Predicted Rating: 4.5 Stars
Directed by: Zack Snyder (Watchmen, 300). Starring: Henry Cavill (Blood Creek), Kevin Costner (Dances with Wolves), and Russell Crowe (Gladiator).
After discovering the imminent destruction of their planet Krypton, scientist Jor-El (Crowe) and his wife Lara send their new born baby, Kal-El, to Earth in order to save the Kryptonian race. Kal-El assumes the identity of Clark Kent (Cavill) on Earth and on a work trip to the arctic, he discovers his true identity. However, journalist Lois Lane (Amy Adams) also finds out the truth. When the former military leader of Krypton, General Zod, attacks Earth is search of Kal-El/Clark Kent and to ultimately destroy the human race it is up to Kent to assume the identity of Superman and save man kind.
In the past 10 or so years there have been a number of "reboots" in the superhero genre. For those playing along at home, a "reboot" is when a director, producer and/or studio decide that they would like to put their influence on a popular comic book character. Usually these are not one off movies, but turn into an entire series. Recently we have had Thor, Iron Man, Hulk (twice), Captain America (all leading to the Avengers), X-Men, Spider-Man (twice), Batman and now Superman for the second time. The thing that frustrates me most about reboots is that I feel that the first movie is often wasted. This is because whoever initiated the reboot insists on retelling the back story of the hero. As I already know things like how Spider-Man got his powers and why Batman decided to become a vigilante I feel like three-quarters of the movie is wasted. This is why most of the time I look forward to the sequel more because it focuses more on the villain (think the Dark Knight). Unfortunately Man of Steel does spend a significant amount of time on the back story. However, I do see the reasoning behind the studio's decision to do this as there would be a number of people who are not aware of the story of Superman. The ultimate goal of this film is to make money so diving straight into the deep end might turn viewers away.
The avid readers of this blog will be aware of my many movie theories, which include Rumer Willis Syndrome, the Deschanel Conundrum and the Vow Effect. Here I will discuss something I like to call the Christopher Nolan Influence. In the past most superhero movies are light hearted and always have a happy ending, think Tim Burton's Batman and the Christopher Reeve Superman series. Since the success of Nolan's The Dark Knight, superhero movies have become dark and twisted focusing more on emotion and exposing the weaknesses of our hero. The only recent superhero movie to buck this trend is the Avengers (thank you Joss Whedon). Man of Steel has fallen victim to the Christopher Nolan Influence. Granted he is a producer and writer of the film but the studio could have gone for someone different as a creative consultant. However, I really think his influence works for this film. If there is to be a Justice League Film, and I would give anything to see it come about, all the lead up films need to be of a similar style. Seeing Nolan's name on the credit gives me that glimmer of hope that there will be a Justice League film in the not to distant future.
An interesting thing to study in this film is the relationship between Zack Snyder (director) and Christopher Nolan (producer). Both are experienced film makers with their unique styles so I am curious to see how much Nolan will demand a seat in the director's chair or will he let Snyder do all the work. In the end it is obvious that Snyder was allowed to have a huge influence on the action scenes because they have his unique styling as seen in 300 and Suckerpunch. However, in the more dramatic scenes, such as the one where Superman is arrested, Nolan clearly takes the wheel. This relationship is similar to the one between Stephen Spielberg and Tobe Hooper in Poltergeist. Hooper (director), a master of gore horror after directing The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, was given the more crude, shocking scenes whilst Spielberg (producer) was given the more intricate, suspenseful scenes.
In the end, Man of Steel s a really really good movie. I mean really good. It is very well paced, has solid character development and has a great story. I was thoroughly entertained. My only gripe about the movie is that the end fight scene was a little too long. In an attempt to top the destruction bill seen in the Avengers, Man of Steel over stayed it's welcome by about 10 minutes.
Overall: One of the better films so far this year. 5 Stars
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