It's amazing to me that a character with the word 'Super' in his name could muddle around in mediocrity in film and TV for as long as Superman has. The original film in 1978 was revolutionary mainly due to the special effects. It truly made the audience believe a man could fly. Too bad the majority of the rest of the movie was a campy, if not boring outing that has not aged well. Superman II was fun, to be sure, but the fact that there was a noticeable director change midway through the film hurt it. Superman III and IV were both truly terrible films. Superman Returns was a tremendously lazy effort to play into the audience's nostalgia by having it be a sequel to Superman II, despite a 26-year separation. TV didn't fare much better for the boy scout, as Lois & Clark was a campy soap opera, and Smallville was a 10-year long cocktease that didn't deliver (don't get me fucking started on that finale). There have been good moments, sure, but even Superman deserves more than just that. He deserves a good film.
Now, he has one.
Man Of Steel was a perfect storm of a world-without-a-Batman film series; a super hot genre of Comic Book films, a great direction, and a Christopher Nolan with nothing to do. It was a great modern take on a classic hero without falling back on the nostalgia that may exist from works past. It shed a new light on maybe the oldest superhero still relevant in pop culture, and might have kickstarted the revival of the DC universe in film. I almost hate to say it, but MOS is to Superman what Batman Begins was for Batman. It was different from the source material, but in a fresh way. You know, as opposed to a 'why is Parallax a cloud? I hate everything' kind of way.
I honestly don't have much to say about this film except that everyone should go see it. I'm not usually an advocate of the 3D movement, but if possible, go see it in 3D. The visuals are at the spectacular level that I have come to expect from Zack Snyder. It doesn't matter how you feel about his work, they are always stunning to look at. The look of the Kryptonian tech, the scenery, everything looks phenomenal. This is complimented by a near-perfect tone for this post-Dark Knight style of Comic Book film. Superman has never been this dark. It's not Batman by any means, but the optimistic shinyness that Clark typically represents is not prominent here. Instead, it's a kind of mask for the conflicting humanity inside, almost like Kal-El is at odds with Clark and Superman is the result. It's a great way for the audience to relate to a character that might be the hardest to relate to. I call him the boy scout because, up until MOS, that's what he's been: the prototypical, do-no-wrong lawful good perfect guy. That guy is nowhere to be found here, and it's awesome.
When Henry Cavill was cast as Clark, I think I was the only one I knew that 1) knew who he was, and 2) thought it was a good choice. I'm glad to say that I'm totally vindicated here because he was spot-fucking-on as Superman, through and through. I was more hesitant about Amy Adams, who is very hit or miss with me. She was great in films like The Fighter, but I couldn't stand her in Enchanted. I had no idea what to expect but was pleasantly surprised by her performance. I think a lot of credit should also go to the script for making her look like an actually decent journalist and not the damsel in distress that just herp-derps her way into trouble. But of course, since I'm a heel guy, the award goes to Michael Shannon for his turn as General Zod. There was a lot of potential to go nostalgic, as Terence Stamp's 'Kneel Before Zod' line has been immortalized by pop culture. Thankfully we stayed away from that, and Shannon made Zod his own character who was both sinister and sympathetic at the same time. The character reminded me of the type of antagonist that Loki was in Thor and The Avengers, or John Harrison was in Star Trek Into Darkness. Great job all around.
If there was a complaint that I have (and of course, I have one), it's the battles between Superman and Zod or his goons were too Michael Bay-ish in their presentation. It would be naive to say that I wasn't expecting there to be heavy CGI in a Superman film, but a lot of the scenes went a little far with it. Also, the film did that Transformers thing, where it was fast-paced and extremely close up, to the point that at times I had no idea what was happening. It went from that to landscaping scenes of people getting thrown through things. There was no happy medium. Snyder's work has often featured well-produced slow motion fights, and while they might not have well accentuated the superspeed and such that was being used during the fight, the film would have benefited from some slower paced slugfests between Zod and Clark.
That's it. Finally. I'm very happy with this film. It is, without a doubt in my mind, the best Superman adaptation in film. I'm glad to notice the impact that The Dark Knight has had on the genre, especially in the DC side of things, and hopes that any following films will take note in one way or another. I'm hoping that this will motivate the production of DC-based films, as Iron Man did for Marvel. It's also clear that Nolan, while in a producer's capacity as opposed to director's, still has some influence over the tone and style of a film and should be allowed to have it. Snyder was a great pick for director, and I hope he sticks with the franchise.
Welcome to the 21st century, Superman. We've been waiting for you.
Now go re-do Green Lantern, because damn.
Knight Owl
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