I watched Man Of Steel yesterday after avidly following the RT ratings, which had the effect of lowering my previously sky-high expectations for Man Of Steel. By the time the credits started to roll, I was left with a conflicted series of emotions.
First of all, let me just state that MOS has nothing on the Dark Knight trilogy. It was a solid but underwhelming film. I must admit to being slightly disappointed with the final product, especially after watching those awesome trailers.
It's hard to pinpoint exactly what prevents MOS from being an amazing film - but if someone had to put a gun to my head, it's the lack of charm, humour, and most importantly, that sense of hope which is supposed to be the essence of what Superman represents. Nolan's Batman films employed a similar serious, no-nonsense tone which is fine when the protagonist is the dark, brooding Bruce Wayne - but completely inappropriate for the completely different Clark Kent.
In addition, something which soured the taste in my mouth by the time the credits rolled were the performances of Pa Kent and Lois Lane.
The former kept insisting that Clark hide his powers, and controversially, suggested he should have left those children in the bus to die. And I have not mentioned the fact that he prevented Clark from rescuing him from the tornado, which I think went a step too far. The Superman I know would have disobeyed his adopted father in his desperation to save his life.
Amy Adams's portrayal of Lois was, in one word, meh. I unfortunately have to agree with those critics that stated that Superman and Lois shared no chemistry. When they kissed, it seemed very unrealistic and I could not suppress a snort of disbelief.
And as for THAT ending, I found it hard to stomach. Sure, Superman might have had no choice, but it was completely out of character nonetheless
Now on to the positives. In terms of action, Man Of Steel could not have been better, and Henry Cavill's Clark Kent was superb, realistically conveying Superman's multitude of emotions and mannerisms. The modesty, likeability and strong sense of morality were all there, but I do feel he could have lightened up a bit - I fail to recall one stab by the character at humour. Even Christian Bale's Batman cracked some dry jokes. And Clark Kent is supposed to be a much more jovial personality than Bruce Wayne.
I also loved Russell Crowe's strong and passionate performance as Jor-El, and Diane Lane's Ma Kent. Laurence Fishbourne was also commendable as Perry White, if a tad one-dimensional.
Overall, I felt that Man Of Steel could have benefited from some better character development, as some of them could have been better fleshed out. In short, Man Of Steel is a good movie, just not a great one. Here's hoping the film will make a ton of money at the box office and spawn a better sequel.
Thanks for reading and I hoped you enjoyed my review. This is my first article on CBM so go easy on me :)