I'm still collecting pieces of my jaw on the floor, give me a sec'.
Well, here it is, my most anticipated movie of the year. 'Man Of Steel', the reboot of the Superman franchise. Let me get this straight first, I am not the biggest Superman fan (but I still liked the character), I am more of a Batman fan. What piked my interest in this movie is the cast and crew involved, and over time my expectations got higher and higher. So will this be the Superman film we've been waiting for, or is another POS trash like Superman III and IV? Find out below.
Synopsis:
A young boy learns that he has extraordinary powers and is not of this Earth. As a young man, he journeys to discover where he came from and what he was sent here to do. But the hero in him must emerge if he is to save the world from annihilation and become the symbol of hope for all mankind. -- (C) Warner Bros
Story:
Most of us know already the origins of Superman, an alien baby who was sent from the Planet Krypton before it meets it's doom. Then we can slowly see how this young boy's journey is to become one the most iconic fictional heroes in history. MOS delivers a very fresh take on the Superman mythos, the opening scene of this movie was just astounding as we get to see more of Krypton and we can already sense the tone that this film is going for. Even right at the beginning of this movie, the story is already starting to unfold. I have to say that this movie is very focused on developing it's story although at times you can already predict it but still you can't help yourself to listen and understand the story because it gives something much more which might give more insight about the film and more clues about possible sequels. What I liked most about the story in this movie is that even though it gave a fresh take on the Superman mythology, there is some heavy influences from the past incarnations of the character in the comics, most noticeably in Superman: Birthright and Superman: Earth One.
Acting:
I would like to dive in with the performance of the some of the actors first before going to the performance from the leads. First let's have the soldiers and the doctor, Harry Lennix, Christopher Meloni and Emil Hamilton, gave a good performance to their characters the only thing that I have a little problem with them is they were a little underdeveloped (but I really did not mind this aspect in the film because this is supposed to be the journey of Clark Kent/Superman not the journey of the people around the Man of Steel) next is the people from the 'Daily Planet' (excluding Lois Lane) Laurence Fishburne as Perry White, he was good as Perry White much like how I imagine the character to be from reading from the comics, the other character is Jenny Jurwich, while the actress showed a decent performance I can really say that her character wasn't really necessary. Now let's have the two young Clark Kent which is played by Dylan Sprayberry (13 year old Clark) and Cooper Timberline (8 year old Clark), I liked their performance in the film, they captured the essence of the character at this certain age and they were also able to show the fear and the drive to do something for their life, they were not annoying at all.
Now that we got that out of the way let's now have the performance of the lead characters. First is the foster parents, the Kents which was played respectively by Kevin Costner and Diane Lane, Costner played Jonathan Kent beautifully the emotions were right on the line and you can really feel the concern of his character towards the lead, there was also two scenes involving him and Clark that got me teary eyed. Diane Lane as Martha Kent was also perfect casting, like Costner, she was able to show her concern over Clark but somehow still giving an impression that she will support Clark no matter what. Now, the biological parents, Jor-El and Lara Lor-Van who was portrayed by Russell Crowe and Ayelet Zurer. Zurer only had little screen time in this movie which was a little disappointment to me but her character was redeemed thanks to her convincing performance but she wasn't able to do much. Let's move on to Crowe as Jor-El, this is perhaps one of the best castings ever in CBM history, his performance was just amazing an truly shows the potential of a great character, he was able to kick ass while still playing an important role to Superman/ Kal-El. Next is Amy Adams as Lois Lane, she was good in this role and you can really see that she gave it her all but what I liked more about her portrayal of the character is that this Lois Lane is feisty and she will struggle hard just to find out about the truth. Lastly let's move on to the big guns, General Zod and Faora Ul, I don't know how to put this, all I can say is that they are both perfect to the role, Antje Traue was menacing as Faora and at times you can be more scared of her than the main villain, she was also a very bad-ass. Next is Michael Shannon first of all, this guy is a great actor and in this movie he was able to show how amazing of an actor he is, the way he portrayed was original, he is menacing but he was still a patriot. He was able to show his love for his planet and you can really see that this villain really does have a purpose, it's not a villain who just twirls his mustache in the background. He was really great.
It seems that I'm forgetting someone, oh yes, Henry Cavill as Superman. How else can I put it, well to make things simple, this guy IS Superman. He played the character with utter perfection, his Clark Kent was good but it's his Superman that really takes the cake. At first I thought it would be impossible to match Christopher Reeve's Superman but Henry Cavill did it. His Clark Kent is good because he was able to show that he is eager to find his place in life and his Superman, again, it was amazing, this Superman can really show that he is powerful and can really kick some ass but he can still be vulnerable especially when it comes to the people closest to him. Here's hoping that we get to see more from Cavill as the guy can really act. I also liked the chemistry between him and Lois.
Action:
To put it in one simple word is, epic, and to elaborate the action scenes in this movie was just friggin' insane, it really did make up for the lackluster action sequences that we got from the past Superman films. In this movie we had three major action sequences and each action scenes were exhilarating and blood pumping. They were well choreographed, well shot, and well timed. Seeing Superman punch once again is a sign of relief among Superman fans because it felt like it popped out the comics and we were watching it happen right in front of us. We were also able to see the heat vision from Superman and it was amazing to look at. The other thing that I also liked in this movie is that Superman got his ass handed to him.
My only problem with the action scenes is that it became a little repetitive because it feels like "Superman did this already, can we get something new?" despite this, they were still able to show the possibilities that Superman can do with his powers, it was amazing to look at, what I also liked about the action scenes is that its not just Superman who did the beating.
In addition, the finale battle between Zod and Superman was brilliant and unforgettable. I will say that it is one of the best comic book movie battles ever.
Music:
Hans Zimmer did an incredible job at the score of this film. I loved his scores on 'The Dark Knight Trilogy' but I loved his scores here even more. Whenever you hear his music, it adds an emotional weight to an already emotional scene and whenever Superman appears and you hear his music you can feel that this guys is bringing hope to the people, he is bringing an inspiration to them. But this is the best part, whenever Zod appears and the music started to kick in, it was damn good. You can feel the threat surrounding the character and you can feel that his presence is staggering, it's better to not mess with this guy.
Cinematography/VFX:
This is probably the best-shot film that Zack Snyder ever made. The shots in this film was just incredible, beautiful and authentic and like I said, you can almost feel like you're inside the movie. The movie is visually stunning and you can almost pause every shot, frame it and hang it on your wall.
Let's move on to the VFX, the usage of CGI is good because it was able to show the beauty of Krypton, the techs in that planet and also some of the biological life in that planet. But what really got my attention of the CGI here is General Zod's suit and the flying scenes. First off, Zod's suit is completely CGI, meaning he was wearing a motion capture suit and the suit was all computer generated (like I said), that said, some shots with him on the CGI suit was a little bit dodgy but this were just minor flaws. Let's move on to the flying scenes, I have one word to describe it, WOW. 'Nuff said.
Direction:
This film did not feel like a Zack Snyder film AT ALL. From the look of it and down to the emotional gravitas of the film, it was not reminiscent of any of Snyder's films (maybe Watchmen is though). The only thing that will let you recognize that this is his film is because of the action scenes. Snyder's film is mostly known for incredible action sequences he puts out and this film he didn't held back to show it.
The way he directed his actors was also good because they were able to showcase a decent to great performance, especially from Cavill who completely outshines as the Man of Steel. I was also a fan of how he divided this film, the first half was full of emotion and the second half was full of action scenes.
The only thing missing from this film is his signature slow-mo which was a good thing in my opinion because his slow-mo gets a little overused at some of his films.
Overall:
'Man Of Steel' is definitely my movie of the summer. This CBM is full of insane and intense action scenes that it can makes others action sequences look a little underwhelming. That said, this movie may have been lacking a little in emotion. This film is well thought out, well acted and top that with incredible action, amazing CGI and great cinematography and score. I find this adaptation to be on par with the original Superman: The Movie and this is without a doubt Zack Snyder's best film to date, this is the Superman film I've been waiting for my whole life and I give this a perfect 5/5.