We’ve all heard the critics rather unpleasing thoughts and seen the dire score on Rotten Tomatoes of 63% on the much hyped Warner Brother’s fanboy galore Man of Steel, the most recent big screen adaptation of the famous DC (Detective Comics) comic book superhero Superman-maybe the most famous of them all! Most views seem to have been mixed and disappointing so far due to it being one of the most anticipated films this summer however while some Supes Fans love it, many so far seem to find the film nowhere as good as we have had very much predicted. So let’s go take an in-depth look at my personal view on the long awaited Man of Steel.
We’ll start at the beginning; and that is that Man of Steel IS a fantastic film and is definitely great fun and a pleasure to Superman return to our Cinema‘s and see his origin story unfold as we get to visit and spend a fair bit of time of the visually stunning Krypton, and not fail abysmally; not mentioning anyone in particular…*cough* Superman Returns! *cough*, but similar to the likes of The Amazing Spider-Man and other CBM’s which never just quite made the mark, is unfortunately flawed to my displeasure.
Like so many, maybe our hopes were just too high for this film to simply blow our mind’s away? Nothing seemed wrong about it. The cast looked superb from well known actor Russell Crowe (Robin Hood, Gladiator) to newcomer Tudors star Henry Cavill. Zack Synder may not have impressed us recently with action chick flick Sucker Punch but does have some memorable achievements such Comic Book Movie Watchmen and with the likes of Christopher Nolan by his side (The Dark Knight Trilogy, Inception) also recent director of well known and favoured DC superhero Batman, everything seemed set up for the perfect superhero movie, so what went wrong?
One of the few yet unmistakeable flaws of the film was the script and editing , while we get to see some remarkable and memorable flashback scenes with young Kal-El A.K.A Clark Kent in his child and teenage days with Actor Kevin Costner, who delivered superbly in the film and will be dealt with later on, I felt like I had only dipped into parts of what could’ve been a tremendous lengthy scene, almost like someone have gave me a delicious chocolate cake but yet told was only allowed to eat a quarter of the dessert and ultimately felt like I wanted-needed- more of it. Character development was fairly weak for most part as Ma Kent certainly didn’t feel relatable until the second half of the film where she got her small yet well used time to shine. Although in the film there is definitely more sense of where Superman gets his moral’s from and how he becomes the man he is today as the film sees him throughout the first half as a lost man trying to find his place in the world, more time could’ve been used wisely to really go deep with the theme and delve and explore the character of not only Superman but Clark Kent; which I found was actually raised for the first time in movie adaptation of the character as Clark Kent and Superman and two very different people who both have similar yet very different goals, and is bound to be explored through the second film. Also while the flashbacks into the Man of Steel’s early life were presented beautifully the pacing at times felt a little off and needed a bit more than merely adapting to. Sometimes it felt as though it had been split into chunks of action, flashback, action, flashback and didn’t feel as smoothly paced as it should’ve done and was mainly down to the poor editing of the film.
A part of me felt like something was missing in the film which should’ve gave it that 5 star review kick, the secret ingredient which was forgotten in the process of making of the film, as touched on before, on most part the problem which made the difference in Man of Steel being a great film and a magnificent Film is not what they did do, but what they didn’t do.
Man of Steel is definitely one of my favourite films I’ve seen this year and certainly the best on screen adaptation of Superman so far as mentioned before were just some of the few flaws which just made the difference in my overall view and preference on the film, but Man of Steel has plenty of pros and brilliant moments to talk about.
One of the best parts about Man of Steel was the visuals and superb execution of the film’s groundbreaking fight sequences. Never before have we had a full on in your face Superman action before as we finally see him smash, blast and zap his way through metropolis against the mighty kryptonian General Zod. It was a delight to watch the man of steel take flight throughout metropolis and see the amazing VFX work it’s magic as they fought through the wreckage of metropolis. The climatic fight between Kal-El and Zod is definitely one of the best action sequences in film history and one to triumph the likes of Avenger’s Assemble New York’s battle though maybe could’ve been toned down in exchange for more character time, but still was an awe to watch.
The cast never failed through the entire film and it’s safe to say that Henry Cavill is perfect for the role of superman and will most definitely be on the lookout by directors for their next big blockbuster. He embodies the role of superman with his physique and manner precisely how Superman would’ve done in a modern day society and looked stunning as the brand new suit is a great representation of how it would’ve fitted in to the life Krypton with it’s chain mail like appearance with the Kryptonian “S” symbol of hope and isn’t just some flimsy costume put together with assortments of cloth. Maybe one of the best stars of the film was Kevin Costner as Jonathan Kent, Kal-El’s human adopted father. The man did a brilliant and stunning job of bringing out one of the most emotional scenes in the film and giving it a humongous amount of impact and power. He put’s you in the position of what it truly would be like to be the parent of a super powered boy and how he has to deal with that as a responsible parent. Amy Adams served her role as Lois Lane and proved not just to be damsel in distress love interest.The take on the character was a new and brave decision as this Lois is more feisty, independent and overall a more interesting character which makes stops her from being two dimensional. Michael Shannon served as a great Zod and clearly displayed his battle to keep his race alive although I felt that throughout the script restricted him and many others from bringing out the best of their ability. Others included Russell Crowe, who once again played an another farther figure in them film and although didn’t exactly give a breakthrough performance served his role well. Another great aspect was the film was a deep look at Krypton, it’s culture and inhabitants and yet again the visual department succeeded in making what seemed like a real alien planet diverse and stunning. It was just nice to actually see the world of Krypton before its destruction and get to know the life behind it; from the robes of the high council to the stunning and magical creatures which soared the skies as Zack Synder certainly didn’t back down with the Sci-Fi aspect of the film and proved to be one of the best decisions in the movie.
In conclusion Man of Steel was a fantastic take on a brilliant comic book character which unfortunately suffered to some of the flaws and lowered the performance of the entire film. However the film shone in its acting abilities , the magnificent action and a brand new look at the character of Kal-El. The film finishes set up for Man of Steel where it can explore different concepts and pick up from it’s mistakes and lead into a larger DC cinematic universe.
8.5/10
-Henry Bulmer