I'm going to admit, I liked "Superman Returns." Everyone hated it. But frankly, the most appealing thing for me about the character are not the powers or the cape--it's the fact that despite being from another planet, he's really the most emotionally human superhero of all. He grew up in a normal family with good, moral upbringing. He attempts the see the best in everyone. He's overly critical about himself, and does everything he can to do right. It's not unlike how humans try to live every day. And that to me is something I felt the last movie attempted to touch upon, and something I respected. On a side note, getting into "Man of Steel," I also must admit, I fully expected this movie to suck hard. I HATE HATE HATE Zack Snyder. "Sucker Punch" was the most pretentious, crap movie I'd ever seen--one I was on the verge of walking out of, even.
However, my hand to God, "Man of Steel" runs (or flies) circles around "Superman Returns". In fact it blows away "Returns" in the one major strength "Returns" had--humanizing the god-like character. And in this respect, to me, it's almost THE perfect Superman movie made to date. It doesn't just touch upon the idea of Superman being the most human superhero because of his upbringing and his emotions, it flat out rubs it in your face (partially because Zack Snyder doesn't understand subtlety). But subtlety aside, that is what I'm looking for in a Superman movie. And "Man of Steel" really nails it!
The best, most different thing the movie does, that no other Superman movie before it has done before is to use a non-linear approach that allows the audience to fully analyze all sides of the Superman character--the boy on the farm with the moral upbringing; the last son of a doomed planet; the messianic alien Prometheus sent among the humans to save us; and finally the responsible reporter at the Daily Planet (for a split second only, perhaps). All other Superman movies have only explored a fraction of that list, but through non-linear flashbacks, Nolan and Goyer have allowed us to see all of them to really understand the character behind the powers. It's something that really addresses the "Superman is not relatable because he's not human" argument. We have a movie here that shows us an angry Superman, a guilt-ridden Superman, and emotionally caring and cautious Superman. In other words, it does accurate justice to the essence of what makes the character who he is. For my money, this has never been done before. And it's something I think deserves the most praise in this film. Henry Cavill does a good job portraying this too. Much more emotionally well-rounded than the flat Brandon Routh, and even the eternally optimistic Christopher Reeve. Cavill's Superman is lost, emotionally repressed, but always trying his hardest to persist in doing what's right. This is a lot more complex than any other live-action interpretation has gotten (the Timm-verse animated Superman still wins over this in my opinion). What's amazing is that the movie even puts Superman to the ultimate test, making the character do something completely extreme at the end to ensure the safety of humanity. It's unheard of, but brilliant. So I must give a lot of credit to how the character was written and portrayed overall.
Another strength is Michael Shannon's Zod. What makes this interpretation of Zod work so well was not only the vicious, menacing performance from Shannon, but also the fact that his motivations and goals are actually sympathetic--he's a man programmed to ensure the survival of his nearly extinct species. It's something that is completely worthy of an evil scheme because there's a slight sense of justification behind this cause. And it's one that Superman would and should have every motivation to accomplish. He's alone in this world. The last of his kind. And among a species that completely ostracizes and fears him because he's different. He has every right to want his species to thrive over humanity. But he doesn't because of his human adopted parents, his moral upbringing and how much he cares about humanity. In essence Zod is what Superman should be, but what Superman isn't. Therefore he's a perfect foil to Kal-El. And as such, Zod's character and motives also serve to enhance Superman's character completely for the audience.
Putting aside the character analyses, I'd like to acknowledge that as decent as Shannon and Cavill are, the acting MVPs for the film should go to the Robin Hoods, Russell Crowe as Jor-El, and Kevin Costner as Jonathan Kent. Both give powerful performances, with many of Costner's scenes acting as the heart and soul of the movie--particularly the one flashback of watching his son run around in a red cape, while Crowe's scenes speak to courageousness, majesty, and heroism--enhancing Superman's duty as the protector of mankind. It's fantastic to see these 2 shine, and many times throughout the movie, I just wanted to see these two coaching and counseling their only son.
I think it's also interesting that this film is the only Superman film to feature an extended role for Lara-El, Superman's birth mother. I really truly respected that she had a larger role, since most movies she doesn't even have lines. I also think Diane Lane did a good job as Martha Kent, Superman's adoptive mother, acting as the sole living testament to the only home Superman grew to know.
I'd also like to point out that Hans Zimmer's score here is top notch. I love the new Superman themes. Everything comes across as grand, epic, and triumphant. I found myself listening to and humming the musical themes after the film. The score really does make everything tearfully sentimental during the touching moments of the film, and genuinely exciting during the action scenes. It's definitely one of the film's strongest aspects.
Faring less well are the crew of the Daily Planet. As interesting a narrative framing device as having Lois Lane investigate her savior is, Amy Adams is still not spunky enough as Lois. I feel like the way the character was written, the performance should have had more...moxy. Don't get me wrong, she's worlds better than Kate Bosworth, but she still doesn't seem to have as much fire as I think she was intended to have based on some of her lines (for example, "when you're done comparing dicks..."). And while I think Lawrence Fishburne would be great as Perry White, there really wasn't all that much of a point to his character or any of the other staff members outside of Lois, including pointless inclusion of the feminist take on Jimmy Olsen, "Jenny Olsen". I frankly never cared for these characters during the movie, and when in mortal danger, I figured they'd make it out just fine, so the suspense factor was diminished completely during scenes when they're in peril. Of the casualties being killed by the catastrophic climactic battle between Zod and Superman, why should we care about 3 Daily Planet employees when hundreds more are being crushed by debris? The movie gives us no real answer to that. I suppose this is forgivable because this is a Superman movie and the focus should be on him, but it'd be nice for us to be emotionally invested in the Daily Planet crew since they're legendary characters in the comic's mythology.
Now switching gears and focusing on the action, many of the set pieces are pretty fantastically orchestrated. Some of my favorite scenes are Superman's first flights, a really violent and exciting fight between Superman, Faora, and another one of Zod's men in Smallville, and the mega-battle fight sequence between Superman and Zod. And the visuals for these fights, along with a very imaginative version of Krypton in the beginning of the movie, are definitely strong points. However, and now comes the real judgement, these scenes can occasionally go on for too long, and end up looking insanely cartoonish after a while. And that's the unfortunate downside to having "Sucker Punch" direct your movie. Sooner or later his ADD impulses will kick in and make your movie look like cut scenes from the "Injustice" video game. *Sigh* For all the good Chris Nolan and David Goyer do in constructing a solid story with great character moments, we also get WWE Smackdown for Playstation, thanks to the one-track-video-game mind of Zack Snyder. It really puts a damper on a movie with such a strong character arc and ambition to explore deeper themes about what it's like to be Superman. Granted the movie needs to have action, but keeping the action simple and fun enough, without going overboard is valued in this genre. Case in point the climactic Battle for New York in "The Avengers." Or the Joker truck chase sequence in "The Dark Knight". Both of those movies, probably the pinnacle of the superhero genre, gave us like 3 really major incredible action sequences a piece, but made the non-action sequences just as interesting. "Man of Steel" was halfway there, until the action sequences themselves became the tedious aspect of the movie. In fact, one of the major unnecessary action sequences in the movie is a terrible looking tornado scene, which really destroys the impact of one of the more famous deaths in Superman lore. The fact that *spoiler alert* Jonathan Kent *spoiler alert* dies, not from natural causes or a heart attack no longer helps to emphasize the fact that at the end of the day Superman cannot save everyone. It instead serves to further the point that at certain times, he needs to take action. But the scene itself is so over-the-top ridiculous, that an amazing character like *spoiler alert* Jonathan Kent, *spoiler alert* with a great performance from *spoiler alert* Kevin Costner *spoiler alert* deserves much much better than being whisked away by a twister.
Nevertheless, complaining about "fun" scenes seems to be counter-productive when reviewing a summer blockbuster. And though I found it to be incredibly excessive, I still had fun with them, and with the movie as a whole--particularly with an amazingly strong exploration of the character. This may not be as good as "The Dark Knight" or "The Avengers." And it may not be the quintessential Superman movie of all time. But for now, it certainly is the best Superman movie to date. And I'm definitely looking forward to seeing this story continue, because I think WB is definitely starting to get on the right track. Overall, it's a step towards the quintessential Superman movie of all time. And I'm ready for the next steps.
Overall Rating: A-
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