RISE OF SUPERMAN
DIRECTOR: James McTiegue
PRODUCER: Christopher Nolan and Emma Thomas
WRITER: David Goyer and Christopher Nolan (Story) David Goyer and Jonathan Nolan (Screenplay)
MUSIC BY: Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard
RELEASE DATE: 17th December 2012
CAST:
Henry Cavill as KAL-EL / CLARK KENT / SUPERMAN
Jason Isaacs as LEX LUTHOR
Emily Blunt as LOIS LANE
Anton Yelchin as JAMES "JIMMY" OLSEN
Tom Berenger as PERRY WHITE
Corey Burton as BRAINIAC
Scarlett Johansson as MERCY GRAVES
Leonardo DiCaprio as JOHN CORBEN
Guy Pearce as BRUNO MANHEIM
Hilary Swank as MAGGIE SAWYER
Tim Kellheler as DAN TURPIN
Stephen Lang as SAMUEL LANE
Bruce Greenwood as JONATHAN KENT
Sissy Spacek as MARTHA KENT
Talulah Riley as CAT GRANT
Joe Manganiello as STEVE LOMBARD
Dileep Rao as RON TROUPE
SYPNOSIS:
"After being sent by his parents to Earth from his dying planet Krypton, the baby Kal-El is found by farmers Jonathan and Martha Kent and is raised on their farm as Clark Kent. During his adolescence Clark begins demostrating other worldly powers and the Kents' keep Clark under wraps by teaching him to blend into backgrounds, teaching him not to do anything extra-ordinary so that people don't take him away. After growing to adulthood with a degree in journalism, Clark is trying to find his place in the world and decides to that to find the answers, he must first understand the world. Clark travels for the next 5 years experiencing countless civilizations and cultures getting various jobs at newspapers around the world but never really feeling at home whilst also trying to help out the world whilst keeping discreet. After finally returning to the US, Clark gets a temporary job at the Daily Planet in Metropolis replacing a reporter who was murdered and dumped in the docks.
On Clark's first day he is paired with ambitious reporter Lois Lane of who's partner was murdered. Lois knows that her partner's death was done by Intergang but needs evidence and believes that they are being funded by Lex Luthor, whos business LexCorp seemingly profits from Intergang's terrorist activity by knocking his rival competitors out of business. Lois and Clark go to interview Lex Luthor and begin questioning his legitimacy and claim to publish that he using Intergang to profit his business at the little expense he pays to pay off Intergang, falsly claiming to have a key witness. They are escorted out by Lex's PA Mercy. Lex immediately has a new guest, John Corben the Daily Planet's ace reporter. Lex hires Corben to spy on Lois and Clark and keep them from finding the truth at any means necessary and gives him a gun, which Corben tentitavely takes.
3 weeks later and Lois and Clark are still chasing down the Lex-Intergang story when Lois is given a picture by Jimmy Olsen of a supposed flying man and says that the flying man is a hero to the city. Lois dismisses the picture and the supposed "hero" but Jimmy tells Lois to check out the crime rate in the city in the last 3 weeks. Lois tells Jimmy to get Clark to check it but Jimmy says he is visiting family.
Clark is in Smallville and is dropped off at the Kent Farm by a coach. He enters the Farm House and is greeted by Martha Kent who has been baking. Clark asks where Jonathan is and Martha says out in the back field fixing a fence that a cow knocked down so Clark goes out to reconcile. They later have dinner and talk about Clark's travels around the world and how he has come to the conclusion that the world needs a hero more than ever and that with his powers, he can be that hero. Jonathan immediately tells Clark that he can't be the hero he wants to be because he won't be able to have a normal life and neither will he and Martha. Clark says that he feels compelled to help the world and that he can still have a normal life if he split them into two, but needs a disguise. Jonathan is angry and says that he can't become some costume vigilante who hides about at night and leaves the table. Martha is more sympathetic and goes to the cupboard under the stairs and into a big case before pulling out a red blanket that bears a yellow and black symbol. Clark asks what it is and Martha says that it is the blanket they found him in when he was a boy and Martha agrees to help him create a costume. They then make a blue costume with a red and yellow symbol on the chest the same as the cape. Martha is unable to sow the blanket to the blue suit with it breaking all the needles and so Clark uses his heat vision to stick them together. Jonathan returns to see Clark off who promises that he can handle a double life and wants to make him proud.
A Boom Tube opens on the edge of the solar system near galaxy and a Skull ship emerges.
Clark and Lois return to the Daily Planet newsroom to follow up a lead on the Lex-Intergang story about a janitor who saw Bruno Manheim in Lex's office. Lois gets on the phone to contact the man as Clark hears a woman scream and sneekally super speeds off. He transforms into his costume and confronts 5 men who have raided a bank who are counting money. The robbers laugh at Clark's costume and shoot him in the head but Clark still stands and spits the bullet from his mouth leaving the robbers astonished. Clark then walks up to the robbers and bends the ends of their guns so they don't fire as some of the men try and shoot him but Clark apprehends them all and welds their guns together to tie the men to each other before returning to the Daily Planet returning to his seat without Lois noticing. Lois then turns to tell Clark that the janitor is dead and was found hanging in his apartment 20 minutes ago. Lois then gets a call from Jimmy and she leaves immediately.
The following day's headline reads "SUPER MAN FOILS ROBBERS" with a picture from the CCTV of Superman bending the robbers' guns with his hands. The article is written by Lois and also claims that the dramatic rise in crime in Metropolis and the massive surge of "Flying man claims" are all related to the Superman and urges him to come forward. Lois enters the newsroom to a round of applause and called into Perry's office along with Jimmy and Clark and tells them to go all out and get the EXCLUSIVE interview.
Jonathan and Martha are sat having breakfast reading the headline and know it is Clark.
Lex is in his limo reading the same headline. Mercy who is driving says that they have arrived. They get out at Bruno Manheim's restaraunt "LUIGI'S" and enter and have dinner with Bruno. Lex tells Bruno that he wants all board members from rivals K.O.R.D. Industries killing in tonight. Bruno says that having them all done tonight is impossible. Lex tells him to just get it done and as payment, he can test his new weapons that are fresh out of LexCorp R&D made from a new alloy called Metallo which keeps all the strength but is incredibly lighter to which Bruno agrees.
In the daily planet newsroom as Clark and Lois are on dinner, John Corben goes through Lois' desk and steals her notes on the Superman story.
Clark, Lois and Jimmy are at a cafe in Suicide Slums where Lois says is all the crime so is where Superman will show. Clark goes inside to get a bagle before hearing shots being fired outside with a car chase of rival street gangs members. Lois jumps up and finds a standing taxi and tells them to follow the chase. Clark leaves to see Lois and Jimmy in the taxi before heading down the alley at the side of the cafe and changing into Superman and leaving his clothes in a bag hidden behind a dumster.
The car chase carries on into an abandoned warehouse where the taxi man drives no further. Lois and Jimmy chase on foot when the lead car is driving straight for them to which Lois tells Jimmy to get pictures. The car gets closer but before they can get out of the way, they seem to fly over the car and away from danger, looking up to see Superman has picked them up and they are flying. He rests them down before flying after the cars firstly pulling the tires off of one and picking the other up. Police then arrive on scene just in time to see Superman putting the car on the ground before flying away into the sky as Jimmy snaps pictures.
Superman flies back to the alley to find a tramp has found his bag of clothes and is walking away with them. He politely asks for it bag for the tramp dismisses him so Superman super speeds and changes into Clark in the blink of an eye amazing the tramp.
Clark then arrives at the car chase scene and asks what happened. Jimmy is going crazy about Superman showing Clark the pictures while Lois finishes interviewing the cops who saw Superman. She comes over and tells Clark that he should be ready next time instead of getting bagles otherwise they wouldn't have to leave him.
The trio return to the Daily Planet to write up the story and report to Perry, much to the annoyance of John Corben who was stuck trying to find a lead on Superman.
That night, Intergang men are all positioned around Metropolis ready to strike K.O.R.D. board members. Bruno gives them the hit and they charge the members' homes at night.
Superman is stopping a rape in suicide slums before hearing the shots being fired with his super hearing and immediately chases them. He flies and sees the men with his x-ray vision entering the house and immediately disarms them as they are about to shoot a small boy who is amazed by Superman before saving the parents. Superman then flies off immediately to chase down the rest of the shots but finds he is too late and only saved the one family. Bruno asks for a status report but finds team #7 missing and immediately knows something is wrong.
Lois is woken up at night by Clark to come and interview the surviving board member. They ask him questions and find out from the police that 13 other board members and family were killed simultaenously and Lois suspects Lex Luthor as with this shocking event on the eve of K.O.R.D.'s military contract with the army's R&D department will jepordise their stability and the contract will most likely go to LexCorp.
Cat Grant is at LexCorp where she is interviewing Lex Luthor who is offering his deepest condolences.
The next day the front page headline goes with the K.O.R.D. killings and Lois is determined to pin Lex to the crimes. She asks Ron Troupe to ask his contact at the Police Department for a quick look at the evidence. Lois, Clark and Jimmy head down to the Police HQ and meet with Dan Turpin who escorts them to look at the evidence for 5 minutes. They look over blood stained clothes from the other victims and other items before coming across the unlabelled LexCorp Metallo Guns. Lois tells Clark to take a gun while she distracts Turpin by flirting. Clark and Jimmy fight over who is sneaking the hun out with Clark loses and hides the gun under his coat. Turpin dismisses Lois and escorts them out when Maggie Sawyer asks what Turpin is doing allowing civilians to see case evidence. Turpin argues that the press help catch killers and that could give them leads but Sawyer says that she can't let evidence be stolen and searches Lois and Jimmy while Clark super speeds out without notice. Clark meets them round the corner and finally have proof on Luthor.
They write the story and print it in the evening edition. As Mercy arrives with Luthor's capucino and the evening edition, he reads the headline and tells Mercy to get to the chopper ASAP. As they are about to leave the office, Det. Sawyer and Turpin lead a group of offices to arrest Lex. As he is taken outside, Lois, Clark and Jimmy are their to watch as well as hoards of press and angry citizens await Lex. Just as he is to be into a squad car, a dark shadow descends over all of Metropolis to the sound of a sonic boom. All citizens look up a hugh Skull shaped Ship floating in mid air above Metropolis leaving everybody in shock.
Lex is driven to Police HQ as the city of Metropolis and even the world go into a state of panic at the sight and unmoving appearance of the ship. The military Research Division led by General. Samuel Lane and Lois' father arrives in Metropolis in force in case of an attack by the ship and to also try and negotiate with it using advanced technology. They actiavte the communcation device and it seems to work as the ship has movement. A probe is sent down and lands in the street opposite the device, opening to reveal an android who steps out before the pod shrivels into his back. He then observes the communcation device before speaking commenting on how low level interlect it is in an alien language. Gen. Lane tries to ask it questions in English but it doesn't respond. It then shoots tendrills out of its hand and connects it all around the communicator and is now able to speak English. It communicates by introducing itself as the Brain InterActive Construct and it has now updated itself with the all languages of the dominent species on Earth. It says it has come in search of the Crystal of Krypton and believes through calculation that there is a 0.67% that it will be on the planet. It uses the communicator to illustrate a picture of the crystal and says that if he is given the crystal quietly, now harm will come to the species or the planet. Gen. Lane says that American's don't deal with threats and that they don't have the crystal. Lois, Clark and Jimmy sneak onto a roof top to watch the action. Brainiac detects a flux in his system and says that Gen. Lane is lying. He says an alien called a Kryptonian is amongst the humans and is the owner of the crystal and has stolen it from him. Lane says there are no aliens on Earth but "Brainiac" dismisses him as lying and transforms his arm into a cannon before firing a plasma bolt at his tank. Lane and the army retreat rapidly as do the massive crowd who run in a mass panic. Clark is eager to escape from Lois and Jimmy and says he is going to help the crowd but Lois tells him to stay up here for the story but Clark goes anyway quickly changing into Superman.
Brainiac continues to attack Lane's truck until army tanks fire upon Brainiac who has a force field built around his body. Superman flies and stands between Brainiac and the army. Brainiac addresses Superman as the last Kryptonian and demands the crystal he stole. Superman doesn't know about any crystal or that he is the last Kryptonian. Brainiac says he is 100% affirmed that he is the last Kryptonian and owner of the crystal he seeks. Brainiac fires at Superman
with his plasma cannon which dodges and warns Brainiac to stand down and leave the planet. Brainiac says that the only way will leave is with the crystal in his possession and then he will destroy the planet anyway. Superman attacks Brainiac and is able to break down his force field in a couple of very powerful punches. Brainiac realises Superman's power and recalculates possible scenarios and realligns his body to deal with Superman. The two then endure a fierce physical battle which is evenly matched. Brainiac then calls for 2 identical droids which fly from his ship to seek and destroy Gen. Lane and his men and then find the crystal.
Superman has the upperhand over Brainiac in terms of strength whos nano technology keeps realligning his body to recover quickly from Superman while General Lane is leading an attack on the 2 Droids and calls for an air strike on the skull ship which doesn't affect it. Superman tries a new tatic and stops fighting and distracts Brainiac by asking about the crystal and Krypton. Brainiac explains that he came across Krypton during his exploration years and found the most advanced civilization he had come across, albiet a peaceful one after a savage war previous led by a renegade General. He used this opportunity to steal their technology for himself and transferred all of the appropiate data into a crystal which was stolen by the scientist Jor-El who then evaded Brainiac by replacing it with a dud crystal. Believing he had what he wanted, Brainiac blew up the planet and left but detected a small craft that held the crystal. As he was about to give chase, it entered a Boom Tube and disappeared without a trace, so ever since Brainiac has searched the universe for it. After Brainiac realligned his body to process information more efficiently, Superman moves in for the attack and quickly diminishes Brainiac body with extremely powerful blows that send Brainiac flying. He lands on the roof along with Lois and Jimmy who try to run but Brainiac tries to use them as bait. Superman uses his heat vision to impare Brainiac before destroying his body dismantling it with his hands. Superman then flies and tells Gen. Lane to call in another air strike on the ship, which destroys it with Brainiac defeated sending the ship crashing into Metropolis Bay. While underwater, a pod is fired from it and into a sewage pipe before the ship sinks to the bottom, partially poking out at the top.
News reports from around the globe are all focused on the events that happened recently all praise Superman for defeating Brainiac. John Corben is the only reporter who writes a negative report claiming that the military defeated Brainiac by destroying his ship and that Superman was working Brainiac the whole time. Lex Luthor is in prison reading every article until his jail is opened and Mercy arrives after paying his bail.
The newsroom is hectic as every reporter are all focues on the alien attack. Perry calls Lois, Clark and Jimmy into the office to try and track down Superman and try and get a word from him, anything.
In downtown Metropolis, a small mechanical spider escapes from manhole cover and jumps onto the underside of a car getting off further down the road and crawling into a LexCorp building. The front desk security guards notices it and tries to squash it but it crawls under the desk and attaches itself into the computer's hard drive, sending a surge of electric throughout the building. Lex who has just arrived in his office wants to know what is happening but no technology is working. He tries his computer which then switches on to see 3 dots on the screen connected by moving lines. The screen then writes to inform Lex Luthor that he is being employed by Brainiac to build him a new body. He will have to provide materials for Brainiac and cooperate fully to survive. Brainiac informs him that he now controls all of LexCorp's system and selects Metallo as an appropiate subtance. Lex asks for 3 things in return, access to his technology and to kill Lois Lane and Superman.
Lex then informs Bruno that he needs the Metallo guns back and begins storing the materials for Brainiac to use at a warehouse on the edge of Suicide Slums. Brainiac then takes control over systems in the warehouse and begins constructing a new body.
Lex calls and meets with John Corben who he berates for allowing Lois Lane and Clark Kent to get the better of him and put his reputation in jepordy. Corben says that there was nothing he could do but Lex reminds him that he gave him the necessary means to stop Lane but didn't through lack of will. He tells him to find out what Lois knows and if so kill her before throwing him out of the limo.
Clark is at his desk mulling over giving Lois an exclusive and then asks Lois on a date to discuss important matters. Lois dismisses him and says "maybe" when things die down. He then decides to fake a phone call from Superman and bluffs "accidentally" leaving a postit which Lois reads and knows the meeting point. She goes to the Daily Planet roof and waits until Superman arrives. He asks where Clark is and she says he couldn't make it so he sent her. Superman tells her that he is here to stay and always will be, protecting the world and will not be sterred or undeterred.
Lois writes the full exclusive for the evening edition which is a best seller.
Lex returns to the warehouse and is surprised to see Brainiac has completed his new body already and is now making identical replicas.
Over the next couple of days the news dies down and normal order is restored. LexCorp won the contract to extrac the alien ship from Metropolis Bay and will work with Gen. Lane on discovering its secrets.
Brainiac meanwhile has completed 2 fully identical droids that all share his core programming. They all split up to find Kal-El and observe his life.
One of the droids picks up Kal-El at a construction site saving a man before flying away. The Brainiac droid follows and observes Kal-El change into Clark Kent. With this reported, Brainiac updates himself on Clark Kent's profile. One droid is sent to Smallville to capture Jonathan and Martha Kent while the other picks up Lois Lane who is identified as Superman's liazon. The main Brainiac waits and confronts Clark by smashing through Perry White's office before announcing in the newsroom that he is to meet Superman at the top of LexCorp Tower at 6pm along with the Crystal of Krypton otherwise his friends will die. Brainiac then flies away while Clark goes to rush out quickly changing into Superman but Brainiac has already gone.
He changes back and phones Lois' mobile but she doesn't answer before ringing his parents who donwer either. He flies to Smallville as fast as he can but only finds Trixie, the family pet alone in the house with the door smashed open. He quickly returns to Metropolis and goes to LexCorp tower but Brainiac is nowhere to be seen. A helicopter then comes flying at him knocking him over the side along with the helicoper which is heading to the ground. Superman flies down and catches it placing it on the ground before flying back up to see he is confronted by Brainiac who again pleads for the crystal. Superman explains that even if he is alien, he doesn't have the crystal or anything else alien on this planet. Brainiac doesn't believe him and his 2 droids arrive one carrying Lois Lane the other Jonathan and Martha Kent. Brainiac tells him to make a choice. Save his loved ones or save his origin. Superman says he doesn't have any crystal and that if Brainiac wants to exist, then he should leave this planet in peace. Brainiac says he disagrees and shoots Jonathan in the stomach. Superman then tackles Brainiac over the side and begins angrily beating him. Brainiac's 2 droids follow suit and surround Superman in a triangle in a street brawl. News breaks quick and Gen. Lane and his troops quickly sub merge to Metropolis to attack Brainiac.
Lex who realises that Brainiac is out of control, decided to try and build his own Brainiac after Brainiac left the warehouse and had his top scientists working on it. What emerged was a Power Suit that Lex wears protecting his torso, legs and arms with metallo and based on Brainiac's designs and kitted out with a full arsenal.
Lex makes his way to LexCorp Tower via Helicopter landing on the roof to find Lois and Martha trying to treat Jonathan's wound. Lois is fuming at Lex and attacks him but is quickly knocked back by Mercy. Lex says he wants to make ammends and jumps off of the edge of the building using booster rockets to slow his fall. He then chases after Superman and Brainiac's battle. Mercy wants to follow Lex and fires up the chopper. Lois sadly leaves Martha with Jonathan and climbs in also.
Superman is struggling to overcome all 3 Brainiac's at once as they are all each learning and adapting their bodies. Luthor arrives and announces he is here on humans' behalf. The Brainiacs dismiss him as not a threat and carry on with Superman but Luthor fires a plasma cannon at one of the droids knocking them back. That droid then leaves to deal with Luthor leaving Superman in a 2 on 1 which eases Superman and helps him get the upper hand while Luthor is trying to keep the other Brainiac at bay. Gen. Lane and an army of tanks arrivse and begins firing on the Brainiac's regardless of Superman and Luthor. The Brainiac droid leaves Luthor and goes to attack the tanks. Instead, it creates tendrills and reaches out to all of the tanks and controls them and moves then towards Superman and into position surround him and the other Brainiacs. The 3 Brainiacs then gather and manage to hold Superman and use the tanks to fire on him repeatadly. Luthor jumps on one of the tanks and shoots one of the Brainiacs distracting him so that when the tanks fire again, that Brainiac is hit damaging it before Superman rips it in half and throws it away before tackling the other 2 yelling at Luthor to deal with the tanks. The thrown away Brainiac hits the helicopter and holds on via the door near Lois which is pulling the chopper down. Mercy hands Lois a gun and shoots the door hinges sending the Brainiac downwards. Superman manages to punch one of the Brainiac with a clear punch sending it flying into a distant building giving him time to focus on one Brainiac. He begins to tear into with such speed and force exposing its power source finding a weak spot. It aims for the power source which he punches coursing a massive explosion that sends Superman flying backwards, Luthor and the tanks and the helicopter into a spin causing it to crash which Mercy manages to get down safely. The last remaining Brainiac returns and syncs himself to the US Armed forces and aims everything at Metropolis. Missiles from the surrounding air bases launch aimed at Superman. He tackles Brainiac and flies him into the sky and uses him as a deflecter for all the missiles. After douzens of missiles hit Brainiac, he is stil working and so Superman flies him into space before returning and flying down as fast as he can with Brainiac's body slightly burning up due to the heat before Superman slams his body into the ground just outside Metropolis. Ensuring Brainiac is no longer working, he quickly flies back to LexCorp Tower to see Jonthan is still alive. He attempts to pick him up and take him to the hospital but Jonathan refuses telling him that it is too late and that there would be too many questions and everything Clark has done, everything Superman stands for will be lost and this way he will be at peace and proud of his son. Jonathan then dies in Superman and Martha's arms.
One week later a small funeral service is being held in Smallville where Clark, Martha and a few towns people attend for Jonathan's funeral.
A wake is held at the Kent Farm after the service and when everybody leaves, Martha gives Clark a letter Jonathan wrote before his death. It explains how he came into the possession of the most precious thing in the whole world, baby Kal-El. It gives the details of where his ship is buried and that he is an alien but that he is more of a human than anybody Jonathan has ever known.
Clark digs up the ship which begins to grow brightly from underneath. He turns it over to see a sparkling clean shining crystal which Clark removes from the ship. Angry at thinking his father died for nothing, Clark flies away and heads north into the arctic circle. He lands and says that nobody will ever find the crystal and throws it away and seeing it land before flying away. As he turns to fly away, the ground beneath him begins to shake violently before huge ice columns burst out of the ground in the distance until they form a building of sorts, the Fortress of Solitude..
NOTES:
- The film doesn't start when this sypnosis does. This is just for you to better understand the film and wouldn't follow the screenplay and story. The film actually starts with a robbery by Intergang of one of LexCorp's rivals. This is what John Corben is investigating throughout the film before trying to scoop Lois and Clark.
John Connor: Sorry it is a long read guys but I really got into writing this. I started it at 10:00pm GMT and have now finished it at 02:55am GMT so if that ain't dedication then what is. Hope you liked it and thought it was innovative, fresh and a modern take on the character like I did so enjoy! Comments below would be nice.