Review: Man Of Steel

Review: Man Of Steel

Director: Zack Snyder

Cast: Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Michael Shannon, Russell Crowe

"You will give the people an ideal to strive towards. They will race behind you. They will stumble, and they will fall. But in time, they will join you in the sun."

Russell Crowe's carefully chosen words in the trailer for Man Of Steel really sum up the struggle that Superman, and many of DC's superhero franchises as a whole, have faced over the last decade. With the exception of The Dark Knight Trilogy, DC have failed to make their selection of superheroes appeal to the mass market, with efforts such as Superman Returns, Green Lantern and Watchmen failing to garner much more than criticism. 

Until now.

Is Superman the best superhero of them all? Well, the clue is in the name but certainly he's one of the most definitive. Other than the Christian cross, the 'S' (although it's not an S, according to this movie's Superman) is one of the most recognisable symbols in human history - and Man of Steel is about to become one of the most aesthetically astounding superhero movies of all time. 

Although for all its visual wham and bam, Man of Steel does have a cold heart that even Superman  couldn't blast through. Producer Christopher Nolan's trademark solemnity? Check. How about an antidote to Marvel's incessantly colourful, witty heroes? Check. Okay, how about some humour? Hmm, we seem to be lacking in that department.

The story still sticks though, and it's in interestingly non-linear fashion that we're fed the real origins of Superman a.k.a Kal-El a.k.a Clark Kent. From the stunning opening sequence depicting his birth to the moment his escape pod crash lands on Earth, we've never been this close to Clark's past before, and the touching sequences between him and his adoptive father Jonathan are our window to the values that Superman was brought up with. 

Why his adoptive father? Clark (or Kal-El) is an orphan, an alien from another world: Krypton. When Krypton's core decides enough is enough and implodes (global warming, military rebellion, take your pick), Kal El's father sends his son to Earth in an effort to preserve both his life and the future of the Kryptonian race. Raised by farmers Jonathan and Martha Kent, Clark struggles to adapt to the real world and the suggestion that it isn't ready for him and his superpowers.

Flash forward into the future and Clark is a grown man whose power is tested when a former Kryptonian General Zod attacks Earth to find him and rebuild Krypton on our planet. 

Man of Steel is an oddly paced outing - the first ten or so minutes on Krypton are fantastic, a visually astounding build up of Superman's birth, but afterwards it's a very long slog of exposition as we follow Clark's upbringing. It's all essential to the character though, and the movie ensures that Clark is the star of the show as he struggles with his identity. Henry Cavill is a decent Superman, if a little bland - whether it's the script or the actor himself, one of the most frustrating things about him is his refusal to crack a smile. Even Bruce Wayne laughed now and again.

As for comparisons with Nolan's Batman trilogy, DC have chosen to annihilate realism in favour of stunning extra-terrestrial set pieces. In many ways, Man of Steel is an intelligent sci-fi masquerading as a superhero movie rather than some 'Tesseract' nonsense, with Krypton coming across as a more gloomy and stunning Pandora (the world in Avatar) while Earth itself houses the well-written characters dealing with the sudden changes in their world.

Of those characters, Amy Adams' Lois Lane gets the most screen time, functioning as the damsel in distress, the nuisance poking her nose into Clark's life and the love interest all at the same time. The narrative flaws poke out a little here as, predictably, no matter how much trouble any of the side characters are in, it's inevitable that Superman will save them in the end.

He does it in style though - with Zack Snyder at the helm, it was a given that Man of Steel would look fantastic. The first time that Superman takes to the skies, the visuals are supreme - from those handheld zoom shots to the long-shot scenes of our hero pummelling his fists forward through the air, it seems impossible that he'll go any faster. And then he does.

Really the only thing left to say is that the running time could easily be trimmed; this feels like a much larger director's cut rather than a theatrical release due to the seemingly never-ending exposition and dialogue in the first hour or so. We understand that this is Superman's origin story and we need details, but there is a limit and 144 minutes seems a little too long, particularly in the final battle. The pacing is such that when the action kicks off, it quickly becomes tiring watching Henry Cavill and Michael Shannon destroying Metropolis in their conflict. 

Now that we've got the usual tale of laboured beginnings out of the way though, the inevitable sequels should prove to be something spectacular indeed. 

Summary

The seemingly invincible Superman had been defeated by the mainstream cinema audiences - until Zack Snyder and Christopher Nolan teamed up to give us what is undoubtedly Clark Kent's best movie so far. The pacing is very off though and Cavill himself still needs to prove that he can carry the character of Superman on his shoulders, but if this is an indicator of a new interconnected movie franchise for DC, then bring on the rest of the Justice League gang. As Superman's solo outing, however, Man of Steel is a success. Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's Man of Steel's high score! Sorry...

8/10 - Great

See it if you liked: Sucker Punch (2011), The Dark Knight Rises (2012), Iron Man 3 (2013)