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SuperheroHype wrote:Superman has had a long hard road on the big screen. After being subjected to some of the lamest moments in superhero movies ever, we've finally arrived at the first modern interpretation of the character that isn't being influenced by 30-year-old films. Man of Steel, the brainchild of David Goyer, Christopher Nolan, and especially Zack Snyder, will likely go forward as one of the most unique approaches to a superhuman character and I think will change how superhero origins are handled on film.

Taking the already well-known story of Superman, Snyder and Goyer have brought an approach to the 75-year-old character that feels fresh and manages to stay true to what we all know about the mythology. Changes to the origin feel organic and make the remainder of its plot flow naturally, instead of relying on coincidental plot moments like previous Superman films. Man of Steel takes the ideas from the Richard Donner Superman movies and updates the story to leave little room for debate about plot holes and the like.

Henry Cavill, an actor that few were familiar with prior to his casting, really knocks it out of the park here. Fitting into the shoes of Clark Kent is no easy task as Christopher Reeve firmly put a stamp on the role that has been emulated and canonized ever since. What is so different about this version is that he's still realizing his potential, he's not trying to split himself into the two personalities of Superman and Clark Kent, he's just Superman. This offers Cavill as an actor the opportunity to go to places no other live-action incarnation has gone. Cavill's only parallel in the film in terms of performance and presence is Michael Shannon's Zod, who is clearly superior to Terence Stamp (yeah, I said it). Instead of being a caricature of evil, Shannon presents Zod with empathy and crafts a performance that is one of the most memorable villains of the past few years. You might even find yourself in a moral dilemma about who you think was doing the right thing.

The most interesting thing about Man of Steel is its non-linear story. While the opening does set up the remainder of the film and refresh all of us on the Krypton situation, it doesn't play out like a remake of Superman: The Movie. Instead we jump back and forth between adult Clark and young Clark and we get to see Superman's anguish through a visual context unlike any of the other films. His loneliness and isolation feel more real here than past incarnations, because you can see his internal struggle as it plays off of the moments that have defined him in his life. These visual indicators work due to clever editing, top notch special effects, and the superb performances of Kevin Costner, Cooper Timberline (9-year-old Clark), Dylan Sprayberry (13-year-old Clark), and Henry Cavill. These four actors' roles in the film really cement many of the more serious moments, which in turn cause the natural progression of the character to steer towards Snyder's intended goal.

What is disappointing about Man of Steel is how little significance some of the other characters really feel to the film as a whole. Amy Adams' Lois Lane, while portrayed really well, doesn't get as much to do as I would have liked, with some moments feeling forced. This isn't a knock on her performance, she rocks, but instead the storytelling. There are times when what we know about Lois as a character really shine out, and others where the script takes her to places that feel lazy.

Lois isn't the only character that doesn't feel 100% natural to the story. Many others throughout the film feel like set pieces that are there to either move the plot forward or simply because they “have to be there” for fan service. Laurence Fishburne's Perry White, for example, gets just enough screen time to be interesting and provide some comedic relief, but not enough to be wholly relevant to the plot. The same can be said for the rest of the Daily Planet staff, many of the military roles, and most of the other Kryptonian criminals. Beyond Zod, few of them really stand out. Antje Traue's Faora manages some good moments, but on the whole doesn't get to do much beyond offer an evil glare.

Past grievances with director Zack Snyder's films have pointed to his “reliance” on slow motion, which have no place in the discussion of Man of Steel. Once this movie starts going, it doesn't let up. Man of Steel's tempo remains fast for the duration of the movie, like a roller coaster that won't end, and I mean that in the best way possible. Its fight sequences never feel repetitive, but instead build off of each other so as to offer something new with each one. Snyder's direction on previous films have clearly been training him for this as he can let these moments play out for the audience without having to slow them down - they can all be appreciated at the rapid rate they're shown.

Man of Steel is great. It takes stories that we all thought we knew and looks at them through a different prism, creating a solid superhero story that stands apart from all of the others. Though the acting is solid all around, many of the characters don't naturally fit in, but when the film offers amazing fights and comic book levels of destruction, most fans won't mind that at all.

Rating: 8 / 10

SlyTF1 wrote:The movie was awesome. The fight scenes were the absolute best. These are the type of fight scenes movies like Ironman and Thor should have had, and basically every other Super man movie ever made. They finally got it right here. One problem though; this was a Zach Snyder directed movie. There was no slow motion. THAT pissed me off. Some of the fight scenes moved a bit too fast to begin with and a bit of slow motion would have made them even better. I'm thinking that Nolan may have removed them, though because... well, he's him.

BeastProwl wrote:Also, What Luthor reference? Did I miss an after credits scene?

prowl123 wrote:I don't know if anybody else noticed this or if it's supposed to be like this, but the story of Superman's life almost appears to be a sort or reflection on the Bible.

I'm not religious at all but my dad pointed this out to me and I found it interesting.

If you noticed in the scene where Clark was in the church, there was a stained glass painting of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane in the background. In the Bible, jesus could have chosen to take his punishment or run. Clark was presented with the same choice at that time. He had a choice between handing himself over to Zod/the humans or running away and risking the destruction of the planet.

That's an interesting little thing you wouldn't really notice.

SlyTF1 wrote:

prowl123 wrote:I don't know if anybody else noticed this or if it's supposed to be like this, but the story of Superman's life almost appears to be a sort or reflection on the Bible.

I'm not religious at all but my dad pointed this out to me and I found it interesting.

If you noticed in the scene where Clark was in the church, there was a stained glass painting of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane in the background. In the Bible, jesus could have chosen to take his punishment or run. Clark was presented with the same choice at that time. He had a choice between handing himself over to Zod/the humans or running away and risking the destruction of the planet.

That's an interesting little thing you wouldn't really notice.

I literally was trying to find the significance of that in that part of the movie while I was watching it.

prowl123 wrote:I don't know if anybody else noticed this or if it's supposed to be like this, but the story of Superman's life almost appears to be a sort or reflection on the Bible.

I'm not religious at all but my dad pointed this out to me and I found it interesting.

If you noticed in the scene where Clark was in the church, there was a stained glass painting of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane in the background. In the Bible, jesus could have chosen to take his punishment or run. Clark was presented with the same choice at that time. He had a choice between handing himself over to Zod/the humans or running away and risking the destruction of the planet.

That's an interesting little thing you wouldn't really notice.

BeastProwl wrote:You think we'll get a Dark Knight Crossover in the future?

BeastProwl wrote:You think we'll get a Dark Knigh Crossover in the future?

Shadowman wrote:

BeastProwl wrote:You think we'll get a Dark Knigh Crossover in the future?

Probably not, Nolan has already shot that one down, if I remember right.

BeastProwl wrote:There is one thing I have to applaud this movie for though.
No Freaking Kryptonite