MAN OF STEEL Movie Review: Superman from Scratch
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- Last Updated: Tuesday, 12 November 2013 08:06
- Written by Lupe Haas
MAN OF STEEL begins on a dying Krypton with Jor-El (Russell Crowe) at odds with General Zod’s military coup. We spend about a good chunk of time getting to know this universe and its inhabitants, and I loved it. The dynamic between Russell Crowe’s Jor-El and Michael Shannon’s Zod made you feel like spending more time getting to know these characters. Zod and Jor-El were once great friends and admirers of each other, but Zod’s actions make them foes. The happenings on Krypton are a social commentary on what Earth faces. Although we know of the fate of the planet Kryton, I hated leaving it. I wanted to know more about this alien world and the cool toys. I say the next film in the new franchise be a prequel about this world. Director Zack Snyder and his team created a visually-stunning Krypton environment loaded with cool gadgets and costumes.But we obviously have to leave this world for a familiar universe – Earth where the Superman story begins. Since most know the story of how the Kents found little Kal-el, Snyder skips it and introduces us to a grown up Clark Kent working as a fisherman in the rough seas of Alaska, then as a bus boy. The lost soul ventures from town to town after incidents tforce him to leave. Is this Bruce Banner or Clark Kent?
Through flashbacks we see young Clark struggling with his superpowers as a school kid saving school mates from a sinking school bus and dealing with his identity issues. His Earth father, Jonathan Kent (Kevin Costner), doesn’t help with his advice to never let anyone know of his superpowers for fear of being seen as a freak or outcast. Bullying also comes into play for a young Clark, which is all good for exposition, but at some point, you’re begging to get to the action. Sure we love having background information about a character, but honestly most movie-goers are expecting to watch Superman kick some butt. There’s no doubt that’s probably Christopher Nolan’s influence on the project as Executive Producer. While it worked on Batman Begins, some may not be interesting in seeing it here on MAN OF STEEL.
Finally we get into the action when Kal-El finds his true calling, but we’re looking at a blank slate. There’s nothing familiar about the cast of characters except for their names. Snyder creates a whole new lore about the superhero such as what the letter “S” really means. The character of Zod is nothing like the one we saw in Superman II. There is no mention of Lex Luther, although one press person said they caught a hint of it. There may be a hint of Kryponite, but it’s not obvious. And don’t expect the familiar Superman theme, which I actually didn’t notice until someone pointed it out. I actually liked the score so I didn’t mind the iconic music from John Williams not being included. This is not the Superman we know so it was fitting not to hear it.
While I enjoyed the film, there were a few things I minded. Snyder’s film are always heavy on the CGI, which I usually enjoy, but here he employed a shaky camera and jarring special effects. Watching it in 3D, it was an assault on my senses. When Superman took to the skies, they literally made him faster than the speed of light, so if you blink you’ll miss it. Similarly, the fight scenes between Zod and his henchmen were difficult to watch because of the speed of the sequences. Like the Bourne Identity movies, it’s hard to see who is beating whom along with the shaky camera. It almost requires a second viewing without the 3D glasses to see if it’s less jarring on my eyes.The tone of MAN OF STEEL was also darker with little moments of humor. Written by Batman Begins and The Dark Knight screenwriter David Goyer, he brings some of those dark and religious undertones to the new Superman. Aside from experiencing identity issues, there are some religious undertones to the story. I wish I can take credit for seeing this, but another viewer pointed out the Jesus-like comparisons. Clark Kent is 33 years old like Jesus when he died, and Jor-El speaks of sending his son to the planet Earth to save their world from a similar fate as Krypton. Jor-El hope Earthlings see him as a savior rather than an outcast. Clark Kent later councils with a priest about coming to terms of who he is. The padre tells Clark he must put faith in man. Now, that’s some serious discourse that most will likely miss.
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