Aylmer to Zazzoo and Beyond: Man Of Steel

Saturday, June 15, 2013

Man Of Steel - Review

Man Of Steel
(2013 - June 14)
Action | Adventure | Fantasy
2 hr. 23 min.

Rated: PG-13 Intense sequences of Sci-Fi violence, action and destruction, and for some language | Read more
Grade: B+

Director: Zack Snyder
Writers: David S. Goyer (screenplay), David S. Goyer (story), Christopher Nolan (story), Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster (Superman created by)
Stars: Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Michael Shannon, Russell Crowe | See full cast and crew

A young boy learns that he has extraordinary powers and is not of this Earth. As a young man, he journeys to discover where he came from and what he was sent here to do. But the hero in him must emerge if he is to save the world from annihilation and become the symbol of hope for all mankind. -- (C) Warner Bros

This is the best Superman film to date. But it's not perfect. Man Of Steel does suffer from a few distractions such as: its length which is about 20 minuets too long; perhaps a bit too much Lois Lane; and director Zack Snyder's (Sucker Punch (2011), Watchmen (2009), 300 (2006), Dawn of the Dead (2004) succumbing to the folly of the Michael Bay school of filmmaking's 'more is less'.

This Superman is not your old school Superman, it has been creatively reworked, from the sensitive lost boy/man angle all the way to the man of steel's new suit. Gone is the spandex with underwear on the outside, thankfully, as he dons a new high tech suit made from a fabric inspired by chainmail, even to how he flies leading with his fists rather than fingers extended like all of the predecessors. This is pretty much a Superman reboot.

It is obvious that that this film is a prolog to a new Superman franchise. This Man Of Steel is much heavier on the Sci-Fi aspect than any of the previous films. It's story in this film is told basically in three acts.

Act One: The political struggle for power on Krypton within the ruling Council members including Jor-El (Russell Crowe) over how to save their race and planet. The threat of the rebel General Zod (Michael Shannon) who is staging a coup d'état. Meanwhile Jor-El and Lara Lor-Van (Ayelet Zurer) have secretly had a forbidden natural birth of a baby boy, Kal-El (Henry Cavill). They have plans to preserve their doomed race through him by sending him to another planet. Act One ends with the ultimate destruction of the planet Krypton.

Act Two features Kal-El's life on his new planet, earth, and his journey from boyhood to manhood as Clark Kent. Guided by his earthly parents Jonathan and Martha Kent (Kevin Costner and Diane Lane) he struggles to discover himself, who he is, why does he have special powers, where did they come from, is there anywhere he can 'fit in' in this world and how to master and control his special abilities and, of course, Lois Lane's (Amy Adams) discovery of the mysterious man of steel whom she first sets out to expose but soon determines that she must dedicate herself to shielding his true identity.

Is there a little boy, or girl, that hasn't a one time or another donned a cape and fantasized about flying through the skies?

Clark finds his roots in the frozen north.

He also finds there, his father, his new profession and his new suit.

Finally, Act Three: the arrival of the Krypton aliens delivering their ultimatum to earth, surrender Kal-El/Clark or suffer total destruction. This is where the wheels fall off, this is when Snyder looses control of himself and goes way over the top. The showdown between Clark/Kal-El and General Zod goes on way too long and is cluttered with Michael Bay style overextended battles, explosions, endless destruction of Metropolis skyscrapers, and meaningless, inane fistfights. This overindulgence in the third act is what kept me from giving Man of Steel a higher grade.

There are moments in the film that are genuinely moving and poignant mostly thanks to Kevin Costner's presence and Henry Cavill's vulnerability and performance.

Man of Steel benefits from an excellent cast (altough I'm not quite sold on Amy Adams' Lois Lane). Henry Cavill really looks like a Superman and brings a sensitivity to Clark/Kal-El without making him sappy. Kevin Costner and Diane Lane are particularly impressive in their supporting roles and Russell Crowe does a nice job but occasionally sounds a little too 'West End' Shakespearean. Michael Shannon is always good at playing a 'bad guy'. In an attempt to show how tough and 'one of the guys' reporter Lois Lane is they stoop to her reciting a tasteless line, otherwise there is not too much to complain about regarding foul language and that's a plus, knowing that it is pretty safe for the teens and adolescents that it is its target market.

Superman is the most saintly of all the superheroes and this is a creation story similitude, for better or worse featuring lots of parallels, some very subtle some not so much, but Man Of Steel is a different take on the Superman icon. It employs numerous flashbacks to reveal what makes Clark Kent/Kal-El tick.
I liked Man Of Steel but I didn't love it. It is a film that you can take the family to see. There is very little to offend the little one. The major drawback of the film is the overdone violence and destrucion in the seemingly endless final showdown.