yet, and i feel like we won't learn until much later in the book. we get over-explanations of everything else, but we can't get a small hint at what this is? i smell a mcguffin, everyone.
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