Monday, June 24, 2013
Superman is, debatably, the greatest superhero of all time. He is almost definitely the greatest of the DC heroes (with Batman a close second.) So it is kind of a mystery, at least to me, why there hasn’t been more of a push for a quality Superman movie in the last, oh, two decades? Yes, we had Superman Returns, which blew, so I ignore that. What was the last good Superman film? 1980’s Superman II. So what was the idea behind the newest incarnation of Supes? Let’s revamp Superman II and try and make it new and original, while still being awesome. And I must say...they succeeded...to an extent.Let me start off my saying this: I’m not a huge Superman fan. I know that seems semi-blasphemous, but it’s the truth. Supes has always been an intriguing character to me, but I never really got into Supes or DC in general really. But I will admit that I love the Christopher Reeves films (well, Superman and Superman II, at least.) While I may not be a die-hard Superman fan, I do know a fair amount about the character from the few comics I’ve read, so that knowledge all came into play when I went to see Man of Steel.
I was oddly surprised at how much I liked this movie. I was a little worried that they might have tried too hard to be Superman II and messed it up, but they really didn’t. Yes, they used Zod again, yes, they talked about the Phantom Zone (which, oddly, wasn’t a floating square in space), but they made it different. Zod was almost a relatable character this time around. I almost cared for him and wanted him to win...for a moment, at least. Then he went batshit insane, which is probably why they hired Michael Shannon for the role.
I’m probably going to rant for a bit at the end of this with some spoilers, so let me start off by talking about all of the things to love about this film.
First and foremost is the direction. Zack Snyder has always had a great eye for film, and it hasn’t changed here. Snyder has never failed to deliver a visually stunning experience, and yes, that includes Sucker Punch. This man knows his shit when it comes to shot compositions and how to make the most of his screen space. His style has really become noticable, and I think it really worked for this film. That gritty style that has been around since he made Dawn of the Dead really worked with the atmosphere of Man of Steel too. And boy does this guy know how to direct an action sequence. I remember loving the prison sequence from Watchmen a hell of a lot, but watching Kryptonians kick the shit out of each other and tear down buildings in the process is a close second.
I remember back when they announced that Henry Cavill would be playing Superman in Man of Steel, and everyone was like “who??” And it was a big worry of mine that an actor with little blockbuster experience wouldn’t be able to fill the huge range of emotions that Supes needs. And I think that he did exactly as well as I expected, which is to say: not well. He wasn’t awful, but he wasn’t very good. I would have liked to have seen more from him. And then we have him playing off of people like Amy Adams and Michael Shannon who were perfectly cast and nailed their roles. That definitely didn’t help me warm up to Cavill.
Alright, now we’re going to travel into SPOILER country. You have been warned.
My biggest gripe with this movie is the same as nearly everyone else. Yes, I’m talking about the absolutely ridiculous ending to the film where Superman snaps Zod’s neck. I’m going to talk about my issues with this in a broad sense, because if I get too specific, I might ramble on for several pages.
When you are adapting anything you are adapting it for a reason: the quality of the source material. You choose to adapt a specific novel, short story, comic, etc because it speaks to you and you think it would make for a great movie. So, you should stick to the source material as close as you can to convey the same concepts and themes as the source, right? So why would you deviate so drastically as this?
And to those of you who are like “he had no choice, he had to save those people” I say to you... “what the fuck are you smoking, and where can I get some?” Do you understand how movies work? Someone chose to write it that way. They could have taken it anywhere that they wanted. They could have put Zod back into the phantom zone. They could have done so many different things. But the writers conciously chose to have Superman kill Zod like that. That is what irks me the most. And knowing that Christopher Nolan opposed this decision the whole time re enforces his awesomeness in my eyes.
And please, don’t claim that I’m “fanboying” or any of that bullshit, because I’ve gone on record saying that I don’t really care about Superman. What I do care about is the themes and the morality behind Superman that I’ve gotten through all sorts of video games, comics and movies. And while I haven’t seen/read a lot of it, the same themes are always there. And David S. Goyer and Zack Snyder decided to wipe their asses with them. -----------------------------------------------
Visually stunning, amazing production value, and great action sequences make this movie fun to watch. But the mediocrity of the performances (especially Cavill) and the hugely offensive ending prevent this movie from being the pinnacle of excellence that it should have been.
Writing: 6.5/10
Directing: 8.5/10
Acting: 6.5/10
Pacing: 7/10
Rewatchability: 7/10
Score: 7.1/10
