Finally, Movies!

So I said I wasn't going to do any more mommy matinee posts for Tuesdays with Cleo, but I can't really pass up talking about the recent ones I've seen.

Due to the kiddo, I feel like I'm living in a distant country where movies get released much later for me. All of these "summer blockbusters" have been out since early summer, but I see them anywhere from 2-3 months after they've been released when they come to Mommy Matinee. So it's only been recently that I've FINALLY gotten to see the movies I've been wanting to see since about May. And it's been really, really interesting to contrast and compare.

Let me first state that Cleo and I have this mommy matinee thing down. We get there early and get situated. I pack solids (berries, apple slices, etc) for her to eat during the previews and order my food. She watches the screen a bit and plays for about the first half hour, then gets fussy. Then I heat up some milk, put her in the Ergo, strap the Ergo on, and pace around in the back of the theater and bottle feed her for a while. After about a half hour of this, she's passed out and I return to my seat to watch the last hour or so of the movie while she naps. I'm actually really surprised at how well this has worked, and I miss out on very little of the movie!

So the most recent one we saw was the Superman reboot "The Man of Steel", but I think I need to explain the other movies we've seen in recent weeks to get my impression of it, so we'll start with "Iron Man 3".

I saw it a few weeks ago and it was definitely a "comic book movie". There are elements of the ridiculous meshed in with the action and despite some tense scenes the end game is "fun". I guess it pissed off some fans due to how they portrayed The Mandarin, but I thought it was nice since they were already handling the Extremis story line. As we saw in "Spider Man 3", cramming in too many iconic bad guys actually leads to less fulfillment.

Next was "Star Trek: Into Darkness". This was really, really fun to the point that you don't even really notice the gigantic plot holes. As a reboot, it also includes a lot of "wink and a nod" moments for true fans, such as Bones saying his "Damnit Jim! I'm a doctor not a (insert occupation here)." It has some complex messages, but it doesn't beat you over the head with them.

Now we get to "Man of Steel". I was really excited about this one, to the point that I dressed up Cleo in Supergirl gear. However, it was kind of flat. I can see what they were trying to do. It's as if the were picturing a universe where comic books don't exist and what a Superman movie would be if it were just straight up Sci-Fi about an alien refugee raised on Earth. With lots of wanton destruction.

By getting rid of the fun, comic book element of Iron Man and the "wink and a nod" element of a reboot like Star Trek, it felt unrecognizable. This wasn't really a "Superman" movie. He doesn't stop bank robberies, save people from muggings, or catch people falling off of buildings. He came in and beat the crap out of a bunch of other Kryptonians. Maybe this guy on screen will be Superman someday, but right now, he's not. I can't fault their desire to be original, but it ended up feeling tedious.

Anyhow, here's a much more entertaining video of Cleo playing in her Jumparoo in her Supergirl cape.