Man of Steel Movie Review

Man of Steel

I will be writing my personal thoughts and review of the Man of Steel movie for this entry. But a little disclaimer should be put in order. I'm a huge Superman fan. I own a plethora of Superman merchandise and a wealthy amount of comic books and Graphic Novels (to my estimation, I own 75%-80% of all the Modern Age Superman stories released in comic book form). I own  all of the Superman Movies released on DVD. I have seen all of the Live action TV series ranging from Superboy, Lois and Clark, to Smallville. I have also seen all of the Superman Animated movies or series. In short, I'm a Superman geek/fanboy. And I'm reviewing the movie as a Superman geek. But mind you, geeks/fanboys are the hardest to please when it comes to Superhero movies (though I'm not saying that the quality of the movie will be less appreciated if you are not a Superman geek). You don't shoehorn fanboys as bias when they talk about the character that they are a fan of because they can spew venom just like what they did to that Superman Returns movie. With that being said, Man of Steel is easily the best SUPERHERO movie ever!

Henry Cavill as Superman

Now I'm saying SUPERHERO movie and not COMIC BOOK movie because this will be a major point of discussion for this entry. So far, film critics have panned the movie simply because they were looking for the humor part of the movie. They were expecting Man of Steel to feel like a Marvel movie (since Marvel seems to be the standard for Comic Book movies nowadays). Thus, they were disappointed when Man of Steel strained away from the usual Comic Book movie formula of giving us some humor, lighthearted moments, and the lack of Clark-Lois sexual tensions. Simply put, they were never able to move on from Christopher Reeve's 1978 portrayal of Superman. Now honestly I really love Christopher Reeve's Superman, but his Superman is outdated. The world needs an update of Superman in the big screen for this current generation. And I believe Man of Steel did not disappoint. You don't put Man of Steel in the context of a Comic Book movie, because it isn't. If The Dark Knight trilogy is not your typical Comic book movie as critics would prefer to call it a crime drama/Superhero movie, Man of Steel can be best described as a Sci-Fi disaster/Superhero movie. Marvel's direction leans heavily towards the cartoony and childish, and I credit them for being great at creating COMIC BOOK movies. DC is leaning more on the serious side of things. And this is why the so called critics are panning the movie. It's actually a bad thing when film critics pigeonhole Comic Book movies as something that should lack seriousness. I actually feel sorry for them if they choose to view Comic Book movies as movies that are just for kids. Something like the long standing belief that comic books are just for kids.

Russell Crowe as Jor El

The movie opens on the Planet Krypton at the height of political tensions between Jor El (played by Russel Crowe), Superman's/Kal El's biological father, and the Kryptonian Council. General Zod (played by Michael Shannon) served as the wild card as he is bent on preserving the Kryptonian race by overpowering the council and seeking to create a New Krypton. The current Krypton is dying due to the Kryptonians' abuse of the planet's natural resources. Jor El is hell bent on saving his son by sending him to Earth, a planet he carefully chose knowing that this planet will make his son God like in strength and abilities. General Zod meanwhile initiates a coup, waging war against the council but was eventually captured (but not before killing Jor El in their fight for the Kryptonian gene codex that could rebuild a New Krypton) and was sent on exile. This opening sequence gives us Krypton's mythology that is never before seen on the big screen or the small screen. From the get go, the opening scene and sequence are filled with dazzling imagery of a Kryptonian planet that is more alive compared to the icy cold Krypton of the first Superman movie back in 1978. I was actually on the edge of my seat from the beginning til the end because right from the get go, we are presented action packed scenes that are worthy for a summer blockbuster movie. Alas, film critics are complaining that this movie is too loud and noisy because of the over extended action scenes.

Jor El v.s. General Zod

Superman's first flight

But mind you, those were not the best part of the movie. Personally, as a Superman fan, I have always looked at the heart of the stories that Superman is in. I am apalled that the film critics failed to see the heart and soul of the movie; Clark Kent/Superman's discovery of himself after all of the values imbued in him by his adoptive parents Jonathan (played by Kevin Costner) and Martha Kent (played by Diane Lane) was finally realized. For me that was the best part. There were a lot of quotes said by both his biological and adoptive parents that are very good inspirational sound bites that one can use in relating to Clark and his internal struggle to mean something in this world. Following the Krypton scenes, we are introduced to a Clark Kent (played by Henry Cavill) whose existence felt like a ghost as he conceals his identity every time he does some superhuman feats while saving those who are in trouble. Each one of us have this need to be relevant in this world, we can see our selves in Clark's struggles. Flashbacks of Clark's childhood and all of the ugly and terrifying things that he had to deal at such a young age are interspersed in between his present struggle. Clark only began to embrace his destiny when he finally was able to meet and talk to his biological father Jor El, thru a key that Jor El sent along with Clark to Earth, which was activated thru the Kryptonian ship that crash landed on Earth years ago. This is where we get a first glimpse of Superman in his full costume regalia. Henry Cavill is the perfect Superman for this current generation as his appearance makes you actually believe that this is how Superman should look like in the world today. His wandering Clark Kent (who was most of the time topless) gives you this strongman persona with his buff and chiseled body complete with an unshaved beard. As he emerges from the ship wearing the Superman costume, you could actually feel his majestic presence. Well he doesn't wear the familiar spitcurl that Superman is known for. But his strong jaws makes him look Superman enough with or without the hairstyle that Superman is more familiar with.

General Zod and Faora

Michael Shannon as General Zod

Just as Superman appears and all of the notions that this is a comic book movie, the movie takes a surprising turn as we are treated to an impending alien invasion through General Zod's awakening and discovery of Earth as the planet where Jor El sent his son. He issues a threat to the world to surrender Kal El within 24 hours or else suffer the consequences. Now this isn't like this was never done before in a comic book movie. Marvel's Thor briefly touched upon this, and their Avengers movie used this to the hilt with Loki's Chitauri invasion. But those were never as menacing as General Zod's threat. Aliens just don't fall out of the sky. At least there should be an effort first to communicate. And that is what General Zod did. The accompanying musical score by Hans Zimmer on the Kryptonian invasions also complimented well with the visuals that we've seen. The music gives the visuals a more terrifying feel.  This gives the movie a certain realism that we have not seen in previous comic book movies dealing with aliens. It doesn't help that Shannon's acting as General Zod was so superb and menacing that you'd actually think that this is what would happen if ever aliens would invade Earth. Faora (played by Antje Traue) also has this quiet but chilling demeanor as Zod's second in command. Their motivations are quite simple really, to use Earth as the New Krypton. It's a noble motivation, if only not at the expense of an entire human race. As I said before, this is not your typical Comic Book movie. From hereon after, the movie no longer feels like a comic book as the force of the full scale Alien invasion felt like this was a disaster movie. This began to turn into a sci-fi movie as all of the Kryptonian powers and genetics are explored. It's not like they possess these powers just because they have to, or they have these weaknesses just because they need to have it. Scientific explanations are given. This is not for those who prefer to watch brainless action movies.

General Zod in his Kryptonian armor

Antje Traue as Faora

Superman deals with trust issues as he contemplates on surrendering to the human authorities or just offer himself to Zod straight on despite the General's history with Krypton. Good thing that he had Lois Lane's (played by Amy Adams) attention in their initial meeting. It took a leap of faith to trust the humans and allowed himself to be delivered to Zod (who also took Lois along with Superman). This trust however was short lived as Zod reneged on his promise of leaving Earth alone once Superman is surrendered to him. Instead, he initiates an attack to reshape Earth and turn it into a New Krypton. Of course Superman must defend the planet that has adopted him and a full scale battle against the invading Kryptonian invasion begins.The military included Superman as one of their targets but a few heroic acts later, the military became convinced that Superman was on their side. Lois is given a more proactive role in this film as she gets involved in fighting off the Kryptonians during her escape. We've never seen Lois in the big screen with this type of role as the previous Loises (Margot Kidder and Kate Bosworth) were more the damsel in distress type. I hate it that the film critics were looking for a deeper exploration of the Lois and Clark dynamics when in fact this movie's Lois is very much faithful to the Lois Lane of the comic books. There is no need to rush the Lois and Clark relationship as this is an origin movie. The romance is still budding and we are given short glimpses of that in this film.

Superman surrenders to General Zod

Faora v.s. Superman

What follows is an all out slam bang action that the critics deemed as loud and noisy. Well if they find it too loud and noisy, I find it to be just apt. What do you expect to see when two god like super powered individuals clash? Small dents on the buildings and the structures surrounding them? Of course explosions aplenty and ground shaking and what nots are to be expected. For fans who are itching to see Superman use his powers in a fight, this is the movie that we have been waiting for. The fight scenes in this movie makes the fight scenes in the Superman II movie between Superman and Zod look cartoonish. Fists were flying at super speed. Heat vision was burning all over the place. Super speed were used that I can barely contain the excitement every time I see the bursts of speed. These were not too loud for me. They were just enough. Superman also did not have the monopoly of the fight scenes. As I have mentioned before, this movie also felt like a disaster movie, an alien invasion movie. We see military troops battling the Kryptonian invasion with their futile weapons. Exploding buildings, people running for their lives, people saving other people (Perry White played by Laurence Fishburne saving his staff), Superman isn't the only hero here, even the ordinary everyman gets to be a hero. Something like how disaster movies always have this human element in them where the humans rise above from their flaws and turn heroic. Lois gets to be a hero too. Along with Col. Hardy and Emil Hamilton, they finally put an end to the Kryptonian invasion wtih the help of Jor El's guiding spirit by sending these Kryptonian invaders to the Phantom Zone.

Superman v.s. General Zod

The controversial climactic battle

The climactic battle between Superman and Zod however would be the most controversial scene in the movie. In a fit of rage and left with no other choice to do, Superman snaps Zod's neck as he stops Zod from burning a cornered family with his heat vision. As Zod dies, we can see Superman's raw emotion and anger, perhaps angry at himself for breaking his own moral code of not to kill. I'm sure a lot of Superman fans would be buzzing at this scene, and this certainly would be up for debate. But again this is not like this never happened before. In the comic books, Superman killed Zod in one of the story arcs. But that killing resulted to tough consequences as Superman's psyche was badly damaged that he had to exile himself from Earth out of his fear that he might go out of control again. Superman always had this moral code of not killing. Man of Steel broke that moral code to a wider audience. It's actually amazing that the film critics never mentioned this as one of the flaws of the film. Surely it means that they are clueless about how Superman should be and was only fixated on the lighter moments of who Superman should be. Some critics describes this movie as dark and edgy. But the movie was dark and edgy for a reason. It's not like they chose to make it look dark and edgy just because that's the popular thing to do. Superman needs to be brought back to the reality of the dark and edgy world that we are living in today, if only for us to find the beauty of the things that we forgot or surrendered in favor of a harsher world. If Christopher Reeve's Superman the movie made us believe that a man could fly, Man of Steel makes us believe in hope. Simply put Man of Steel is the greatest Superhero movie ever.     

Superman/Clark Kent applies for the Daily Planet

The movie actually is not without some flaws. There were a couple I could point out. Like I sometimes felt dizzy with Snyder's choice of shooting some scenes with a handheld camera. The screen had those shaky shots because of that. Also, I'm not quite sold with Amy Adams as Lois Lane only because her voice was soft and cute (not to mention the pointy nose that really annoyed me). But those are just the very minor qualms that I had with the movie. Overall, Man of Steel is a fantastic movie to restart the Superman franchise and kick start a larger DC Cinematic Universe. Feels great to be a DC fan. If you still haven't seen the movie, go watch it. I already saw it twice. And is contemplating a third round before the movie bows out in the cinemas.