Either superhero movies are getting better
and better or my standards for them are crumbling to the point where spandex is
all I need for contentment. For the sake of my pride I'll go with the former
explanation and say that with so many of these movies zipping out of the
box office lately, filmmakers everywhere have really gotten it down to an art.
As far as my personal background on the
topic goes, I do need to make a few things clear. First of all I am in no way
an expert on comics, especially on the Superman canon. Only in the past three
years or so have I been inching my way into the land of comic books, so while I
do like to think that I know significantly more than the average Joe, this is
likely the pinnacle of my achievements in the field. Give me time! For right
now understand that this review comes from a comic book novice, essentially.
For what it's worth, and without further
ado, I give you my very own impression of Man
of Steel...
I enjoyed Man of Steel. Part of the
reason has to be my feelings walking into it, which is a factor I believe to be
massively important in terms of determining movie enjoyment. Prior to my seeing
the film, the rumor mill seemed to be communicating a very negative vibe for
the movie, so my expectations upon seeing it were very low, which is the best mindset with which to see a movie (provided that your expectations
aren't stubborn enough to discourage enjoyment). I do think this made it easy
for the Man of Steel to soar above my expectations. I can understand how people
may have been let down by this movie, but I was expecting, for whatever reason,
garbage. I never even liked Superman. I didn't know enough about him to base an
opinion.
So, in a long winded fashion, I enjoyed the
film. But why?
Well, I really liked what this movie did
with a character that everybody knows. Despite my having just explained that I
know nothing about Superman, general public knowledge includes a lot of
information regarding the character and his world. He's iconic, which is a
hard, hard thing to represent effectively, and I think that Henry Cavil
deserves all of the props for this one. He was inspiring and believable
as Superman, which is quite an accomplishment. I liked that Henry Cavil played
a very mature and grown up Clark Kent who was trying to figure out what was
going on. The story jumps in at a very nice point in his life where he is still
trying to understand himself but also gleefully past the emotional turmoil of
whiney puberty. He was also beautiful and enormous, but that's not really
significant to the artsy, filmy quality of the picture.
That artsy, filmy stuff was part of the
next thing I was impressed by, and what first turned me on to the idea of a good
Superman movie - the look of the movie. Man of Steel looks really, really good.
Krypton looks fantastic, and in particular, the Kryptonian armor was really
neat, but number one has to be the environments. Being able to fly made it so
that this movie sort of seemed to go everywhere very fast, but at the moments
where it paused the visuals were astounding, especially in space. It was a
visual delight to see this film.
I also discovered two things that really
attached me to Superman as a character. The first was a wonderful little irony
that I can only hope is present in the comics; I got the impression that almost
all things associated with Krypton are detrimental to Superman. It's like his
home and his people that he's been longing for are his Kryptonite. As I said
earlier, I don't know very much about Superman at all, and I don't know what
Kryptonite actually is other than a green rock, but if it turns out to just be
anything from Krypton, then that is just a beautiful, tragic, and almost
Shakespearean kind of plot device. His home is poison to him. I get tingles
just thinking about it. Imagine what that must do to him? Storytelling delight!
The second was that because he can do
anything and has essentially no weaknesses (while on Earth), the movie turns
their greatest dilemmas away from whether or not Superman can do
something - he's Superman, of course he can - to whether or not he should.
To be honest after some reflection I think this was my imagination a little
bit. The movie does focus heavily on whether or not he can accomplish this or
that mighty feat, but there are definite moments peaking through where they put
their mind to what I think is always the more interesting avenue - the moral dilemma. It's the best part of
Star Trek, and I think it may be the best part of Superman. It was wonderful.
They presented our hero with a choice that had no good outcome, and in the end
he made a choice that was a little bit good and a little bit horrible which he
now has to live with. I didn't get the feeling that this was hugely what they
were going for in the movie, rather I think their intention was to justify the
actions of the villains, but I think it was possibly the best part of the plot,
or at the very least the most pleasantly disconcerting. Again, storytelling
tingles of delight.
One last thing that I have to mention is
the really interestingly significant role that Superman's biological father
(played by Russell Crowe - me loves
Russell Crowe) had in the movie. They had to bring him in for introductions,
explanations, and the only hope of anyone understanding what was going on with
the alien technologies. All in all, it sounds like an awkward, all-knowing, convenient
plot device sort of role, but they nailed
it. Russell Crowe does a lovely job and they take advantage of his super-acting
to explain everything from Superman's weird Kryptonian name to the things that
are usually the most difficult for super hero movies to explain without
becoming childish, the suit. Loved it. Loved it. Loved it.
There were downsides, of course. In
particular what bothered me is a continuation of the annoying habit these movies
have for really atrocious one-liners. Thor was bad for this, and Superman is no
better. The line between funny, witty, and just plain painful is apparently
difficult to grasp. I imagine these lines are designed to show a "real-world"
reaction to men in suits flying around, but they just feel very unnecessary and
I consider them to be a very cheap shot at humor. I think the best way to show
the difference between nice, classy, witty lines and these atrocious assaults
to the ears is to compare the "I think he's hot" line (which I may
not be quoting accurately, but you'll spot it in the film as the point where I
sincerely hope you cringe a few undesirables snicker) compared to Lois'
"welcome to The Planet," line. One is terrible. The other is not. It
may seem as though I'm making a lot of fuss for a very small thing but I can't
help it, because these lines really will ruin, perhaps not a whole movie, but
certainly a scene. As evidence I invite you to think back to the embarrassingly
painful "oh my god" moment of Thor. That is not good writing.
