Remember when The Dark Knight came out and we were all worried that every movie that comes after is gonna be all dark and gritty? Ladies and gentlemen witness the ultimate casualty; Man of Steel, from the makers of The Dark Knight themselves. I'm all for realism, but making it somber and humorless doesn't equal realistic. Lessening the color tone doesn't automatically equal dark. The original Superman movie was dark at times with topics of inevitable death. Point is you can introduce drama even when the tone is upbeat. The muted tone just doesn't fit, so when Superman gets his costume for the first time it's a contradiction. This is the costume that’s supposed to represent Superman? This is supposed to represent hope? He is supposed to inspire people with a dark, muted colored suit that looks unwelcoming and even somewhat intimidating?
Not that Clark's journey to being Superman would have been satisfying otherwise, because for a movie about choice, Clark doesn't make much for his own. When he becomes Superman it doesn't feel like a big understanding of what he needs to do, it's more like he's being led by his two dads with vague talks of destiny hammered in on him so he just goes along with it knowing nothing else to do with his life. There is no character development. We're treated to flashbacks of Clark's childhood but with paper-thin narrative of just snapshots of big events. Where were the nuances, the small moments of family bonding that make the big events matter? Sure we might see some glimpses, but then the flashback stops, hindering the momentum.
That being said, Superman is proven to be written closely to the comics when it's time to show himself to the world and I like the portrayal. He is a sincere guy with an optimistic sense of confidence with how humanity will eventually view him and with honesty to the point that he is open enough about his age and homeland. It's as if Superman is a real persona and not a made up personality. Henry Cavill plays the part expertly; even at the beginning with little dialogue, he owns it. And despite my opinions with the costume, he fits it like a glove. I just hope that we got more into the character's mind more than the movie allows. Take for example when Superman kills Zod; it’s a potent and shocking scene, and I love that Superman is presented with a no win scenario of either kill the villain or save human lives but never in the movie has it been established that Superman doesn’t kill.
"Oh,the memes you'll have in-store for me"
Lois Lane isn’t any better either. Granted this is the first time I ever believed that she is a Pulitzer-prize winning reporter, with Amy Adams in the role, and I love the new dynamic of her knowing Clark's secret, but they made the character indistinguishable from any other “strong female character” that’s been going round these days. She might as well be called Rachel Dawes and it wouldn’t be much of a stretch. Where’s the spunk? Where’s the hard-ass attitude that makes her so unique and endearing? She is constantly being shoehorned into places where she is a redundancy, as if she is only in this film by duty of love interest.
In fact, all the cast are tailor-made but wasted with the material, thus no one is exceptional. Laurence Fishburne is a great casting choice for Perry White, but all he's used for is for us to barely care when he gets endangered. Jonathan Kent played by Kevin Costner is just terrible. It is the first time I ever hated Jonathan Kent and the only person I hate in the movie. Almost everything he says has questionable moral value, yet he is played up as a great man full of wisdom who can do no wrong. He doesn't even feel like a real person. Clark has lived a terrible life because of his powers-- but why does it feel like it was Jonathan's confusing teachings that did that? I liked Martha Kent though as a loving mother, played by Diane Lane.
The military human characters are fun especially Colonel Hardy played by Christopher Meloni. Stereotypes? Yes, but portrayed as brave people in the face of over whelming danger and are very likeable.
Most of all, I like the Kryptonian characters. I like Russel Crowe as Jor-El who plays him with gravitas. I'm a little confused on his overall plans for Clark, but I can go along with it fine. I have fun with ghost Jor-El and his powers- it's one of the few instances where the film doesn't take itself seriously and have fun.
The villain, General Zod is great. Sympathetic in his cause with admirable determination to do what is necessary: You feel the drive; every bit of anger, every bit of desperation for his people. And in the end, you feel the lost of purpose and the anger that comes with it. Say what you will on how over the top Michael Shannon plays the role, he did it right when the character demands it.
And then there's Faora, played by Antje Traue. I love you, girl, you stole the show. You sold every dialog and fight scene with your cold-eyed delivery. Bobba Fett, eat your heart out.
Now, onto the action scenes, like the rest of the movie it’s a mixed bag. On one hand I was in “WOW” while watching it unfold. It’s the big Superman fights we’ve been waiting for since CGI have been invented. On the other hand, damn is it long! And when one ends, it goes to the next big action scene immediately. They don’t bleed, they don’t sweat; no injuries, no ripped clothes; it just…keeps…on…going. When we said we want superman to punch something, we didn’t mean over and over and over again. Worse, for a guy who has been thought all his life to not to use his powers carelessly, he has surprisingly little awareness of his surroundings , as if the cool "explosions" is more important than what the character stands for. How can Superman be such a great example if he encourages fights in small towns and big cities? Spears bad guys to gas stations and fast food restaurants? Punches them through building after building? And again, we don’t get to see inside his head; there is no internal conflict to justify any of it, until, coincidently, it’s time to kill Zod. With all his altruism he probably killed thousands.
"Well, they helped too"
I have never seen a comic book movie with such polarizing reactions as The Man Of Steel before. It’s either you love it, like it, okay with it, or hate it. It’s a good time to make friends. And I understand all subgroups’ plight; for every bad, there are still redeeming stuff in the movie to focus on. But in my opinion, while it pains me to say it as a Superman fan: it’s a very flawed movie that is just okay. But I didn’t watch a 250 million dollar Superman movie made by, Christopher Nolan, Zack Snyder, and David Goyer with a trailer that promises a deep character study in a vain of a Terrence Malick picture, to be just okay.
6/10