Review: MAN OF STEEL

If you know me by following me on Twitter, you’d know I love Man of Steel. I’ve been in love with it ever since I saw it on June 14, 2013 (the day it came out), and have continued to defend it to this day.

In case you didn’t know because you’ve been living under a rock the past three years, Man of Steel is one of the most divisive films to come out this decade. It either lived up to your expectations or it disappointed you heavily. Man of Steel lived up to my expectations; and then some.

In Man of Steel, the planet of Krypton is on the verge of extinction. A scientist named Jor-El and his wife Lara have given birth to their son Kal-El, Krypton’s first child in centuries. With Krypton’s impending destruction in mind, they opt to send their son to another planet, in hopes that he’ll be able to fulfill his destiny elsewhere. Krypton’s military commander, General Zod is angered by all this, and vows to find Kal-El, no matter the cost.

A lot of people were turned off by Man of Steel because it was too serious and its action-packed, explosion-filled finale felt like something taken out of one of Michael Bay’s Transformers movies. People aren’t used to a more serious take on the Man of Steel, nor were they really used to the character being involved in a continuous half-hour action sequence. After the fightless Superman Returns, people were caught off guard when Superman actually used his fists. A lot.

Let’s get this out of the way first. A lot of people were stunned to see Superman throwing Zod into buildings, gas stations, and train cars, blowing them up seemingly without any care. Superman contributing to the destruction of Metropolis doesn’t bother me for two reasons. One; he’s just exploring the extent of his powers here, and two; these are two gods with the ability to wipe out the human race battling one another in a city. Of course buildings will be destroyed, and people will be killed. It’d be unrealistic otherwise. It’d also be unrealistic if Superman was able to be everywhere at one time. And yes, he saves people in this movie other than Lois Lane and his mother. He rescues several people from an oil rig fire (before even becoming Superman!), he saves military members, and most notably, he saves Earth and its entire population from a world engine that would’ve wiped out the human race.

As for the controversial scene where Superman snaps Zod’s neck (killing him), I think the labelings of Superman being a “killer” at this moment are unjust. Superman didn’t want to kill Zod. He gave Zod the opportunity to stop what he was doing, but when Zod refused, Superman had no choice but to snap his neck. If he didn’t do this, Zod would’ve killed the innocent bystanders in the subway terminal, and people would’ve had a problem with Superman not doing anything about it. Supes screaming in terror afterwards, with the realization of the choice he made is powerful stuff.

Moving onto stuff I didn’t cover in that editorial; the action in general. It’s awesome. Actually being able to see Superman kick ass here is really a treat. Director Zack Snyder is no stranger to stylish action, and he lends his thrilling visual style to this film too. Instead of 300 and Watchmen‘s slo-mo approach to action, Snyder makes the action sequences here fast (but not dizzyingly frantic) and super exhilarating; all the while set to Hans Zimmer’s killer score, which is one of my favorite scores to a film there is. Words can’t describe how much I love it.

Let’s talk about the cast and some of the characters a little bit. Personally, I think Henry Cavill is a great Superman. And I’m not just saying that because I have a huge man crush on the guy (I just think he’s kinda hot). I genuinely think he’s a great fit for this more-physical take on the character, and he’s got a charismatic charm to him. He also hides his British accent very well. Amy Adams is always good, which she is here as Lois Lane. I like this portrayal of Lois. She’s got a feisty edge to her, as she can stick up for herself when need be. Michael Shannon plays Zod menacingly, yet, at the same time, you almost feel sympathetic for him. You understand where he’s coming from, his heart belongs to his home planet, Krypton. He’s damaged, as he points the blame at Kal-El for taking it away from him (the man’s honestly got a point). Russell Crowe is fantastic as Jor-El (I was happy to see him appear again after getting killed off in the first 20 minutes), while Kevin Costner (Jonathan Kent), Diane Lane (Martha Kent), and Laurence Fishburne (Perry White) all turn in solid work in their limited amounts of screentime.

I can understand why the movie’s dead serious tone would bother some people. I do. This isn’t a Superman we’ve seen before on the big screen. Here, he isn’t just vulnerable to kryptonite. In this take on the character, he has another weakness; himself. Are his gifts a threat to mankind, or can they be used to give it hope? Can he save the world without destroying it first? Are his powers too great? These are thought-provoking questions that this movie explores, and I applaud it for having the guts to do so.

If I had any flaws with this film, they aren’t enough to bump my grade down any. I’ll agree that there are some questionable lines (you know which ones I’m talking about) and a couple of head-scratching editing decisions, but all in all, I think this is the best Superman film to date. It gives its audience what they want to see (and didn’t get in Superman Returns); Superman battling a worthy adversary with his bare knuckles, all the while painting its titular character as a complex, powerful, and imperfect hero.