Man of Steel

Starring: Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Michael Shannon, Russell Crowe, Kevin Costner, Laurence Fishburne, Diane Lane, Richard Schiff, Christopher Meloni, Ayelet Zurer
Directed by: Zack Snyder
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Action, Adventure
2013

Times Seen:
Tim: 2

Summary: Clark Kent (Henry Cavill) is forced to embrace the hidden true nature of who he is when an alien race descends to Earth and threatens the population unless he reveals himself.

Review:

Tim: I have a really, really hard time figuring out what I think about Man of Steel. There's aspects of this film that are just so cool. Some of those are perhaps the greatest in any Superman movie. Unfortunately, there's another side to this film- one that is flawed and disappointing. When you add up so many strengths and some severe weaknesses, what does that leave you? In the end, I would consider this a very good movie- a solid, entertaining movie. However, it never realizes its full potential, and it offers up some very controversial, very questionable sequences as well. In the end, I'd consider this a good movie, but it's somewhat troubling as well.

One of the film's greatest strengths is the special effects. This movie is incredible to look at, and it has hands-down the best special effects of any Superman movie. It makes the whole idea of a man of steel seem believable and possible in our modern world. I loved that the effort of Zack Snyder and those involved was to ground everything in realism, to make this crazy, outlandish story seem plausible. That's perhaps the best aspect of this entire movie. The very idea of Superman is crazy and impossible- so how do you root a crazy, impossible idea in a world to which we can relate? In many ways, this is the most realistic Superman movie ever made. I love that the believability was a priority for this film.

The cast is a bit hit-or-miss, although it's fantastic on paper. Henry Cavill was an interesting choice to play Superman. While he certainly looks like the Man of Steel, I didn't love him in the role. I just never felt any connection to him- he wasn't interesting or charismatic enough. I felt like it was a very surface level performance. He didn't do anything particularly bad, but he never made me feel invested in him. The same could be said for Amy Adams. She was Lois Lane, but I couldn't tell you a single thing about her, other than her profession. There was absolutely no character development. I was scratching my head when Lois and Superman fell in love. Why was that? They barely had any conversations, there was no development of their relationship. They got together because the comics said they were supposed to- the movie offers us no reason why this would happen. That was a huge flaw.

Michael Shannon, on the other hand, was an incredibly inspired casting choice for General Zod. I honestly can't imagine another actor in Hollywood trying to pull this role off- he's absolutely, unequivocally perfect for the role. He had the ideal balance of intelligence and brutality. He gave the best performance, as the complex, multifaceted villain, was the most interesting character in the film. I have to admit I loved the casting of Kevin Costner and Diane Lane as Clark's Earth parents. Russell Crowe was good as Jor-El, although I was surprised his role was as big as it was. Still, he was a nice addition to the cast. I also loved the casting of Laurence Fishburne as Perry White. It was a great example of how to make these superhero movies more diverse and contemporary. I like Fishburne a lot, so I was glad to see him play this role. While the supporting cast is quite excellent, they almost overshadow the leading man and woman.

I do need to talk a little bit about the level of destruction in this film. I get that the idea was to show what it would be like if godlike beings fought on Earth. I love destruction as much as the next guy, but it just felt a little much to me. The level of destruction is mind-numbing. It was almost too much to fathom, when you have these people flying through buildings and wrecking havoc on everything around them. I loved the special effects and these fight scenes were incredibly well choreographed, but it was almost too much. When the first film in a franchise nearly destroys the world, where do you go from there? While we're talking about destruction, I'll just briefly mention the incredibly controversial ending to the Superman-Zod fight. I understand why they ended it that way, but it does feel a little strange to make Superman break his one rule.

There are a lot of things I loved about Man of Steel- the special effects were incredible, this is the most realistic Superman movie ever made, I loved the grittiness of the film, and the supporting cast is incredible. However, there were also some major flaws- no chemistry between Cavill and Adams, severely underdeveloped main characters, too much destruction, questionable changes to the Superman persona, and a bland portrayal of Clark Kent. This is truly a movie with high highs and low lows. In the end, I still believe this is a good movie, but this doesn't get to the highs of a Dark Knight or even an Iron Man. While this is a good movie, it still fell short of expectations.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating- 7.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises, Green Lantern