I must have always been a comic book fan even before really picking up comic books, mostly because of a film that has been in my life for as long as I can remember. Superman starring Christopher Reeves was a film that truly lived up to its tag line, you really did believe a man could fly. Everything about it, from the superb casting to the epic score by composer extraordinaire John Williams, was executed so well it remained the definitive comic book movie for decades. There have been many attempts to bring the big blue Boy Scout to the modern cinema screen with varying degrees of success. Finally lifting off, Man of steel had a lot to live up to.
Behind the camera, and arguable the driving force, is Christopher Nolan as producer. The man responsible for The Dark Knight Trilogy was always going to be a natural choice for Warner Bros. Given its huge success, to breathe life into Superman. Couple that with another Dark Knight alumni David Goyer as scriptwriter and you should really be on to a winner already. Add to the already impressive mix a veteran Comic Book movie director, one who arguable pulled off the impossible by adapting WATCHMEN, Zack Snyder and you have yourself a fighting chance to make the last son of Krypton wow audiences all over again.
The choice to start from scratch as to carry on from what Richard Donner and Christopher Reeves was going to be pretty self-explanatory. Superman Returns was more a love letter to the golden age of Supes then a fresh film that left many underwhelmed, though I still do think it is underrated. So the story for Man of steel is again the Origin story. Doomed Krypton, a society which has caused its own destruction by mining its planets core for natural resources, is weeks from explosion. Jor-el, played as a warrior scientist by Russell Crow, decides the planet's only hope is to send his infant son away so the kryptonian race may still survive. The looming Destruction has spawned a civil war, one where a superb Michael Shannon as General Zod tries a Coup. This failed attempt allows his survival of the planets destruct with banishment to the Phantom zone.
So far it all is very similar to those that have come before, and with that there are some very large and iconic shoes to fill. Russell Crow especially had to deal with a huge shadow, as it was Marlon Brando who last took up the mantle of Kal El's father, so a departure from the stoic scientist to a more robust and physically capable Jor El was a refreshing take on the character.
When we are finally introduced to adult Kal El, this Clark is a nomad. Physically Henry Cavill couldn’t be more different from Reeve and Brandon Routh who both were strong in build but thin. Cavil is a man mountain, he looks as if he would be more powerful then a locomotive. He travels from place to place, forced to move on when ever he has to reveal his abilities, one of many elements lifted from a brilliant graphic novel Superman: Birthright.
So with a new version of the origin really taking shape we are finally given what many thought was missing from all other Superman films in the past. Action! Mind-blowing super powered fisticuffs! As interesting as it was to see Lex Luther out think our hero and have him resort to overpowering him in some where there was no real danger for the man of steel until Kryptonite get pulled out, a wonderful simple way to allow mere mortals to stand toe to toe against the next best thing to a living god. So having a fleet of military trained fellow demi-gods, which will not only be able to match Superman’s strength but be superior due to training, we are given some genuine peril! And if there is one thing Snyder can deliver its action set pieces. Watching it the first time I remember smiling from ear to ear and gasping with the heavy hits.
The problem then arises, that although the action far exceeds anything that has come before in a Superman film it could border on an obscene amount of action and destruction. Finally we are given the adversary that can go toe to toe with our kryptonian, something that many complained was missing from previous installments, and now that its here and buildings fall in the wake of super-punches and heat vision, there are complaints there is too much. Audiences are nothing if not fickle!
Personally as long as the mass destruction and collateral damage are in some way addressed in the inevitable follow up I am ok with what happened. It is something that can shape the kind of guardian Superman has always meant to be, one who does not want the innocent to suffer. Sadly this area of his character is another aspect that has polarized the world. We get a taste of his need to save everyone in the finale where innocent bystanders are inches from being heat visioned in half by Zod, and left with no alternative the golden Superman rules is broken. He kills. Ultimately the performance does make me believe this was not just a means to an end but genuinely what he thinks is the only option available to him, and again I am ok with this as long as it is addressed in the sequel.
I think the reason I have struggled all month to finish this article is that I am still, despite multiple viewings, conflicted about the film. It delivers for me the action and essence of what Superman is but at the same time makes a couple of missteps along the way. It has teased of a wider DC universe subtly, and with the recent Comic-Con announcement that the follow up will be Superman vs Batman, set some of the groundwork for what could end up being the greatest team up movie ever.
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