Man of Steel Review

Stop me if you've heard this one.  A wise, celestial being sends his only begotten son to Earth, telling him, "You will give them an ideal to strive towards.  They'll race behind you.  They will stumble.  They will fall.  But in time, they will join you in the sun", and "You can save them all".  The son is raised by an ordinary, yet noble, hard working man.  At the age of 33, the son reveals his identity and origin to the world, performing works of wonder to save humanity from an enemy they couldn't possibly fight themselves.

Sound familiar?  Of course it does!  I'm referring to Superman!



I don't want to give too much away, but a few things really stood out to me.  First, the writers changed some details of Superman's origin, though not the overall story.  It should still satisfy most comic book nerds.

Second, Superman's Kryptonian parents play a much bigger role in this movie than in previous iterations of the story.  Russell Crowe did a great job as Jor-El, Superman's father.  He was back in "Gladiator" mode.  Kevin Costner and Diane Lane, as his Earthly parents, didn't have as much to do, so they really didn't have an opportunity to shine.

Third, there's a strong theme about the influence fathers have on their sons running through the script.  I've noticed a lot of that in superhero movies lately.  Batman, Spider-man, Iron Man and Wolverine all have "daddy issues" in their current movie incarnations.  Some are straight out of the source material, some are new.  I don't know if that is a case of lazy writing, or a real reflection of current cultural issues.

Fourth, Superman's Kryptonian enemy, General Zod, is far superior in this movie to his previous appearance in Superman II.  His motivations are clearer and make more sense, and Michael Shannon was excellent.  He was intense and menacing without being cheesy.


Zod and his henchmen are the perfect foils for Superman.  Together, they're more powerful than he is.  They can actually threaten him.  I really don't see how other villains will stack up (with one exception I'll discuss later).

That brings me to another point.  This Superman is less powerful than previous ones.  He gets fatigued, hurt, even injured.  He strains against huge weights to the point of exhaustion.  I see that positively.  Previous Superman stories make him too powerful.  Nothing can hurt or threaten him (except for Kryptonite).  Where's the drama in that?

The one theme that runs most prominently through the story, however, is that of Superman as a Christ figure, as I detailed at the beginning of this post.  I read one review that claimed this wasn't so, since Superman does not sacrifice himself in this movie.  However, Christopher Nolan, who produced "Man of Steel", directed the latest Batman trilogy with a clear story arc linking all three films.  I suspect this will be a similar case.  I predict the next movie will feature Lex Luthor, and the last will feature Doomsday.

Speaking of directing, the special effects were astounding, the fight scenes were exciting and the story never really let up, all of which we expect from director Zack Snyder.

What's not to like?  Well, the excessive amounts of unnecessary shaky cam and weird close-ups.  Also, Aimee and I both thought Amy Adams was miscast as Lois Lane.  She's an outstanding actress, but she just didn't pull off the part of a hard-nosed, tenacious reporter.  Other than that, not much.

"Man of Steel" is a fun, exciting, entertaining, intergalactic slug-fest.  But it's much more than that.  The best superhero movies use the outlandish fantasy inherent to them to convey universal themes found in the best stories, from Homer to today.  The "Dark Knight" trilogy did that better than any other, but I suspect a "Man of Steel" trilogy may surpass it.