Director Zack Snyder has worked his very specific brand of movie magic on what happens to be the biggest character in comic book history, Superman.
Man Of Steel is a polarising film. You will either be in awe of the stunning visuals, or you'll find yourself tiring - tiring of the slow pace of the first half and then tiring even more quickly of the endless action slog that is the second half.
For the most part, I found myself in the first category.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with the story (there're are probably about six of you left on the planet), Superman, the Man Of Steel, is an alien who was sent to Earth to save him from the destruction of his home planet, Krypton. Because of his unique biology, Superman has super strength, hearing, can fly, and can shoot lasers out of his face.
This time around, Superman's dad is Russell Crowe from Gladiator IN SPACE! Although instead of Maximus, he's called Jor of the House of El and he's a warrior philosopher. He's kind of annoyed the rest of Kryptonian society is short sighted enough to mine their entire planet dry, causing the core to become unstable, which apparently makes said planet explode. Turns out Jor El is not the only person unhappy with this lack of foresight - General Zod (Michael Shannon) stages a coup to overthrow the government. Before the coup is finished, however, Jor El loads his newborn son with a tasty Macguffin and fires the kid into space on a course for Earth (which may or may not be one of the colonies set up by the Kryptonians in the past). Good work, dad.
That information is all immaterial, however, as the story focuses on the adult the kid becomes, Clark Kent (Henry Cavill). Turns out he was adopted by a couple of farmers in America's interior and raised as a good all-American boy.
It can't have been easy, making one of the most iconic superheroes of all time fresh and new again.
One of my biggest complaints about Superman Returns (2006) was that it really missed the opportunity to bring Superman into the present day - something Man of Steel addresses and, I think, does well. This is best expressed by the Daily Planet. Reporters are flown into exotic locations and filed for print or online the same day, information is leaked online, and people use social media and smart phones.
As I mentioned, the first half of the film has a much slower burn. It flicks between Clark wandering the Earth with what seems to be Chronic Hero Syndrome (he just can't stop rescuing people, which is particularly conspicuous when you bench-press an entire oil rig), to flashbacks of young Clark learning to deal with his powers, and Lois Lane (Amy Adams) trying to track down this mysterious man who is essentially a guardian angel.
Things start to kick into gear around the time General Zod, who it turns out is not dead, arrives and demands the puny Earthlings hand over the lost member of their race.
The plot seems to get itself into shape for a little while, ditching the exposition and backstory, before sitting back down and just letting the action take over.
Let the record show that I am a big fan of action sequences, but there were points where even I tired of seeing farms, towns, cities and then spaceships levelled as Clark battles the last Kryptonians.
My favourite sequence in Man of Steel was mid-point when Lois and Clark escape from Zod's ship. That's when things feel like they're the smoothest in the film. There's a great mix of humour, action, and a trippy dream sequence. It's that scene which highlighted the fact that, for the most part, the cast doesn't feel like a true ensemble until that point.
There is one action sequence which features Clark going up against Zod in mid-air which was mind-blowing. If you ever wondered what the fight between Neo and Smith from The Matrix Revolutions would look like if it was actually good, this is your answer.
The danger the Kryptonians presented was an amazing concept to bring to life. Slow motion is used sparingly, if at all, which gives the audience an idea of just how outclassed humans are against these beings. There's also a lot of implications raised by Clark's father about what his godlike powers will mean for the people of Earth.
Cavill does a great job at portraying what it must feel like to have the weight of such expectation and responsibility and Shannon is a great shouty extremist.
Henchwoman Faora Ul (Antje Traue) was a standout and Amy Adams was a solid performance for portraying a character who essentially is an audience surrogate. There were some cartoonish villains, but for the most part they were relegated to the background.
The sequel (and there is already one in the works) leaves room for more humour, which was lacking in this instalment, and sets up relationships for interesting development.
Man Of Steel was a visual spectacle and a thoroughly enjoyable watch, although the runtime and pacing problems leave me lukewarm on the idea of repeat viewing.
Three and half stars.
Cameron Boon
Man Of Steel is a polarising film. You will either be in awe of the stunning visuals, or you'll find yourself tiring - tiring of the slow pace of the first half and then tiring even more quickly of the endless action slog that is the second half.
For the most part, I found myself in the first category.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with the story (there're are probably about six of you left on the planet), Superman, the Man Of Steel, is an alien who was sent to Earth to save him from the destruction of his home planet, Krypton. Because of his unique biology, Superman has super strength, hearing, can fly, and can shoot lasers out of his face.
This time around, Superman's dad is Russell Crowe from Gladiator IN SPACE! Although instead of Maximus, he's called Jor of the House of El and he's a warrior philosopher. He's kind of annoyed the rest of Kryptonian society is short sighted enough to mine their entire planet dry, causing the core to become unstable, which apparently makes said planet explode. Turns out Jor El is not the only person unhappy with this lack of foresight - General Zod (Michael Shannon) stages a coup to overthrow the government. Before the coup is finished, however, Jor El loads his newborn son with a tasty Macguffin and fires the kid into space on a course for Earth (which may or may not be one of the colonies set up by the Kryptonians in the past). Good work, dad.
That information is all immaterial, however, as the story focuses on the adult the kid becomes, Clark Kent (Henry Cavill). Turns out he was adopted by a couple of farmers in America's interior and raised as a good all-American boy.
One of my biggest complaints about Superman Returns (2006) was that it really missed the opportunity to bring Superman into the present day - something Man of Steel addresses and, I think, does well. This is best expressed by the Daily Planet. Reporters are flown into exotic locations and filed for print or online the same day, information is leaked online, and people use social media and smart phones.
As I mentioned, the first half of the film has a much slower burn. It flicks between Clark wandering the Earth with what seems to be Chronic Hero Syndrome (he just can't stop rescuing people, which is particularly conspicuous when you bench-press an entire oil rig), to flashbacks of young Clark learning to deal with his powers, and Lois Lane (Amy Adams) trying to track down this mysterious man who is essentially a guardian angel.
Things start to kick into gear around the time General Zod, who it turns out is not dead, arrives and demands the puny Earthlings hand over the lost member of their race.
The plot seems to get itself into shape for a little while, ditching the exposition and backstory, before sitting back down and just letting the action take over.
Let the record show that I am a big fan of action sequences, but there were points where even I tired of seeing farms, towns, cities and then spaceships levelled as Clark battles the last Kryptonians.
There is one action sequence which features Clark going up against Zod in mid-air which was mind-blowing. If you ever wondered what the fight between Neo and Smith from The Matrix Revolutions would look like if it was actually good, this is your answer.
The danger the Kryptonians presented was an amazing concept to bring to life. Slow motion is used sparingly, if at all, which gives the audience an idea of just how outclassed humans are against these beings. There's also a lot of implications raised by Clark's father about what his godlike powers will mean for the people of Earth.
Cavill does a great job at portraying what it must feel like to have the weight of such expectation and responsibility and Shannon is a great shouty extremist.
Henchwoman Faora Ul (Antje Traue) was a standout and Amy Adams was a solid performance for portraying a character who essentially is an audience surrogate. There were some cartoonish villains, but for the most part they were relegated to the background.
The sequel (and there is already one in the works) leaves room for more humour, which was lacking in this instalment, and sets up relationships for interesting development.
Man Of Steel was a visual spectacle and a thoroughly enjoyable watch, although the runtime and pacing problems leave me lukewarm on the idea of repeat viewing.
Three and half stars.
Cameron Boon
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