Review of Man of Steel (2013) by Clint W — 21 Jul 2016

It's nice to see the Superman franchise take a different direction from the all-to-goody and cheesy style it was known for on its previous franchise. Man of Steel is a film directed by Zack Snyder and written by David S. Goyer. My expectations for this film was not very high, even though it has great names working in this project. After seeing it, It was better than expected but the film does have flaws that may not go so well with me now but may eventually be forgiven for in repeated viewings or after the release of sequels.

David Goyer is a type of writer who has passion for what he writes for and has a vision of his adaptations. He seems to have a deep understanding of the source material and sees it's potential, more than we do. Though I admire his contributions in creating a realistic and grounded Batman franchise; I did not like the way Batman Begins is written. I found the origin story a bit lackluster and felt needed a little bit more work. It seems what he has done for Man of Steel is very similar but definitely an improvement in telling the origin story of an iconic character. His screenplay keeps Kal-El grounded by giving it a sense of humanity; having this man who not only is special but also goes through similar things that us normal people can either sympathise or empathise with. In comparison to the the first and second Superman film, I felt that this film was definitely superior as it gave the villain a more interesting goal and giving Kal-El a more realistic touch like making sacrifices for the good of himself and mankind. An issue that I had with this film is not something that Goyer could really change as it is important to base on the source material, but the origin of Superman has been so well known that not a lot of things here shock me. The film deals with themes of hope, morality and destiny. I think the sequels for this film will definitely improve as it allows for more opportunities for original stories and a focus less on the foundations but rather the potential of what it can be.

Zack Snyder is a director that is definitely more well known for his visual style rather than other aspects of his filmmaking. He continues his trademark for visual flair and glitter in this film and I felt that it works. His choice of making the action take up a significant portion of the running time did not annoy or bore me. The action oriented scenes in this film is over the top but isn't Superman's story always have been over the top? A few of my friends after the film did feel that the action sequences were a little stretched and did feel tiresome at times but I thought every moment was entertaining and crazy. The scope of these scenes are huge and trumps Whedon's effort on his comic book flick, The Avengers. I wish that Snyder executed better with the film's climax as it did not feel grand enough and the stakes didn't feel as large as it was before that last fight. The use of flashbacks in this film, is obviously something Goyer composed, is much more effective than Nolan's Batman Begins. I cared more for Kal-El's past rather than Wayne's past and it is all due to Snyder's ability to make something visually exciting and Goyer's dramatic writing. I did notice that certain moments look and feel very religious; created by either by the focus on Kal-El's placement in mankind, or the blocking of a certain scene, or the way a scene is lit and photographed. Snyder will definitely not win or even may be nominated for Best Director but I felt that he brought justice to a franchise that was considered doomed and in need of a fresh start.

Amir Mokri is well known as an action cinematographer. His last film was a Transformers film, so it meant that the scenes will be shot in order to support visual effects rather than the effects enhancing the photography. I was annoyed with this at first but then at times I started to become immersed by the film that it did not become of a major annoyance. The most tedious aspects of his photography is the frequent zooms of objects of importance in wide action oriented shots; after the first few times it was done in the scenes of Krypton, it started to become a frustration and took me out of the film. The last hour of the film though was fine and was way too exciting for me to nitpick on. The sequences, in particular the flashbacks, involving the Kent farm are at times shot very beautifully and could be regarded as pretentious; It felt like something out of a Terrence Malick film. Oh such beauty, but sadly I felt that the film needed a little more of that especially since the film has a large philosophical theme.

I'll keep this one short. Hans Zimmer has done memorable scores of films like Lion King, The Dark Knight trilogy and Gladiator. I didn't feel that his work for this film will be ranked among the top of his film scores as it wasn't memorable, but it is effective. I just hoped for something memorable like in his previous efforts.

The actors in this film are fine. Cavill does a great job as Kal-El, and Shannon was fine as Zod but they were not defining roles by a long shot. Amy Adams as Lois was definitely a highlight as her portrayal of this strong woman who does her best to chip in and sometimes tries to get what she wants, is a delight to see. The supporting cast, including Crowe, Costner, Lane, Fishburne, and Meloni, were fine but nothing that would steal the scene.

A fun summer blockbuster action film with underlying layers of hope and destiny. It is exciting to watch but contains a flaws that hold the film back. If you are familiar with Batman Begins, then parts of this will feel similar. I say, give it a try but don't expect anything prestigious.