Movie Review: Terr vs. MAN OF STEEL
MAN OF STEEL, 143 minutes of uninspired dribble with no coherent thought or theme in sight. Sure it does some things right, but when the movie finished it did not make me wish Superman was real or want to make the world a better place.
On the doomed planet of Krypton, Jor-El implants his newborn son with the genetic data of his people and sends the baby off to another world so that Kryptonians might could live on. The baby is found by Kansas farmers, Jonathan and Martha Kent and is named Clark. As Clark grows up, Earth's atmosphere and sun affect his Kryptonian physiology and he develops superpowers. When Earth is attacked by General Zod and other survivors of Krypton on a mission to find Jor-El's son and rebuild Krypton on Earth, Clark becomes Superman to save the world.
Watching this movie feels as if Zack Snyder took bits and pieces of other movies, threw it in a blender, poured it into a Superman cup and served it to you hoping that you would be out the door before you could comment on the after taste. There are bits of Avatar, John Carter, The Matrix, Titan AE, and Star Trek 2: Wrath of Khan. (Yeah really) And it's not to say that a director can't be inspired by other movies and want to incorporate similar ideas or shots, but it's pretty unapologetic about ripping things off.
There are typically 2 ways that Superman is presented. There's the view that Superman is a Christ-like character, sent to Earth by his wise father and he will inspire and lead the people. And there's the view that Superman has gone through most of his life not knowing who he was, not having anyone to talk and relate to, and always on the cusp of something great, but doesn't know how to go about things. Zack Snyder shows you both ideas and then throws them out of the window and shows you Superman zipping into the air and then punching things.
Superman, how are you going to save the world and inspire all of mankind to be better?
- Punch things really hard until they fall down.
Superman, did you finally find your place in the world?
-Yeah, but I'm just going to go ahead, fly around, and then punch stuff.
Then there's the idea that is reiterated throughout the movie that the world isn't ready to know about Clark, his powers, or of other worlds. How would people react if they found out that there were gods among them speed, unlimited strength, can shoot fire from their eyes, or fly? Jor-El talks about it. Jonathan Kent talks about it. Perry White talks about it. Spoiler Alert: [
Hans Zimmer put down a really great soundtrack. Epic. Gives you what you would expect of a composer of his caliber. But in the end, there's no discernible theme to hum walking out of theater or for little kids to make up words to while they tie corners of a blanket around their necks and pretend to fly. The compositions are great, but you could probably swap it out with any of his other movie scores.
Inevitably, if you're of a certain age and you've been a Superman fan, even a casual fan, you're going to compare it to Superman: The Movie. Cinematography and storytelling aside, the one thing that separates the two movies the most in my heart is the tagline from the 1978 film, "You'll believe a man can fly." You expect a certain amount of simple awe and wonder when it comes to this character. Kids and adults slowly saying "Wow. He's flying." There were several opportunities that Snyder could have achieved that with some practical effects and subtlety, but instead he's really jazzed on the idea of showing you Superman breaking the sound barrier - Every. Freaking. Time.
Ok, it feels like I'm doing a lot of bashing and the movie isn't completely terrible. There are things that this movie does well. We get to see Kevin Costner and Diane Lane play loving parents that do the best they can in really challenging situations. Diane Lane's Martha Kent has a very sweet scene with a 9 year old Clark dealing with the weight of the world. Amy Adams is fantastic in portraying Lois Lane as smart and capable and not a damsel in distress. Henry Cavill has some charming moments, but they go by quicker than you can say "Red-Blue-Blur"
Grade: C-
There were several parts that I enjoyed and the CGI was decent, but there is so much talent was wasted so that Zack Snyder could show Superman flying or punching stuff or flying while punching stuff.
Somebody save me.....
Trivial stuff I feel like mentioning because I can:
It was really nice to see a handful of Canadian actors who also happened to be in episodes of Smallville. Tahmoh Penikett appeared in one episode in season-3 (Resurrection) as Vince Davis and in two episodes of season-6 as Wes Keenan. Mike Dopud appeared in several episodes as George, the Luthor's security guard. Alessandro Juliani played Dr. Emil Hamilton in 14 episodes of Smallville.
All three actors have also been in Battlestar Galactica and Continuum.
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