Man of Steel

It's cute that they think that handcuffs
stop him.

I know I said I’d do a piece on the major changes in Marvel comics and how it would affect the greater Marvel-verse, but I decided that this would be more fun. I’ll do said editorial eventually but it’s going to be on the back burner for a bit.

On to Man of Steel. This movie was the 2013 reboot to the Superman movie franchise and the beginning of the DC cinematic Universe. It stars Henry Cavill as the Man of Steel, Amy Adams as Lois Lane, and Michael Shannon as General Dru-Zod. It was directed by Zack Snyder.

Like with the Superman movie profile, I’m not going to go into too much detail about the plot since its broad strokes are virtually identical to the original Superman film. Kal-El barely escapes the destruction of his home world Krypton and grows up on Earth as Clark Kent in the Midwest. He tries to live a relatively normal life until General Zod and his forces arrive to conquer the Earth. They clash, and Clark ultimately becomes Superman, champion of Earth. Do you think we could ever do a Superhero movie that skips the origin? Obviously it'd be a more popular one like Superman or Spiderman, but yeah, the rehashing of stuff I already know gets tiresome. When my Grandma Arland could probably give me a summary of a character's back story, yeah don't have to keep telling me about it.

As always the good first. I’d say the best element of this film was the redesign it did of Krypton and the Kryptonian technology. For better or worse the last few decades have been dominated by Kryptonian crystals. It was a good choice, very alien and far beyond our understanding but after nearly fifty years of that it gets a little dull. The new tech uses these magnetic bits. The bend and reshape themselves. They are used in everything from communication to defense. It’s very fluid and adaptable and looks really freaking cool. The redesign on the invading Kryptonian’s armor is really cool too, combining black leather and metal with this adaptive mask that is one part air helmet and one part intimidation overload.

Love the new look Zod.
Could use more neck protection though...

Cavill, Adams, and Shannon all deliver excellent performances as their respective characters. Lawrence Fishburne as the Daily Planet Chief Editor Harry White and the rest of the support cast is phenomenal as well. Kevin Costern is the weakest link but he’s not awful. And just gonna say it, what did it add to make Jimmy Olsen, Superman’s biggest fan and the Daily Planets best photographer, into Jenny Olsen? Sure it added one female role to a cast studded with dudes, but come on. You have an awesome Lois, a terrifying Faora, and an excellent Marth Kent, what does a lackluster gender swap bring? Zilch.

The added bits of making the adaptation to Earth’s atmosphere painful for Kryptonians does add to the overall necessity of Zod’s plan to terraform Earth into a New Krypton. Zod is such a slave to the “best interest” of Krypton that he can’t even entertain the possibility of just allowing his people to adapt to the new environment. Also, reworking Kryptonian culture into a Brave New World style dystopia of genetic engineering and artificial birth answers the somewhat glaring question of, “Why didn’t Zod, his best male soldiers and his female soldiers make more Kryptonians the old fashion way?” Because Zod can’t do anything that goes against the culture he was designed to protect. If you have no idea what the old fashion way of making organisms is, either ask your parents or seek professional help. 

The effects are great and I am just so happy I got more than 10 minutes of Kryptonain smack down. That's all I needed to like this movie and I got a surplus. Always nice.

Doomsday
Killing him makes him stronger. Do I need to say more?

Most of the bad of this film centers on the tone. Director Zack Snyder and the fellows over at Warner Bros. wanted to create a darker version of the character we know. And I think that is kind of dumb. Superman at his core is supposed to represent the best of sentient life, the ideal humanity for humanity to strive for. So this version that is darker, brooding, and not above breaking his morals (?) misses the key aspects of the character. Look at Superman: Doomsday, an animated film from 2007. The film is an animated retelling of the Death of Superman, in which he fights Doomsday, a monster created in the prehistoric era of Krypton with the terrifying ability to adapt to what kills him. Meaning, stab him with a sword, he regenerates and develops harder skin. Shoot him in the head, he regenerates and develops thicker bones. Drop a nuke on him, he regenerates, body becomes harder and he will probably develop an immunity to high levels of radiation. Super scary right?

Superman does stop Doomsday but dies in the process. Any more details about that movie will be a major spoiler but that version of Superman is the one we know. Moral, honest to a fault about most matters, controlled and always looking for the best possible solution in bad situations. The story is dark, filled with death and destruction but Superman is the same constant beacon that he always is. 

Also, all the product placement is just sad. IHOP, Seven Eleven, Pepsi, and I believe the Home Depot all have very large bits of screen time and it is just pathetic. I know you need marketing dollars for this kind of thing but honestly, could you be less obvious, please?

The final major problem I want to address is the ending, so if you don’t want a spoiler stop now.

I don't hate the suit.
I'm just saying it could be brighter.

When Superman fights Zod to the end and ultimately snaps his neck, it plays a scene that it really didn’t earn. If this Superman was like the original version, having a strong moral dilemma with killing then yeah, his scream of agony would be warranted. But he didn’t Kevin Coastner’s Jonathan Kent was very okay with killing to protect Clark and didn’t shy around it. I get that making yourself the last of your own species would hurt a lot, but come on, you don’t mourn an enemy like that. Also, there is the pretty glaring fact that there was one more option, KEEPING ZOD’S HEAD FROM MOVING. Kryptonian Heat Vision is perhaps their most devastating weapon but it is incredibly draining. It’s tied into how much sunlight they’ve absorbed, and using it diminishes their internal reserves. So every moment Zod kept firing his Heat Vision, the weaker he should have gotten and the easier it would be to hold his head back. Then it would’ve just been a matter of knocking him out and finding a cell to hold him. A tall order, since they haven’t found Kryptonite yet, but still better than the alternative.

Also, I don’t like the darker colors of Superman’s costume. If it’s not bright red and blue it’s just not Superman’s gear for me.

Overall I give this movie B-. The good elements are good, and the bad aren’t so awful it ruins the movie. At least it’s climax didn’t hinge on “You can overcome toxic substances if you just believe!” like Superman returns did. No, that’s not how things work. I’d suggest it to anyone interested in Superman, but not over any of the animated films I’ve seen surrounding the character. Superman Doomsday and Superman vs. The Elite are much better examples of the dark Superman dilemma. That’s all I have, so have a good day.

 http://www.posterplanet.net/batman/Superman-Man-Of-Steel-Handcuffs-Advance-Teaser-Movie-Poster.htm#.U82JALH65Vc

http://www.comicvine.com/forums/battles-7/raiden-mgr-r-vs-general-zod-and-co-mos-1508522/

 http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Doomsday_%28Superman:_Doomsday%29

 http://www.comicvine.com/forums/battles-7/us-military-vs-man-of-steel-1487913/