MAN OF STEEL Movie Review. Late In The Game But Still Special

MAN OF STEEL Movie Review. Late In The Game But Still Special

In 2006, Superman returns to the big screen in the movie appropriately titled, "Superman Returns". And...no one cared. Movie quality aside, the general public has spoken - Grampa Superman is just not cool anymore - he's stuck in time while the world moves on to be charmed by the Dark Knight's raspy voice. Then Christopher Nolan (and others) comes along determined to prove us wrong. Fast forward to 2013, a trailer for a new Superman movie called Man of Steel is released then suddenly Superman is all the rage again. The hip kids with their Avengers T-shirts and Bane imitations stopped for a moment to lo-and-behold. Did it live up to the hype? Let me review.

Review Opinion
By dbatman - Jun 30, 2013 02:06 AM EST
Filed Under: Man of Steel




Remember when The Dark Knight came out and we were all worried that every movie that comes after is gonna be all dark and gritty? Ladies and gentlemen witness the ultimate casualty; Man of Steel, from the makers of The Dark Knight themselves. I'm all for realism, but making it somber and humorless doesn't equal realistic. Lessening the color tone doesn't automatically equal dark. The original Superman movie was dark at times with topics of inevitable death. Point is you can introduce drama even when the tone is upbeat. The muted tone just doesn't fit, so when Superman gets his costume for the first time it's a contradiction. This is the costume that’s supposed to represent Superman? This is supposed to represent hope? He is supposed to inspire people with a dark, muted colored suit that looks unwelcoming and even somewhat intimidating?

Not that Clark's journey to being Superman would have been satisfying otherwise, because for a movie about choice, Clark doesn't make much for his own. When he becomes Superman it doesn't feel like a big understanding of what he needs to do, it's more like he's being led by his two dads with vague talks of destiny hammered in on him so he just goes along with it knowing nothing else to do with his life. There is no character development. We're treated to flashbacks of Clark's childhood but with paper-thin narrative of just snapshots of big events. Where were the nuances, the small moments of family bonding that make the big events matter? Sure we might see some glimpses, but then the flashback stops, hindering the momentum.

That being said, Superman is proven to be written closely to the comics when it's time to show himself to the world and I like the portrayal. He is a sincere guy with an optimistic sense of confidence with how humanity will eventually view him and with honesty to the point that he is open enough about his age and homeland. It's as if Superman is a real persona and not a made up personality. Henry Cavill plays the part expertly; even at the beginning with little dialogue, he owns it. And despite my opinions with the costume, he fits it like a glove. I just hope that we got more into the character's mind more than the movie allows. Take for example when Superman kills Zod; it’s a potent and shocking scene, and I love that Superman is presented with a no win scenario of either kill the villain or save human lives but never in the movie has it been established that Superman doesn’t kill.


"Oh,the memes you'll have in-store for me"

Lois Lane isn’t any better either. Granted this is the first time I ever believed that she is a Pulitzer-prize winning reporter, with Amy Adams in the role, and I love the new dynamic of her knowing Clark's secret, but they made the character indistinguishable from any other “strong female character” that’s been going round these days. She might as well be called Rachel Dawes and it wouldn’t be much of a stretch. Where’s the spunk? Where’s the hard-ass attitude that makes her so unique and endearing? She is constantly being shoehorned into places where she is a redundancy, as if she is only in this film by duty of love interest.

In fact, all the cast are tailor-made but wasted with the material, thus no one is exceptional. Laurence Fishburne is a great casting choice for Perry White, but all he's used for is for us to barely care when he gets endangered. Jonathan Kent played by Kevin Costner is just terrible. It is the first time I ever hated Jonathan Kent and the only person I hate in the movie. Almost everything he says has questionable moral value, yet he is played up as a great man full of wisdom who can do no wrong. He doesn't even feel like a real person. Clark has lived a terrible life because of his powers-- but why does it feel like it was Jonathan's confusing teachings that did that? I liked Martha Kent though as a loving mother, played by Diane Lane.

The military human characters are fun especially Colonel Hardy played by Christopher Meloni. Stereotypes? Yes, but portrayed as brave people in the face of over whelming danger and are very likeable.

Most of all, I like the Kryptonian characters. I like Russel Crowe as Jor-El who plays him with gravitas. I'm a little confused on his overall plans for Clark, but I can go along with it fine. I have fun with ghost Jor-El and his powers- it's one of the few instances where the film doesn't take itself seriously and have fun.

The villain, General Zod is great. Sympathetic in his cause with admirable determination to do what is necessary: You feel the drive; every bit of anger, every bit of desperation for his people. And in the end, you feel the lost of purpose and the anger that comes with it. Say what you will on how over the top Michael Shannon plays the role, he did it right when the character demands it.

And then there's Faora, played by Antje Traue. I love you, girl, you stole the show. You sold every dialog and fight scene with your cold-eyed delivery. Bobba Fett, eat your heart out.

Now, onto the action scenes, like the rest of the movie it’s a mixed bag. On one hand I was in “WOW” while watching it unfold. It’s the big Superman fights we’ve been waiting for since CGI have been invented. On the other hand, damn is it long! And when one ends, it goes to the next big action scene immediately. They don’t bleed, they don’t sweat; no injuries, no ripped clothes; it just…keeps…on…going. When we said we want superman to punch something, we didn’t mean over and over and over again. Worse, for a guy who has been thought all his life to not to use his powers carelessly, he has surprisingly little awareness of his surroundings , as if the cool "explosions" is more important than what the character stands for. How can Superman be such a great example if he encourages fights in small towns and big cities? Spears bad guys to gas stations and fast food restaurants? Punches them through building after building? And again, we don’t get to see inside his head; there is no internal conflict to justify any of it, until, coincidently, it’s time to kill Zod. With all his altruism he probably killed thousands.


"Well, they helped too"

I have never seen a comic book movie with such polarizing reactions as The Man Of Steel before. It’s either you love it, like it, okay with it, or hate it. It’s a good time to make friends. And I understand all subgroups’ plight; for every bad, there are still redeeming stuff in the movie to focus on. But in my opinion, while it pains me to say it as a Superman fan: it’s a very flawed movie that is just okay. But I didn’t watch a 250 million dollar Superman movie made by, Christopher Nolan, Zack Snyder, and David Goyer with a trailer that promises a deep character study in a vain of a Terrence Malick picture, to be just okay.
6/10
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koytoys
koytoys - 6/30/2013, 4:46 AM
Yes! you brought all my words to writing! great review! Just exactly how i feel.
DruDox19
DruDox19 - 6/30/2013, 5:47 AM
All i will say is that MOS did what it did IMO made the general audinece care about Superman no one gave a shit about Returns you can see it with the audience scores. Anyway i understand how you feel but i came into to the film expecting superman not Nolan character study superman is not a psychological character hes a philosophical character just has WW is a political character.

Thats the problem Marvel at least understands there characters arent character studies DC has a DC fan and Marvel fan and my love for Superman and WW and Flash, GL and Captain Marvel and Thor and marvels cosmic material that what it is. In a way nolan has brainwashed alot of people into thinking this with every DC character which is bullshit. Flash isnt a [frick]ing character study, GL isnt etither. Superman can be deep if explored in the vein of Science Fiction which i give MOS credit for cause that wis what MOS did it understood superman is a sci fi character. Donner films to me where Fantasy.

I like MOS cause ii cause i will face reality fanboys like us some not all are bashing the film but the reality speaks for itself more people gave a shit about MOS superman then Returns and that is saying something. I come to except with Superman no one will get him right his Franchise is the one in DC that they cant get right and IMO MOS at least came close but lets see where MOS2 will take it.

Dont know why Steven Spielberg was rejected for Superman film, in all honesty Superman is a sci fi character and i am glad Zack noticed this. I will not blame Zack for the film but Goyer needs to go or just get a new writer. Superman isnt a hard character to pull off and MOS did a good job doing that yes at times i did feel yep Zack did it again got to wait for the directors cut lol for the full film cause i know thats what he did to me MOS was going to be a 4 hour film.

Anyways i am just bothered when people say i expected a terrence malick superman WTF superman isnt that type of character nor is batman either. Nolan made batman a character study for Batman Begins which that film i have issues with has well. Also this retarded Post Dark Knight thinking of every hero has to be a character study is really really starting to piss me off. If WB does JLA they have to understand the DC Universe not al [frick]ing heros in that universe is a character study and i hope MOS 2 Zack can have fun with Superman instead of trying to make another Nolan Batman film that era has passed.
dbatman
dbatman - 6/30/2013, 8:05 AM
@DruDox19 OK fine I agree; I don't need a Terrence Malick movie. I don't need to go deep. ANd I do like that it's a science fiction movie. But I still want character consistency and for them to do something except exposition and not be bland. I dont need to study Indiana Jones to like and understand him, I dont need to study James bond, Nor the Tim Burton Batman. They are awesome characters without it. Superman in this movie though isn't In fact I dont need the origin part in Sperman The Movie to like superman at all in that movie. So there, just a good character would do.
cell762
cell762 - 6/30/2013, 10:03 AM
I agree with the costume it should have more bright colors.
xfactor
xfactor - 6/30/2013, 10:31 AM
why are we still nitpicking the action sequences? why are they considered " a bit much"? godzilla destroys tokyo and is revered as the hero. No one argues that, and no matter how much you cut it, the old films are generally dull and dated. time to move on. i'm getting tired of so called "superman fans" trying to make a valid point about his character. Let's get one thing straight, there is no need to go deep into superman's origins the way richard donner did, and i don't want oversaturated pointless scenes of which clark and lois gaze lovingly into each other's eyes. Man of steel proved superman can survive the test of time and still keep the CORE character intact, regardless of how you and every person feel about the film, henry did an astounding job and i cannot wait for the sequel. You want in depth? Take a good hard at superman returns, which was just a huge disappointment. So let's stop complaining and enjoy the show.
dbatman
dbatman - 6/30/2013, 8:56 PM
@xfactor. Are you saying the only result you can get in an in-depth superman movie is something akin to Superman Returns? But really I can go without going too deep into the character all i want is for him to be a good character and not be bland. The action is over the top when it seems that the explosions are just there to make the movie look cool. He crashed a ship in the middle of the city. He didn't lift it up or find another way first, he bashed through it then destroys it. Superman is protecting people, sure, but his so careless. He stopped Zod from threatening his mom by spearing him through a power plant then into a gas station, which also brings a fight in a small fight. The corn in those wide peopleless cornfields must be so important, I guess. Then when the city is already destroyed and everything is over, he barely tries to reason with Zod when his starting a fight again. He was practically saying "Bring it on". And Godzilla was a villain in the first movie, when he destroyed tokyo.
xfactor
xfactor - 7/2/2013, 7:40 PM
@dbatman, no, my statement is to simply imply that we leave those original films alone. Times have changed and so have our heroes. Why are we so difficult to grasp the changes that have now been placed on superman? And not just in the film, but in the comics as well. I love, LOVE superman. BUT, i love the character well enough to want to see him SURVIVE. C'mon dbatman, we've gracefully embraced the darkness and somewhat disturbing nature of the dark knight with warm welcome arms. Now that kal el has endured that change, why can't we show him the same in return? To be honest, superman is a powerhouse character, so with a hero as strong as he is, i EXPECT levels of destruction akin to tokyo in the godzilla movies. Thats the reality of this here. As a whole, Man of steel to me was fantastic, amazing and everything i've wanted in a looonnng time for a superman film. Not the same rehashed crap from previous films. It doesn't fit nor does it belong in today's world. That's just me. And it looks like the general audience love it as well.
xfactor
xfactor - 7/2/2013, 7:43 PM
Not saying that superman should be a douche and avoid being the caring individual that he is, but i want to see a more realistic take on not just him but the battles he must endure. And ppl getting hurt are always going to play a part in these scenarios, honestly. This was a masterpiece to me, and i can't wait to see what they're going to do with clark in the sequel. Living the civilian life in the daily planet, sorry i'm @ work but i gotta go.
dbatman
dbatman - 7/2/2013, 10:30 PM
I'm okay with a lot of people dying in this movie. He can't save everyone. But can he be more realistically careful? And can we see whats on his mind while everyone is dying all around him?
dbatman
dbatman - 7/7/2013, 9:51 PM
Good one Mr. Jedi. I'm gonna say that more often hahaha.
Tromills
Tromills - 8/23/2013, 5:50 AM
I personally hated every second of this movie. First movie since Star Trek Nemesis that I walked out of. This is my own opinion and in no way am I putting anybody elses review or love of the movies down, but I will give it 1 out of 10
Perfect way to make CGI in a movie more important than the story itself.
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