Movie Review- ‘Man of Steel’

June 20, 2013 at 1:47 pm | Posted in Entertainment, Miscellaneous, Movies, Reviews, scifi, scifi/fantasy | 2 Comments
Tags: amy adams, batman begins, christopher nolan, clark kent, dc, henry cavill, lois lane, man of steel, superman, Zack Snyder

Let me start off by saying, overall, I enjoyed Man of Steel. It was well acted, had impressive visuals, an excellent score by Hans Zimmer, and was quite a fun ride. That being said, I went into this movie with an unfair expectation that – since the story was created by Christopher Nolan and produced by him – that it would be on par with Nolan’s Batman reboot, Batman Begins. In that respect, it wasn’t quite up there, and that damaged my view of the film

First and foremost, Man of Steel does not have a fully cohesive narrative. After a stunning prologue with Russell Crowe’s character on Krypton that ends with the destruction of the world and Crowe sending his newborn baby Khal-El (Aka Superman) to freedom in space, the movie jumps to an adult Clark Kent. Flashbacks then show – not in chronological order, I might add – Clark’s early life with his human parents. I want to highlight both Diane Lane and Kevin Costner’s performances throughout this film.

There is a lot of jump cuts in the first half hour of the film between Clark and Amy Adam’s wonderful Lois Lane, and when combined with out-of-order flashbacks in addition to these already confusing cuts, the story gets a little bogged down. There were also elements of the movie that simply were left unseen or unexplained, many regarding Clark and Lois Lane’s interactions in the first act of the film, and one significant one after the two escape from an alien warship.

Furthermore, the villain in this film – Michael Shannon’s General Zod – doesn’t seem to really have an all too clear justification for his ultimate plan, and to me it just felt a little forced. Not to mention I wasn’t impressed by his performance. In addition to that I am still on the fence with Henry Cavill’s portrayal as Superman/Clark Kent/Khal-El. While Cavill certainly looked the part, and was quite attractively wooing Lois Lane the whole time, he didn’t bring much personality to the role. Or as much as he could have. Also, his character underwent extensive character development- that wasn’t shown in the film. The first act of the film shows a Clark Kent that is ostracized by society and is drifting from job to job, and after finding an alien ship from Krypton in the depths of Antarctica, suddenly emerges as a strong and noble Superman. There was no growth into that role, it just…happened.

Now onto the positive aspects of the film! Because despite the criticisms I listed, I still did enjoy it. The film brought out some impressive performances by the actors. I already mentioned Diane Lane and Kevin Costner, both of whom I wish had more screentime. Amy Adams as Lois Lane was excellent and I loved what they did with her character, making her driven and ambitious, and not at all a damsel in distress. Russel Crowe and Ayelet Zurer as Clark’s birth parents in the film’s prologue were also impressive, and Zurer’s especially. Chistopher Meloni and Laurence Fishborne as Nathan Hardy and Perry White were also quite entertaining, though I wish their characters were expanded upon.

The visuals of the movie were also exquisite, and the entire climax to the film showed a quite devastated New York City that looked all-too-realistic. Also, while I already mentioned my dislike for the film’s editing, I did like Zack Snyder’s direction. It seemed both raw and poignant while also action-packed and fun. And while some of the action sequences were a little too long and some even serving little purpose, they were shot and executed beautifully.

All in all, Zack Snyder’s Superman reboot failed, for me, to truly do wonders with the project like Christopher Nolan did with his Batman trilogy. However, it was still a strong and entertaining start to a new Superman franchise, and I’m sure each film will get better and better. The film was enjoyable, albeit confusing at times, and the film’s final scene leaves me excited for the sequel, which I’m sure Warner Bros will be releasing quite soon.

I award Man of Steel three out of five metal bikinis.

Reviewed By: Ryan for Roqoo Depot