Man of Steel

Despite being the quintessential super hero, Superman may be the most misunderstood of all the comic book leads. He’s an alien, with godlike strength and abilities. He’s an example of perfection in an imperfect world. He’s supposed to represent everything that mankind aspires to achieve. But how can Superman be relatable and engaging enough to audiences? There is little suspense in any Superman story. With unlimited abilities any villain or catastrophe doesn’t stand a chance. Man of Steel represents the first Superman movie in the post Nolan-Batman era. The camp and absurdity of super hero movies is long gone. People want gritty, realistic super hero movies that aren’t just made for kids. Man of Steel is the first attempt to make a Superman that exists in the “real world”.

The film starts very far away from the real world on the planet Krypton. Here, we’re introduced to Jor-El and Zod and the whole backbone for Superman and the entire movie begins with the planet being destroyed and Zod being banished. The origin of Superman is fairly well known but it’s shown with a lot of intensity here. There are massive explosions and the film delves into deep science fiction with futuristic gadgets and mythical creatures. It’s unlike any Superman origin that’s ever been portrayed. These actions sequences are almost too much at times with high levels of effects and huge stunts. Jor-El, and seemingly everyone on Krypton, becomes an action hero. There’s too much action going on, any time there’s a lull for even a minute it feels like some big action piece wedges itself in. The action starts here and doesn’t seem to end.

After what seems to be a life time, Superman’s story on Earth finally begins. He’s a drifter, going from odd job to odd job to find himself as he look for clues to where he’s from and why he is the way he is.  What really lacks once we get to Earth is that connection Superman has with his adoptive parents the Kents. If we are to have any link to Superman it’s through them and there isn’t enough of that relationship development to give Superman his humanity. If anything, the father son relationship is damaging as Pa Kent continually tells Clark to hide his abilities and not let the world see who he truly is. Clark is being taught to fear mankind instead of connecting with it.

The strongest part of the movie is Michael Shannon as Zod. He’s a tremendous actor and he’s brings a lot of intensity to the role. Zod’s motivation is the most compelling part of the film. He’s trying to save his people based on how he’s been bred and trained, through bloodshed and warfare. He isn’t at all threatened by the people of Earth, they’re just an obstacle in his path to preserve Krypton. There have been many wars and deaths in human history due to this sort of self-preservation and it’s with this dynamic where the film is able to exist most in the real world.

Perhaps what makes the movie not reach the levels that it aspires for is the sheer amount of carnage and destruction that takes place. There’s scene after scene of intense battles where entire city blocks are laid completely to waste. It’s as if the only way to create any sort of stakes or interest in the film is to keep the action coming. These scenes are well crafted and visually impressive, Zack Snyder’s specialty, but they are far too frequent and don’t leave any breathing room to process what’s happened. It feels less like a Superman movie and more like something Michael Bay would make.

I had high hopes that Christopher Nolan would bring his incredible story telling ability to this project as a producer but with all the action and explosions it seems that Zack Snyder won out. I’m a big fan of Snyder’s visuals, I really am but that’s not enough to sustain interest in Man of Steel. Yes, it’s big and impressive and flashy but it lacks heart or anything compelling to keep audiences interested. Henry Cavill does fine as Superman, he definitely looks the part, but he’s given very little to do besides punch people. This Superman is still very alien and is no more than cheap thrills.