MAN OF STEEL REVIEW

About The Movie:

In a small twist from the usual Superman origin story, Man of Steel shows us why Krypton exploded (the powers that be were mining the core of the planet to the point of extinction). Jor-El, their lead scientist, implored the counsel to let him send his son to another world so that the Kryptonian line would continue, as his son was the first natural birth on the planet for centuries. However the military leader, General Zod, had other ideas and tried to mount a coup against the counsel. Jor-El was able to send his son, along with the blueprints for keeping the Kryptonian race alive, to Earth and Zod and his minions were captured and sent to the Phantom Zone. 33 years later, Clark Kent is alive and well on Earth, but Zod is coming after him, and life on Earth hangs in the balance.

What Is Good/Bad About The Movie:

Taking a cue from the bad reception to Superman Returns, Zack Snyder and company decided to follow the path of The Dark Knight trilogy and make a darker version of the American hero. There is very little humor in the movie. From the opening moments on Krypton to the last moments of the film, the movie stays dark and gritty and violent. The one thing about everything about this movies it leave you a happy glow. Even in his darkest moments there was a connection between Superman and the audience and you really felt what he was feeling. It was like the filmmakers allowed us to feel what he felt, and instead just showing us what he was going through. Henry Cavill, who will undoubtedly get hundreds of millions of male (and female) fans overnight, did a commendable job as Superman, but when you look back at the film there was very little emotion on his face. However he manages to make us feel happiness, sadness, anger, and love. ESPECIALLY during the massive anguish with his final, shocking, act to save the lives of the humans he loved, I felt connected to him.

Whatever you think about his films, there's no denying that it more than a summer flick. The storyline in Man of Steel was relatively straightforward and I loved that we more of his back story. Visually the movie was top-notch, there's no question about that. Both Smallville and Metropolis looked constantly creepy and amazing, and the special effects were tremendous, especially during the final fight sequence. The movie itself takes a little while to get going. The Krypton sequence at the start was pretty good, and filled with things I couldn't have imagined, but then we get into the story on Earth and the pacing slows down. What I did find interesting is that we never follow Clark as he grows up. Instead, his adolescence is shown through multiple flashbacks, which was a good technique. The rest of the cast was solid, with Amy Adams doing a really good job with Lois Lane. Going with the spirit of the film, Lois was a harder edged reporter who gets embedded with troops and flies to remote parts of the world to best career military men in a battle of words. She doesn't look like the toughest girl in the world, but she holds her own. I thought Russell Crowe as Jor-El was very good and the other actor that really stood out was Christopher Meloni as Colonel Nathan Hardy and I cannot forget Michael Shannon as Zod and some of the powerful moments and character beats from Clark Kent and his human parents Kevin Costner as Jonathan Kent and Diane Lane as Martha Kent.

I think Man of Steel is a good start to a trilogy and I am sure the other films to come will truly be greats.

Overall Grade: A