Let’s start by setting the scene. As you all know by now, I consider myself a nerd. Does that mean I have read every piece of canon work to all of the DC and Marvel comic characters and I am familiar with everything? Absolutely not. But I have developed a sense of the fictional characters that have been my heroes throughout my life as a child raised on cartoons, comic books, movies, and video games. Therefore, as a disclaimer, this movie review is done by me and not an objective or professional movie reviewer.
Phantom Menace 3D glasses what up
With that being said, I am actually somewhat picky when it comes to “recent” superhero movies… especially the blockbusters. I did not like any of the five recent X-Men movies except First Class. All 3 Spiderman movies were trash. I enjoyed but wasn’t thrilled with Nolan’s Batman series. Superman Returns was far from great. The Incredible Hulk’s were incredibly lacking. Punisher was solid but its sequel wasn’t appealing enough for me to watch it. Iron Man‘s star made the movies enjoyable although I had a lot of issues with all three, especially the second one. Ghost Rider was awful but entertaining, the sequel never even got a chance. Green Lantern was similar. And I actually really enjoyed Captain America, Thor, and The Avengers. Did I forget any? I’m neglecting the older Batman movies, Superman movies, Supergirl, actually… now that I think about I could list a hundred superhero movies so this paragraph ends now and might find itself continued in a new post. (Because Blade, Spawn, and Hellboy will not be ignored)
Essentially, I have not been thrilled with many adaptations. And a lot of it is just a feeling… while a lot is me nitpicking these characters and story lines I know so well. I tried not to do that in Man of Steel and I tried so hard to not enjoy it because the reviews have been so on the fence after I was so ridiculously pumped for it for months and months. They made such a tremendous trailer and it seemed that they dropped the ball on the main project. However, I don’t completely agree after seeing it.
I think that Henry Cavill has the ability of being the Superman we need and deserve. It wasn’t completely evident in this film as Snyder and Nolan applied their darkness that cast over the Dark Knight and Watchmen. I feel that darkness doesn’t belong with Superman compared to the others but I’m being open to their effort. Amy Adams did an admirable job as well. I think the casting and acting all in all was good. All four of Clark’s/Kal’s parents really stole the show in my book, and I was questionable about Kevin Costner ahead of time. Hans Zimmer’s soundtrack, which removed John Williams’ iconic Superman March for the first time in decades, was spectacular and fit the movie perfectly. The sets and CGI for Krypton and Earth were stunning visuals. However, the movie, as a movie and as an interpretation of Superman was a steady downhill in my book.
Let me say that I did enjoy this movie tremendously. It might be my favorite Superman movie yet, even if the original movies are an overall better package. I would hope they make this a trilogy in order to fix some issues that I have, otherwise, this movie will lose points over the years. Clark Kent and Lois Lane first met in 1933 when Action Comics #1 was written. It was released in 1938. For 75 years their romance has been the most prominent in comic books and arguably in popular culture. This movie was seriously lacking that romantic spark and chemistry and it will be up to the team that led this project to develop that further in the sequels. While I don’t mind changing Clark’s background that much (All-American football star vs. the kid that was always bullied, etc.), I do mind the fact that they changed who Superman is so early on in a potential series.
WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS INCOMING
Superman does not kill. He said it himself when he killed the only person he has ever killed in 75 years. At that point, Lois comforted him and he reacted with that iconic line. In this movie, when a similar event occurred, they moved on quickly like it never happened. This is a monumental change in who Superman is. He would not ignore a city being completely destroyed and millions dying in order to continue a punching contest with one person. He does this only to snap his neck in the end? All of Superman’s powers and he simply breaks a neck with a headlock instead of trying to not kill. I hope they aren’t recreating the character completely and are rather plotting a series where it will take many trials and tribulations for Superman to develop his array of powers. I hope they touch back on this point and how it will haunt him forever to some degree. Killing is not okay and if any superhero embodies that… it’s Superman.
But this happens at the end of the movie! In the beginning, Russell Crowe and a beautiful Krypton provide us (or at least me) with a tear-jerking early origin story. The flashbacks that compliment his current endeavors are not accurate to the story completely but they continue to build the man who is Superman. It gives a look into his origin on Earth with the Kents in Smallville, by having memories in his thirty year old form triggered by things that he sees. As the movie progresses, however, it gets worse in every way. The action picks up but mostly to the degree of lots of punching and loud noises. This culminates with Superman yelling a lot as he flies around the world and runs through machines and aliens with his fists. Back to the Zod point I made earlier.
Nevertheless, the beginning was so tremendous that my overall feeling for this movie was positive. Perry White’s antics, Jor-El in the escape scene and Superman’s crash landing provide comic relief. Clark’s moments with his mother provide joy and warmth. And his scenes with Lois have small hints of romance and chemistry. Thus, that feeling could become more positive if they develop their romance, his life at the Daily Planet, the development of his powers, introduce exciting new villains (there are many) and show that Superman thinks that killing is not okay.
This could be a great jumping off point for a trilogy. And while Henry Cavill may never be the Superman that Christopher Reeves was, he could still be the one this reboot deserves. Hungry gives this a double thumbs up, with potential for more (or less) depending on sequels or deleted scenes. (A date with Lois or a grieving scene of his murdering of Zod would make this movie VERY amazingly good for me.) I do very much so want a sequel. Sorry, this was not organized and was just me speaking my mind.
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Your review was correct it seemed that this superman was created to rule over the world in his time as he sees fit. And yes the traditional superman would have took the fight out of the city, in this movie it seemed that a lot of people died needlessly and he was just concerned about Zod. Good film but bad character development.
Yes, the film was not perfect. I enjoyed it also, but felt the trailers promised something far greater than what we saw. It is, though, full of promise and that’s what excites me. I agree with your issue with the killing aspect, though I’m not sure how else he would have stopped Zod. Arguably, that there could be a point for a later story, his sense that he must always find a different solution, a better solution.
Enjoyable review, thank you!
I don’t know much about the comics and I am not really much of a superman fan, but I just recently watched this film, and I do agree that this might be the best Superman movie made. Especially in comparison to the the most recent one that came out in 2006 which was truly awful. It was fairly entertaining, and the cinematography and CGI visuals were so aesthetically alluring! However I am glad you mentioned the neck-snapping scene, because I too had major issues with this but for different reasons. I really did not think the action in this movie was riveting by any means… I felt that the building thrashing scenes between the invincible Kryptonian characters detracted from the believability of the universe the film was trying to set up. It didn’t make sense to me why these characters would continue to fight in this devastating (and seemingly never ending) action sequence when all Superman had to do was snap his neck? It was too much of the same thing with a really anti-clamactic ending… I also felt the writing over all was not very strong and the dynamic between Clark and Lois was really cheezy. While It is my favorite Superman movie, I just don’t think it was a good film. Maybe its because I don’t read the comics and well my understanding of the Superman character is very rudimentary, I just think its a difficult task to establish Superman as a complex character off the bat because he is essentially kind of a flat character to begin with, that in my opinion is why this story never really seems to do very well when translated into films… But a trilogy is a really interesting idea for character development.
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“Man of Steel” is an American superhero movie, which is directed by Zack snyder and produced by Christopher Nolan and the movie is basically based on the DC Comics character Superman.
Thanks for liking my review. Regarding Zod, Superman was in anguish as soon as it was all over. I really think in that specific situation he had no choice. I just hope we get our DC Cinematic Universe.
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Great post, agree 100%.
Thanks!