Man of Steel is a 2013 superhero film acting as a reboot of DC Comics’ Superman franchise and the first installment in the DC Cinematic Universe. The film was directed by Zack Snyder and written by David S. Goyer. The film stars Henry Cavill in the lead role along with Amy Adams, Michael Shannon, Kevin Costner, Diane Lane, Laurence Fishburne, and Russell Crowe.
I had a lot of anticipation for this film. The trailers stressed the fact that it was produced by Christopher Nolan and the inspiration from The Dark Knight Trilogy was definitely there. I was excited.
The film received mixed reviews from critics and audience-members alike, but it did do well at the box-office.
They are currently working on the next installment in the DC Cinematic Universe entitled Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice.
As you might expect, the film offers up a newly imagined interpretation of the Superman origin. Clark Kent is a young itinerant worker that discovers there is a lot surrounding his origin as aliens from his own race start invading Earth.
The film receives a bad wrap most of the time from some viewers and comic-book fans. I am not entirely sure whether or not I believe it’s deserving or not. There is problems, but there is still a lot more going for it than beyond what meets the eyes. For starters, the cinematography and special-effects are terrifically effective and are definitely the stars of the film.
The score from Han Zimmer is overdone at this point, but some might be able to gather more from it, provided they haven’t seen any of The Dark Knight trilogy.
One of the most disappointed things that I can say about this film is that it has no identity whatsoever. It feels like it watched The Dark Knight and tried to replicate the cinematography, but didn’t really have all that much of a structuring. When I heard that Detective Comics would be making a new Superman movie, I was thinking of a modern-day Superman. I wasn’t thinking about a modern-day Superman trying to be Batman.
He doesn’t need to be Batman. He has his own identity and by making him darker and more serious character, it only makes me have doubts about the sequel. What I loved about the dynamic of Batman and Superman’s friendship is that they were so different and contrasting in their behaviors.
The actors and actresses in this film do fine. Henry Cavill handles the role of Superman decently. Like I said, it isn’t the character that I wanted, but it was a problem with the character itself and not the acting. There definitely wasn’t a lot of personality or color to the portrayal either. Other-wise, Michael Shannon, Russel Crowe, and Amy Adams are in it. General Zod might have worked if there were other characters surrounding him, but other-wise it failed because of the lack of charm and personality. Russel Crowe might have been entertaining in another movie, likely one with swords and dragons involved, but it just toppled on-top of everything else
That’s likely the best way to describe all of the characters. They all could have been decent if they were separated and complimented by contrasting characters, but it seems like all of them are the same oh-so serious mess..
The biggest problem with Man of Steel beyond everything else that I am talking about is how ridiculously boring it can be. The film is over two-hours, and almost every minute of it is tedious. There are times that I was immersed. I liked when they showed him in his classroom and his powers started to kick-in. However, it lost itself more often than not.
The movie lags on-and-on before finding way to a conclusion. It is also filled with a lot of moments that admittedly left me scratching my head. Like the scenes with Clark and his father, those were stupid. The special-effects were tremendous, but I feel like they were mindless to the point that I couldn’t appreciate them. He destroyed Metropolis and likely killed hundreds of people along the way, rendering the confrontation with Zod as pointless.
In conclusion, Man of Steel is a deeply flawed film. The storyline is a little allover the place and nonsensical. The characters are dull, boring, and uninspired. However, I will say that it does have some redeemable qualities and enough potential that I am not completely counting out the new flick he’ll be doing with Batman. Some moments were interesting, but unfortunately, they weren’t enough to save it.
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