REVIEW: Man of Steel

PLOT: A young itinerant worker is forced to confront his secret extraterrestrial heritage when Earth is invaded by members of his race.

REVIEW: So there are a few things that have to be told first before you can try to understand my review for Man of Steel. Everything about this movie, I have had a strong dislike for within the last 5 years or so. The director, the character, the shape of DC film outside of the recently Bat trilogy, and other things are some of the aspects I just wasn't excited to see with this movie. However, I'm a very big fan of comic books and though I don't read much Superman, it still interests me enough to see a movie that may come along once (or thrice) in my lifetime, depending on box office numbers and the desire for another re-imagining in the future. There have been a lot of mixed reviews for Man of Steel, and after seeing it I can certainly understand why. I found myself several times throughout the movie, wondering if I really even needed to see the film to know what I was missing. A lot of things grab your attention while you're watching, but it's almost all of the wrong things, at least for me. A common phrase I've heard to describe this movie is that it's "not fun", and while I can understand that there is a part of me that wonders what those people consider fun. This movie to me was about as "fun" as Superman could get, but it's definitely not as "super" as Superman on the theater screen could be.

Zack Snyder and I have been on bad terms since 2010 when I started seeing trailers for that godforsaken movie with CGI owls called Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole. One reason I couldn't hardly stand it, was that damned 30 Seconds to Mars song I must have heard nearly 100+ times just from watching that trailer at the theaters and on TV. Now, I'm not one to let a trailer ruin a movie before I see it, but I was judging from the get-go with how much slo-mo seemed to be used as well in the trailer. This is when Snyder first struck a chord in me, and got me wondering how he ever gets work in Hollywood. First he remade Dawn of the Dead, which was a great opportunity for him and a sight to be seen for horror fans. Purists still hate it, but the general concensus on that one is that it's a very fresh and entertaining take on the 1978 horror classic by George Romero. So, sweet, you remake a classic, update it and make it pretty awesome, go you. Then, Snyder takes it upon himself to make a film version of 300 which most audiences never even knew was based on a graphic novel by legendary comic writer Frank Miller. Okay fine, you get two big adaptation projects to start your film career, not too shabby. He does a phenomenal job and makes one of the best action movies of the last 10 years, and creates an army of fans all the while. Keep in mind that 300 was the beginning of Snyder's fascination with slow motion, zoom camera, and CGI action extravaganzas. So now Zack is two for two, what could he possibly move onto now? Well, that was Watchmen, which is yet another adaptation of quite possibly the highest recognized graphic novel today and a classic of not only comics but literature as well. Written by Alan Moore, Watchmen is a brilliant work of fiction, and yet again some young up-and-comer is going to snatch classic work up and try to make it his own. Fine, and again I go and see it because of what it is, and it was awesome, I loved it. Still chock full of slow motion, grand action sequences, and of course an attempt at interpretting the brilliance of Moore's writing.

So here's Snyder, sitting pretty at three for three with some really damn entertaining films, but they're all based off of some sort of prior work. Now he's deciding maybe it would be a good idea to market his stylized action with slow motion and CGI to a younger audience, thus the owl movie. Little do some of you know, the Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole is based off of a children's fiction book series, which leads us to now four out of four of his movies based off of other people's work. This is where he lost me, because that trailer was way worse than the actual movie was, but this was the point at which I became fed up with Zack Snyder. The overuse of slow-motion and silly things to make the viewer go "oooh" and "ahhh" just weren't working for me anymore, and I'd had enough. No one wanted to listen though, no Zack Snyder is still good, he makes cool films, and they look awesome! Some critics started to critique his work though at this point, because of the same reasons I suddenly found myself irritated. So what does he do? I'm going to do my own original story and make a movie with all the stuff I've learned from my previous four films and prove all you haters wrong, he says. What do we end up with? Sucker Punch, which is a very appropriately titled movie because I would have much rather taken a sucker punch to the scrotum than to ever watch that film or anything about it, and it's even loaded full of scantily clad women! But I gave him a chance, like I give to everyone, and boy was I disappointed. More of the same old shit, from the same old guy, who seemingly can't direct his way out of a paper bag unless he's moving in slow motion and he's seen the same brown paper bag before in his youth (original work knock). Then the news comes, there's going to be a new Superman movie! Hooray! DC fans rejoice, they may finally get it right this time! Christopher Nolan gets involved because of the success of his Batman trilogy, David S. Goyer comes on to write the script, and it's all shaping up quite nicely. Alright guys, who do we want to direct this thing? This is the Superman movie that is finally going to change the face of Superman in film much like Nolan did for Batman, and for once Superman will be liked by all as he should be. Let's get Zack Snyder, right?! Right. So it happened, and now here we are in June of 2013 wondering why the hell this movie just isn't perfect, and I'm going to tell you why.

Of course you have to figure after all of Snyder's success with making the movies of a 13-year old's action/adventure wet dream, that Man of Steel will be much of the same. You're wrong. Surprisingly, I found a lot of the setting and stuff really breathtaking, especially the planet of Krypton. Though it seems kind of droll and gray, the set pieces are just beautiful and I don't know if they were CGI, but if they were it was damn good CGI. I was proud of my lost boy Snyder, doing the best he could for a much misunderstood superhero. But then the action starts, not a few minutes into the film, and Jor-El is fighting Zod. Sweet, okay, it all looks great and you have ex-Gladiator Russell Crowe kicking some ass as Jor-El. What's not to like? Well, every action sequence after that was a big, blinding mess of CGI with fists that move too clearly to be real, and people flying about so fast from building to building that it's hard to understand that they're even fighting. Are they just knocking each other over repeatedly but too strong to keep themselves from pushing their enemies through a wall everytime? My argument isn't with the fact that it's "inorganic" or the realism of the film suffers, obviously that cannot be the case with a Superman movie, but really? Fucking Metropolis was reduced to a steaming pile of metal and dirt by the time this movie was done, and I don't ever recall that much destruction from a few heroes and villains fighting in anything, ever. How do you bring Metropolis back after Man of Steel? Metropolis 2? Then somehow, during the final battle of the film where citizens are trapped under burning buildings and iron with concrete blocks on top of them, Supes and Zod find a perfect and pristine train station to duke it out in? And oh wait, there's people walking around in this train station with luggage like they're escaping or going somewhere? Where in the hell did these people come from, if the entire city has been turned to mush? But okay, I turn my head and say whatever, it's just a movie and I enjoyed what I could. The film definitely has the Snyder look, which is actually a thing I swear, watch his movies and try to disagree with me. But at least Snyder didn't go for the slow motion in every action scene, which was something I was very proud of him for restraining himself with.

The plot in the film is very thin, if not transparent. It's a retelling of Superman's birth, eventual arrival to planet Earth, and are you ready for the twist? Zod wants Krypton back after its destruction, and he needs Superman back to do it. Zod comes to Earth, he wants Superman, Superman wants to save the Earth, and so on and so forth. Such is the story in Man of Steel, just barely enough to make a full film with. But somehow Snyder extends this film to nearly two and a half hours, which I can hardly understand as it didn't feel that long but I can't help to think that with all of that time so much more could have been said and done. I found myself looking around and thinking periodically through the movie, wondering what others were thinking because I had no clue what I was watching. It just seemed like there were a lot of unnecessary bits and that may be because I'm initiated in the DC Universe and I may not need all of the explanations, but do you really think there are too many people out there that aren't aware that Clark Kent is an alien and he has few weaknesses, one of which is a green rock called Kryptonite? No. I did really like the 15-20 minutes where Zod first invades Earth and its technology, and alerts the citizens of every country that they are harboring someone they may not know isn't human. It was quite a nerve-rattling scene or two for a Superman movie, and it really showed the tone this was trying to take, but it never quite got better after the first 30 minutes.

But here's where the movie actually excels, and much to my amazement I really, really liked. That being the actual character of Clark Kent and Superman. Anyone who knows me, knows that I am a mega Bat-fan, and truly despise anything Superman or Superman related. So for me to sit here and say that I actually partially enjoyed Man of Steel, is a very big step for me. Despite the Snyderisms, to beyond the lack of depth in the script, and ignoring the CGI-ridden film I was watching, I found a completely genuine and perfect portrayal of a hero I've come to hate over the years. Henry Cavill does such an outstanding job at playing Kal-El, and I hope to all that is holy if a Justice League movie is made, he's the guy for Supes. His Clark Kent is so on, when they show him hopping from one civilian job to another it just really reminded me of the darker Kent that I've seen in some of the comics, particularly Earth One. But then, his Superman side comes on the screen, and I was just blown away. There was even a nod in one of the frames, if I'm not mistaken, to Grant Morrison's All-Star Superman which isn't a comic I enjoy but the frame mention is featured as the cover on some editions of the book.

So all complaints aside, this wasn't that bad of a film. Would I watch it again when it comes out on video? Sure. Would I buy it in Blu-ray to watch again at home? Probably. Where this film lacks is in all of the small departments, mainly the stuff that doesn't matter to anyone else but me and some other nerds out there. But what this movie did do for Superman, is finally make him cool. I seriously felt like I could really like and enjoy watching Superman in this film, and most of it is probably credited to Henry Cavill's calm but stern tone in the character. You took him seriously, but knew he was friendly. He even got his jabs in here or there, meaning  he had some funny jokes, because obviously he beats up the bad guys with jabs too. So you take away the absolute mess of a city by the end of the film that had me scratching my head. Remove some of the CGI from the fights and slow it down so you can actually use your actors in the action scenes too. I don't have a problem with it, even though one of my most hated film directors today is responsible for its creation. Cavill is heroic, to be perfectly honest with you, and Michael Shannon as Zod isn't all you'd want it to be from such a fantastic actor of the dark arts, but it's acceptable. Russell Crowe as a badass Jor-El, and Amy Adams of course as Superman's #1 fan were passable too. Basically, this movie didn't impress me, nor did it disappoint. If you like Superman, go see it. If you don't like Superman, go see it. Chances are, it'll at least fill your summer movie hole for a week, and we can hopefully look forward to a better and possibly little more complex Man of Steel 2.

ACTING : ( 7 / 10 )

STORY : ( 4 / 10 )

EXECUTION : ( 4 / 10 )

POSTER : ( 6 / 10 )

AWESOME : ( 6 / 10 )

FINAL RATING : ( 6 / 10 )