Man of Steel (2013)

Man of Steel (PG-13) - Review

"The Man of Steal"

A boy is set adrift after his family and culture are practically wiped out; now raised by his adopted parents he soon becomes a powerful symbol and force of good against the terrors of evil and genocide. Yes, Superman has always been an allegory for Moses in the Nile, dreamt up by writers Siegel and Shuester in the 30s for Action (soon to be DC) Comics, the first modern super hero (and the archetype for all to follow). Man of Steel is an attempt by Warner Brothers to restart the beleaguered franchise (the abysmal later entries into Reeve's run (3-4) and the misbegotten relaunch Superman Returns in 2006) by following in Christopher Nolan's Batman footsteps by making it grimmer, darker and more "realistic". It is a direct remake of "Superman II" and a smidgen of the original Superman (1978)(and in fact the movie is only a smidgen of that one's fun, charisma and heart, magically instilled by Richard Donner's and Chris Reeves' verisimilitude).

It starts on Krypton with all the nakedly obvious "lets make it cooler guys" twists. The SciFi is pushed hard, this is a Star Wars planet with oodles of CG and digital camera swish pans of the prequels complete with lazer guns, battle cruisers and giant flying reptile mounts. And here we get our first taste of a 2010 spin on the classic tale, the death of Krypton has been turned into a parable of Natural Resource ecology, apparently the High Council doesn't reduce/reduce/recycle and has let BigOil frack the planets core to it's own doom. Jor-El (father of Superman) and General Zod (Krypton's protector and military leader) attempt to convince the planet of their ways, through reason and force respectfully. Jor-El barely manages to send his son Kal-el to Earth in time while Zod and his soldiers are frozen in the Phantom Zone while the planet explodes.

The movie now violently skips forward to a grown up Clark Kent working North on various day jobs, flashing back to young Superboy's origins (all filmed in "Terrance Mallick Tree of Life vision"), an alien amongst adopted humans trying to fit in while hiding his enormous powers. Lois Lane is hot on his bod, tracking down leads and unveiling his true name while Clark finds messages from his past and computerized Father, learning his life story which must be carefully balanced with his Midwestern values and upbringing. But when Zod comes to earth to reclaim the Red Herring, Superman is caught between his heritage and his adopted race, seen with suspicion by Earthlings and as an traitor by the Kryptonians.  A fight is inevitable, one of such superpowered magnatude and collatoral damage to be measured highly against all Comic book fights (while also preying on 9/11/2001's ghosts).

Man of Steel is a much better film that Bryan Singer's creepy Superman Return in 2006. Zak Snyder (The Watchmen) avoids his patented slo-mo strutting and instead amps up the superpowered action to apocalyptic levels, sky scrapers fall like Lincoln Logs as Demi-Gods thunder and through each other through load bearing exploding walls left and right. Unfortunately the action involving humans steals a lot from big action movie set pieces before it, the self sacrifice ending of Independence Day, the global disasters of 2013, Star War's action and Dark Knight's dim mood. Some come across with a terribly sour note: Jonathan Kent's death (this time played by Kevin Costner) is so thickly dumb and martyrish to be laughable, General Zod (Michael Shannon from the exceptional Take Shelter) being a soulless soldier with no freewill of his own but to wipeout mankind has nothing else to do but try to look evil, Lois Lane (impish Amy Adams with a serious case of the bores) with a lazer gun to give her something to do in between plummeting to her savedom, Jor-El (Russel Crow with big shoes to fill) being forced from his scientist pinnings into an action role, Perry White (Lawrence Fishburne still looking for another franchise to sit around in) pulling coworkers from the re bar and concrete of a crumbled Metropolis (which is looking particularly September 11th-ish).

Fortunately, here comes Superman to save the day. This Supes doesn't get the majestic nostalgia filled upbringing of previous movies (Superman 1978), filled with Americana and teen aged angst (we only get glimpses). Perhaps he doesn't get to have his country mouse in the city moment, to show his hayseed upbringing and bullet proof morality, to believe a man can fly to one of the greatest film scores ever written (this new one doesn't even have a theme). But actor Henry Caville does nail the personality and look (particularity groomed for his sex appeal like its small screen hit Smallville), even if the script almost doesn't, though it does make good use of a PG13 rating. Unlike its recent predecessor, there is plenty for Supes to do and fight (almost too much at 2 1.2 hours), and it ends reasonably well and actually sets up hope that future movies will be more fun. What will they do without any remaining good Superman movies to remake (and previous few comics that will translate well to the big screen)? That has always been the curse of the Blue Bomber; as recognizable as any USA Pop culture icon imaginable and yet the most difficult to balance the myriad of intricate elements that make up his mythos. This one makes the original 1978 version seem effortless; a hard comparisons must be made as the scope and sweep and sweet corniness just fits the character better than grim bravado (Brando and Hackman and Kidder?  Tough act to follow).  In Man of Steel there is obvious strain and sweat on Superman's brow as he trys to maintain the momentum of the film; hard work even for someone who is nigh-on invincible.
 
6 Missing Red Underwears out of 10 (GOOD)