“Man of Steel” is “300” and “Watchmen” director Zack Snyder’s Superman origin story. Let me rephrase that: it’s Zack Snyder’s LONG, overly action-packed, Superman origin story.
We begin, where else but on the planet Krypton. Russell Crowe’s Jor-El and his wife send away their new, naturally-born son Kal-El off to Earth because their planet is about to self-destruct. The evil General Zod (Michael Shannon) kills Jor-El and vows that someday he will track-down Kal-El and the all-important codex that he possesses.
Once on Earth Kal-El becomes Clark Kent. And that means Clark Kent is Superman! (sorry, I couldn’t resist). As a boy Clark is confused as to why he has super powers. His guardian father (Kevin Costner) shows Clark the spaceship that brought him to Earth. Once he’s old enough Clark (played by British actor Henry Cavill) leaves home, and wanders around the country doing odd jobs and trying to avoid situations in which he has to use his strength and super abilities. And he still has many questions. Some of them are answered when he discovers an even larger spacecraft trapped in the ice. Jor-El re-appears (even though he’s dead – this is science fiction afterall) and explains a lot to Clark and to us. Clearly Crowe’s contract called for more than simply a cameo role.
Daily Planet reporter Lois Lane (Amy Adams) is also investigating the strange object frozen in the ice. Here’s where she and Clark/Superman meet for the first time. Of course, Ms. Lane wants to know more about this mysterious man, so she puts the pieces of Clark’s life together, tracks him down and becomes a key ally for Superman as he tries to defeat Zod, who’s come to capture Kal-El, wipe-out all life on Earth and re-build Krypton in its place.
It may seem like there’s a lot going on in “Man of Steel”, and there are some slight twists to the classic Superman saga. But this version is pretty straight forward. And don’t worry – there’s plenty of time for everything since the film runs two and a half hours. Snyder does a nice job of immediately pulling us in with an effective action sequence that also serves as the set-up. The rest of the first half of “Man of Steel” is dominated by dialogue, but these are also the most effective parts of the film. Normally I’m not a fan of the use of multiple flashbacks, but they work here, providing glimpses of events from Clark’s past that have shaped him as a human who’s not really human. Both Costner and Diane Lane are very believable as Clark’s parents.
Sadly, it’s the action scenes, which dominate the second half of “MOS”, that end-up ruining the movie. The final hour and a half is basically Superman (and joined later by the US Army) fighting General Zod and his army. The film becomes simply a series of clashes, crashes, explosions and battles, with tons of destruction. There is more shattered glass in “MOS” than in any film I can remember. And most of the confrontation sequences go on WAY too long. It doesn’t help that Snyder shows no imagination with the visuals, something he’s known for with his other films. There’s nothing impressive on-screen here, including Superman’s flying effects. If you can’t get some “wows” from a flying Superman you’ve really failed as a director. Cavill and Adams are pretty good in their scenes together but we aren’t given enough time to care about them or their growing relationship.
Christopher Nolan (who’s credited with producing and co-writing “Man of Steel”) was incredibly successful with his vision of the Batman story because those films were both dark and fun. To quote The Joker from “The Dark Knight”: Mr. Snyder, “Why So Serious?” There isn’t one attempt at humor or a single light-hearted moment in “MOS”. Someone needed to remind the director that the best superhero action films are entertaining (i.e. – “The Avengers”, the “Iron Man” trilogy). Even one “It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane…” line would have helped.
And yes, this is comic book material, but there are too many problems with basic logic in this script, including two whoppers in the final 5-minutes.
“Man of Steel” is rated PG-13 for all the action/violence and some language. It’s appropriate for kids 12 and up. I really had high hopes for this film, so, for me, this is one of the biggest letdowns of the year.
On The Official LCJ Report Card, “Man of Steel” gets a C-.