Man of Steel Review

You'll believe a man can fly. And shoot laser beams. And decimate a city.

Superman's had a rough go of it on film. While 1978's Superman: The Movie was the movie that launched the superhero genre in the first place, it was subsequently followed by a series of diminishing returns. Superman II maintained enough of Richard Donner's verisimilitude charm to still work, but the seams were starting to show in the behind-the-scenes calamities. Not to mention all of the odd, extremely out-of-character moments for the title character (he quits being Superman for sex, cheerfully tosses a depowered General Zod off a cliff and kills him, and exacts petty revenge on an asshole biker). Superman III is a watchable Richard Lester farce featuring Richard Pryor with a couple of strong scenes (the chemical plant sequence, Clark Kent vs. Evil Superman, and the Gave-Children-Nightmares scene of Robo-Lady), but nothing more. Superman IV: The Quest for Peace, spearheaded by the penny-pinching Cannon Films, is a disaster on every level, with poor scripting, bad acting, and hilariously bad visual effects. The only constant in these films was Christopher Reeve, who will always probably be the most definitive version of Superman onscreen. After multiple failed attempts to revive the franchise, including the almost-epic-disaster Tim Burton-directed, Nic Cage-starring Superman Lives and the radically altered mythology of J. J. Abrams' Superman: Flyby, Bryan Singer's Superman Returns promised to be a revival of the character. Instead, we got a two-decades-out-of-date homage to Richard Donner, complete with another Lex Luthor real estate scheme and lots of creepy scenes where Superman stalks Lois Lane (and Superman not throwing a single punch). With Warner Bros. and DC desperate to reintroduce Superman successfully, they turned to their biggest source of superhero success: Christopher Nolan. With Nolan on board to produce and Batman Begins screenwriter David S. Goyer to pen the script, Watchmen director Zack Snyder was brought on board. And thus, we've got Man of Steel. My reaction after the jump...

Henry Cavill certainly looks like he belongs in the suit... and enjoys Slurpees...

To put it mildly, Man of Steel has received a divided reaction. It's got a 58% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, has a 55 on Metacritic, and has general received a mixed reception by critics and fans alike. Well, count me among the positive, as Man of Steel isn't quite the Superman movie I've always wanted to see, but damn, is it close. But the thing is, I can see where most of the non-fans of the film are coming from. This is not a perfect movie, nor is it what audiences have come to expect from a Superman movie, or superhero movies in general. If I was going to give out an award for Most Daring Film of 2013, it would probably go to Man of Steel. It takes a load of chances, some of which pay off, and some of which don't. But the ones that pay off, MY GOD. It's pretty easy to categorize the positives and negatives of this film, so I'll do it in a Good/Bad style, as opposed to my usual reviewing style of just rattling off how I feel in essay form. The Good after the jump. Also, FULL SPOILERS from here on out.

You believe your son is safe? I will find him. I will find him. I WILL FIND HIM!!

LAST CHANCE TO TURN BACK FOR SPOILERS

THE GOOD

- The Plot: Snyder and Goyer took elements from virtually every version of Superman, from Mark Waid's Birthright (The most obvious influence; I highly enjoyed the smash cut from Kal-El's ship to the boat), to John Byrne's The Man of Steel, to the first two Reeve films, among other sources. What I especially liked, though was the way that it would present these typical Superman origin tropes (Krypton prologue, Kal-El in the ship, the Fortress of Solitude, the Daily Planet), and then throw in a few twists, which were surprisingly well-constructed and logically presented. Lois Lane investigating Superman before he was Superman was an entirely new idea, and it works extremely well, not only improving Lois' character, but also giving her and Superman a stronger relationship from the start. Also, the way that Clark's upbringing is presented, through following the main plot in the present with flashbacks to his childhood with the Kents in Smallville, completely removed the original obstacle of a Superman origin: that it takes him an hour to get in the costume. By showing us Clark's trials and tribulations, both as he wanders through his adult life and as he learns to control his powers with Jonathan and Martha's guidance, we connect to him better as a character, and spend less time wondering "Damn, when is Superman going to show up?" After he finds the Fortress (Again, reimagined as a Kryptonian scout ship that he can activate with his ship controller), the plot begins to centralize around Superman, and the flashbacks become less frequent, before going full-focus into the climax. And the best part: There are virtually no plot holes or logical gaps whatsoever. There's a few issues (see "The Bad" section), but overall, the story makes sense, and presents Superman as he would be received by the modern world. In the vein of Nolan, well done. Also, my favorite twist? Removing Kryptonite, and having the conditions of Krypton's atmosphere produce a Kryptonite-like effect that causes major disorientation for Superman and the villains alike.

- Krypton: HOLY CRAP KRYPTON IS SO F***ING AWESOME. It's a complete ground-up redo from the crystalline-tech world of the original movies, that takes elements primarily from the aforementioned The Man of Steel and Birthright, and yet also is its own new thing. From the domesticated alien pterodactyls, to the updated inclusion of Kelex (Seriously, I was SO, SO HAPPY when the world "Kelex" came out of Russell Crowe's mouth) as a cell phone/robot assistant/ship guard,  down to the design of the Kryptonian costumes, that opening prologue was truly a sight to behold, as were all the recurrences of Krypton tech throughout the rest of the movie.

- The Cast: As is the case with Nolan's version of superheroes, the cast is basically outstanding across-the-board. Particular praise goes out to Michael Shannon, who had the excruciating challenge of separating his version of General Zod from Terence Stamp, and I think he succeeded. His Zod is, at least initially, a far more tragic villain that Stamp's megalomaniac, one who commits every atrocity out of a sense of duty to Krypton's future. Only once that dream is shattered does he become the Stamp-esque genocide-crazy monster again, and once that General Zod emerges, it is still quite entertaining to watch. Among others, I can easily praise Kevin Costner, who despite short screentime, delivers a truly emotional and heartfelt performance as Jonathan Kent. I really believe that this is the man who made Superman who he is, and his death scene is easily the most affecting version of the character's end ever. Amy Adams manages to overcome her not looking like the comic book character, and is easily the most well-rounded and strong version of Lois Lane on film yet, as stated above (With all due respect to Margot Kidder, of course. Kate Bosworth, not so much). Russell Crowe is also extremely well-cast as Jor-El, and thanks to some sci-fi trickery, he's in a lot of the film, and even gets to do some action stuff. I did enjoy the alien stolidity he brought the role quite a bit as well. As for the Man himself, Henry Cavill, I must say, it's really impressive that while watching his performance, I did not once think of Christopher Reeve. Cavill's version of Superman is a far more introverted and subdued take on the character that fits the world created here well, and he's easily the most physically able man to ever don the suit. I guess that's basically it. Oh, and Antje Traue is an awesome, badass femme fatale as Faora.

- Hans Zimmer: Hans Zimmer, Hans Zimmer, Hans Zimmer. Seriously, this score is INCREDIBLE, so different from his Batman scores, but equally as epic. The only downside is that the theme itself only plays over the end credits, when I wish it had been used the whole time.

- The Ending: The film as a whole presents Superman with a choice: which side will he embrace, his nature, Kryptonian, or nurture, Human? That's the question that still hangs over his head as Zod threatens to incinerate innocents with his heat vision. And then Superman makes a choice that, if handled wrong, could completely break the character: he's snaps Zod's neck. Many, including Birthright writer Mark Waid, have argued that this moments irreparably damages the movie. I, however, feel that in juxtaposing the limits of his options (he's got Zod in a headlock, but can't move him or restrain him for much longer, and Zod's getting ready to beat him by attacking the innocent) with his search for which side he's truly on, and as such, Superman makes his choice. And man, does he feel conflicted about it. And less, "What should I eat?" conflicted, and more "My dad is Darth Vader" conflicted:

The feral scream he lets out is incredible

This scene is the high point of Cavill's performance, and it's just plain epic. Follow this up with the coda at Jonathan Kent's grave and the Daily Planet, and you've got a nice franchise starter on your hands.

THE BAD

- Collateral Damage: The one thing that I found really disheartening about the movie was Superman's seeming lack of regard for the world around him. In Smallville and the final battle in Metropolis, the fights incur enormous amounts of damage, including much of central Metropolis. All of this action is visually stunning and awesome to watch, but the amount of collateral damage ensuing makes me wonder if Superman is thinking about the innocent civilians at all. This Superman does seem a bit more concerned with the big picture than the everyman, and while he does catch and save a few people here and there, I would have liked more scenes of him hauling ass to save lives.

- Power Levels: Again, they kind of totally blew it on the level of how every individual Kryptonian dealt with his powers. Superman had his entire life to develop his powers, and Zod and the others show up, and they've already basically mastered them. Granted, Zod never flies, and whenever one of their helmets is removed they become really disoriented from the X-ray vision and super-hearing, but still, Superman should have been kicking them around the block, and it was the other way around.

- More Heavy-handed Christ Imagery: Christ imagery is fine, especially when you're dealing with his pop-culture stand-in, but like in Superman Returns, they just got too carried away. From the scene where Superman consults the priest with a stained-glass picture of Jesus in the background, to him launching off the Kryptonian ship and floating in the water (half-naked with a beard, no less) in a Crucifixion pose (just like after he pushes the landmass in Superman Returns), a little more subtlety would've been more than welcome. Also, Superman is 33 years old in this movie. 33. YEARS. OLD. That's a bit too much.

- Exacerbating the Clark Kent Problem: One correction I was hoping this movie would make is explaining why no one could recognize bespectacled mild-mannered reporter Clark Kent as Superman, and it actually managed to make it worse. Now, Clark Kent is introduced to the Daily Planet, without a slouch in his step or combed over hair, RIGHT AFTER THE ENTIRE WORLD SAW SUPERMAN SAVE THEM. I like that Lois is in on the secret now, as there will now be no rehash of the Clark/Lois/Superman love triangle from the Donner movies, but seriously, no one recognizes him?

- Superman could smile a bit more: This is more of a gripe, but still, I wish Superman would take a bit more joy in having superpowers. The scene where he flies for the first time is truly powerful, and I wish we could have had more of that.

All the flight stuff is TOTALLY EPIC, though.

However, in spite of these flaws, I truly enjoyed Man of Steel. It may be more of a sci-fi movie than a superhero movie, but it's a truly gutsy and daring reinvention of the character of Superman. We need a little less playing it safe in Hollywood (I enjoyed Star Trek Into Darkness, for sure, but boy, did that movie not take many chances), and this movie certainly supplied that. It may not be on the level of Batman Begins, but it definitely has great potential as the start of a new Superman story. Because, in the end, the entire movie ends at the point where Superman completed his first save. It basically ends at the point in Superman: The Movie where Superman saves the helicopter, only on a much grander scale. Next time, let's get a full-blooded Superman movie.

Man of Steel gets a 9 out of 10, if only for sheer balls.

Two more days to order this Mondo poster, people. DO IT.