As with all reviews on my little blog, spoilers, spoilers,
and more spoilers.
This one is going to be tough; do I review this as a
movie? Do I review it as a Superman
movie? It’s no secret that I hold an
almost religious reverence for Superman, and that certainly affected how I
perceived this film. OK, here’s the
quick “just plain movie review.” An
overall very cool science fiction story with a great cast gets bogged down in
the last 30 minutes with so much destruction the audio in IMAX actually left my
ears ringing for a couple of hours afterward, as if I had just spent a couple
of hours on a C-130. A satisfying
overall experience though. B-
Now let’s talk Superman.
Hmmmm.
Here’s what’s good about this movie—and there is quite a
bit—as a fan:
The cast.
I didn’t find anyone out of place here
(but for one exception I will get to in a minute) and in some cases got
the best versions of these characters we have ever seen. Henry Cavill is very good in this role and a
welcome addition to the rolls of Supermen.
His Clark is great and though I expected him to be all emo, it really
does work and play out pretty well.
The real high point here though is Amy Adams as
Lois Lane. She is simply wonderful. Smart, quick thinking, not a damsel,
resourceful, and I say again, SMART.
There’s a marvelous bypass of the whole “glasses disguise him” thing
with her, and though it accelerates their relationship quite a bit, it works
here and I didn’t mind a bit. I also
want to say how good Michael Shannon is as Zod.
He brings great, great gravitas and motivation to the role.
Antje Traue as the Kryptonian villainess Faora steals nearly every scene she is in with
utter ruthlessness. Kevin Costner’s
Jonathan Kent is wonderful (and part of what is in my opinion the best scene in
the film). Diane Lane give Ma Kent a
real heart. Russell Crowe brings some Maximus to Jor-El, but that’s not a bad
thing.
I definitely want to mention Christopher Meloni though; his
Colonel Hardy has a wonderful arc and gives us one of the great examples of human
heroism we see in this film as well.
Some players are a little underused (Perry White), but they are great
where you see them.
Krypton is more fleshed out here and gives Zod a wonderful motivation
and backstory. There’s enough borrowed
from various comic incarnations here to be instantly recognizable, yet unique
to this version, and I loved every minute of the tech and style.
Jonathan Kent’s death.
Not unlike All-Star Superman, I cried here when Jonathan died, and the
circumstances are so emotionally involving, you will too. Jonathan, in full view of Clark and Martha is
going to be swept away by a tornado. Clark
could easily save him, but Jonathan waves him off to protect Clark’s secret. How marvelous that whole scene is, and how
much does that bring to the origin? Lots
and lots. Terrific.
The First Two Hours.
Honestly, though I have already pointed some things out, let me wrap it
up like this: The first two hours of this movie are as perfect a film as
Richard Donner’s “Superman: The Movie.”
Perhaps more so, as we get a Superman at once relatable and realistic
without losing the ethics or grandeur of the character. The oil rig rescue, the diner scene, Clark’s
relationship with Pete Ross, all wonderful.
Lois is AMAZING as she does what no prior version of the character has
done and TRACKS DOWN SUPERMAN. Her
decision to keep his secret is not only integral to the plot, it speaks volumes
her character. As I said, this is the
best Lois has ever been, and I normally don’t even really like Amy Adams. She’s just about perfect here. The Science Fiction heavy plot plays out, and
you start to get a hint of the capabilities of these beings and it’s just
great. For two hours.
Then there are 30 more minutes, and here we get
not-so-great. Most of that time is spent
killing several million people in the most exhausting ways possible. Really, I walked out feeling shell-shocked
there was so much destruction. I am not
even sure the next movie can be set in Metropolis as I don’t think there can be
much left. No really, where does the
coda at the Daily Planet even happen; have they rebuilt EVERYTHING
already? The destruction was where the
Nolan realism should have reigned in Zack Snyder some more. And this is where we start to lose Superman
as a character as well. He is so involved
in fighting the bad guys that he stops saving the good guys. We lost characters who should by all rights
have made it, and Superman should have saved them. When we have the big Superman/Zod fight that
we know is coming, they slam through and around buildings, and thousands must
be at least endangered if not outright killed.
That’s not even my real complaint though: it’s just too much. The scope gets so big as to become
irrelevant. In my theater’s viewing,
people actually started laughing. We got
tired of it. I would gladly trade ten of
those minutes for ten more minutes of Krypton, or Jonathan, or Lois, Clark
doing some more heroic stuff in the suit.
Indeed, Man of Steel could
have used a bit more Man of Steel.
There’s another issue for me in the post action coda as well. This movie paints a pretty honest picture of
the military. They detain Superman
because they have to, but COL Hardy recognizes “this man is not our
enemy.” Soldiers walk into or fly into
certain death to save their world. We
don’t see stupid soldiers, or cowardly soldiers, or evil soldiers; we see
soldiers, doing their best with what they have…until. We get this female Air Force Captain—and you
probably saw her in the commercials—who when faced with Superman gets all
giggly and states, “he’s kinda hot.” It
is completely out of the tone of the rest of the film and really paints her—the
only speaking female Earth military service member—as a bimbo. That was a shame considering how well they portrayed
the Military up until then.
So what’s possibly the worst this in this film, or maybe
even in the modern history of Superman? Superman
kills Zod. Snaps his neck. Yes, in the scene Superman is forced to do
it, or allow more civilians to die (how about the previous ten minutes,
Clark?), and yes IN THE COMICS in 1988 Superman executed a version of Zod with
Kryptonite. I know. But you can’t tell me a smart writer who got
the first two hours SO right with SO much from various incarnations of the
character couldn’t have found a better way to end this without Superman having
to brutally snap Zod’s neck. Yes, it
works in the context of the movie, but this is a “new generation’s” Superman. Reinvented for people now in the 21st
Century. This movie will be for eight to
ten year olds now what Donner’s Superman was for my generation. Henry Cavill will be THEIR Superman.
And he snaps bad guys’ necks. He’s Superman, there has to be a better way. Yes Goyer and Nolan, you did manage to
maneuver your story to a “he had to do it” point. Just because you could doesn’t mean you
should. What affect are you going to
have on the mythological Superman?
You’ve made Superman a killer, not in some obscure 30 year old comic,
but in what will be the cornerstone of the DC movie universe for the next
decade. And for decades hence. My grandkids will see that as their Superman,
unless I work really hard to get to them first. This was a conscious choice on the part of the
writers, and I really think it could have gone a better direction.* Does it
ruin the movie for me? No, overall I did
enjoy the film; only time will tell though if they have ruined Superman.
I suppose Tim Burton making Batman a killer didn’t alter The
Dark Knight forever; oddly the same writer as Man of Steel made Batman’s
reluctance to kill a major plot point in Batman Begins. But I feel sorry they did this. They should have done better because Superman
deserves it, and there is so much here as a Superman fan to love.
It took Nolan three films to show me Christian Bale was not
THE Batman. Instead he was a broken
person who put on a suit for about 18 months and divorced himself entirely from
his responsibility by faking his death.
Nolan may have saved me time here and only waited two hours to show me
he wasn’t making a movie about THE Superman but rather a superman. Perhaps, sequels to this film will do the
opposite of the Batman series and get better with successive additions. I need to see this dealt with, I need to see
it become a lesson learned for Superman on why he needs to find the better
path. I need to see that because those
eight year olds watching need to see it too.
This series can be salvaged; this Superman can be redeemed. I hope sequels will do that.
After all, Superman is about Hope.
*So, I hear you: “All right, smart guy; if they could have
done it better, what would be better?”
Reprinted here, verbatim, is a message I sent to a good friend within
about 30 minutes of seeing the film.
Pardon personal message typos:
1) "You've ripped out my
soul El; you're no Kryptonian. With me, Krypton dies." Kills self.
2) *Zod, flying into
Metropolis sees the Phantom Zone generator destroy his ship.* "No, El-
with us dies Krypton!" *Crashes scout ship into Superman, he tries to stop
the crash, Zod is killed by the Kryptonian tech/engine/metal and Supes barely
escapes.*
3) Faora escapes being pulled
into the zone, realizes that if Kal-El is dead there is no chance to raise Krypton,
takes Zod away herself allowing that specter of return to hang over them.
4) Kal clamps his hand over
Zod's face, and beats him into unconsciousness. Then:
a) Uses the hyperdrive that
MUST still be on the leftover Kryptonian scoutship to reopen the Zone and cast
him in (possibly saving the Colonel and Doctor Hamilton in the process).
b) Imprisons Zod using the
material from the scout and asks the Gov to help him build a ship to take Zod
to a planet with a red sun: they recruit Lexcorp to help. Sequel prepped.
