After young Kal-El is sent to Earth by his Kryptonian
parents (Russell Crowe and Ayelet Zurer) to escape the imminent destruction of
their world he is found by a loving couple (Kevin Costner and Diane Lane) and
raised as their own child. His alien nature gives him superpowers that he uses
to help mankind, and when General Zod (Michael Shannon), a ruthless military
commander from Krypton, comes to Earth with his army to find an ancient relic,
Kal-El (Henry Cavill) must do what he deems is right to save his new home from
annihilation.
Believe me when I say that this is the best film adaptation
of Superman to date. It has
everything you could ever want and more when it comes to this iconic character.
You have epic battles that result in some of the most insane amount property
damage ever committed to film, an understated and believable burgeoning romance,
tender moments between father and adopted son, an interesting and sympathetic
villain and a theme about trust and isolation at its core. Some of the earlier
films tread these waters before, but never in this way or as brain meltingly
awesome.
First off, you have to have the right actor play the title
character. Christopher Reeve and Brandon Routh both had the boy scout aspect
and charisma to pull it off. British
thespian Henry Cavill (Immortals, The Cold Light of Day, Stardust) replicates that in moderation
while also giving him a modern edge. He has a bit of an attitude and plays the
part completely seriously. He has the right look for the part facially and
physique-wise, and when it comes to his action scenes he performs admirably.
Amy Adams plays a great, sassy Lois Lane. On top of the fact
that she’s cute as a button, she has the chops to sell all her scenes and never
plays a victim. There are actually a few moments where she gets to be a bad ass
by blasting rogue Kryptonians in the face with a rifle. She sells the slight romance
angle, which isn’t overdone and in your face. When she does kiss Superman it’s
mostly to say “thank you for saving my life” and not of the “I want you inside
me” type of advance. I got the feeling she identified with him and never wanted
to exploit him for her job as a reporter. She had every opportunity to, but I
was thankful the script never made her into an asshole. She kicks the shit out
of Kate Bosworth’s turn as the character.
Michael Shannon, while going completely overboard with the
scene chewing periodically, portrays General Zod not as a monster, but as a man
dedicated to protecting his people from extinction. Sure he participates in
horrific acts of violence, but it’s all in the name of Krypton. I bought into
his mission and never really felt like he was playing a villain, but just a
dedicated soldier doing what he was bred to do. I haven’t liked him in some of
the other roles I’ve seen him in (PremiumRush), but here he is quite good.
Kal-El’s two father figures are tops as well. Kevin Costner
gives his best performance in decades as Jonathan Kent and sets up the selflessness that drives Kal/Clark/Superman. He’s kind of phenomenal in the part, and
when the teenage Clark asks him if he should have let a busload of children
drown in order to keep his powers a secret, Costner’s delivery of “Maybe” made
me gasp. There is a later scene that made me gasp in a whole other way, but I
will not spoil that moment. Russell Crowe is great as well in the Krypton
scenes, making Jor-El out to be the sole voice of reason on his dying planet
and an action hero as well. It’s only when he turns up later as a hologram does
he go into auto-mode as an exposition device. Regardless, he brings his small
part dignity and gravitas.
Everyone else is awesome as well, from Laurence Fishburne as
Perry White to Antje Traue as the evil Faora. The only iffy spot of casting was
Christopher Meloni as Colonel Hardy who is written as a generic military
character. He would have made a marvelous Lex Luthor in a future film, but the
ball was dropped.
Director Zack Snyder (300,
Dawn of the Dead, Watchmen, Sucker Punch) has made plenty of other successful adaptations of
comic book characters in his career, and he can add one more to the list. While
he does tend to substitute moments that call for a quiet rage with screaming
and histrionics, he also sells the majesty and epic grandeur of the property
with aplomb thanks to some outstanding cinematography from Amir Mokri. His redesign of Krypton is phenomenal, the action is intense and
he wrings great performances out of the majority of his cast. I have never seen
any film taken to such an extreme as this when it comes to getting across just
how powerful these characters are when they fight. Unfortunately he also tends
to take things a little too far. I wish some of the restraint he showed in Watchmen was present here because he
certainly goes off the deep end with the action. It all looked amazing as it
went down, but as I was watching all the craziness flash by on screen I
wondered if Snyder actually gave a shit that he was demolishing entire cities
and killing thousands in the process. I would have liked to have seen Superman
attempting to stop all the destruction (the World Bringers are a different
story altogether) while fighting Zod and the Kryptonians by forcing them to
take their brawls into the air or away from populated areas. At one point this
does happen, but by then the damage had already been done. Still, this is based
on a comic book about an alien that can fly and shoot laser beams from his
eyes, so I let it slide unlike most people seem to be willing to do.
Writer David S. Goyer (Blade,
The Dark Knight trilogy) certainly
put a unique and modern spin on the property that was most welcome. He still
tends to give his characters dialogue that ends with an exclamation point, but
again, this is based on a comic book so I can’t fault him for that. He misses
the mark on occasion, especially in how he glosses over the Kent farm stuff. I
always enjoyed those parts from the original movie, and seeing them relegated
to a series of short flashbacks definitely rubbed me the wrong way. I did like
the non-linear way the story unfolded, I just wished there was more of those
scenes mixed in. Because of this format we don’t really get to know Martha Kent
at all. He does get the nature of the main character right, and while he’s not
as squeaky clean as previous versions of Superman I really dug his take on it.
The climax is one of the best moments of any recent superhero movie, regardless
of the fact that it goes completely against what we know of his moral code.
This is Superman’s origin story, and he never one mentioned what he stood for
or what his “rules of conduct” were. Therefore I will take this act as the
event that forces him to go down that path. Goyer smartly doesn’t force a
romantic relationship between Clark and Lois, gave the villain a relatable
purpose and reworked the history of the character to make it more accessible
and less syrupy. Personally I think he did a fantastic job and can’t wait to
see what he comes up with for the inevitable sequel.
Hans Zimmer’s soaringly overproduced score is loud, but
fantastic. While it doesn’t have an overture for Superman like John Williams
concocted back in the 70s, the main themes used are so freaking epic that I had
them stuck in my head for a few day after seeing the film. Like the director,
he does go overboard a few times and resorts to loud percussion and horns to
fill the aural soundscape, but he makes up for it with the somber melodies used
throughout the soundtrack. It reminded me of a cross between his The Peacemaker, Crimson Tide and Driving Miss Daisy scores. It’s top notch.
I want to make this absolutely clear – when I go to see a
movie I want to be entertained, plain and simple. When it comes to movies based
on comic books, novels or video games I enjoy I do not bring with it the
baggage associated with whatever property it may be. If I wanted the book, I’d
read the fucking book. When I go to a movie I want to see a movie that works.
If the filmmakers manage to make it as close to the source material as they can
it’s a bonus. I understand that what works in a comic book or video game
sometimes doesn't translate to the big screen and changes have
to be made to get it to function properly. Yes, I know that there were alterations
to the Superman character and backstory in the Man of Steel script, and I don’t give a fuck. This flick is a
blast, plain and simple. It’s a successful reboot of a franchise that was
floundering and will (hopefully) usher in a new series of DC superhero flicks
that are just as awesome (I want a Flash
and a real Green Lantern movie dammit!) that will
culminate into the rumored Justice League
feature. There already seems to be a plan to tie all the other characters
together without having to resort to a post-credit scene setting up the
next installment (Wayne Enterprises was scrolled across the communication
satellite used for an action beat, and a tanker truck had the LexCorp logo
etched into its side). Having Christopher Nolan producing these films was the
best choice Warner Brothers has ever made since he lends a seriousness to his
projects that earlier DC films lacked in the extreme (Catwoman, Steel, Superman IV). The reigns to this awesome
universe are in the right hands, and I hope it stays there because Man of Steel kicks it off in a big way.
4.5 out of 5
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