Man of Steel

I'm not sure I can think of a more frustrating movie than Man of Steel. When it works, it really works and when it doesn't, it really doesn't. There's not a lot of middle ground where it's just okay. Only parts I really liked and parts I really hated. 

This film opens on Krypton, much like the 1978 Richard Donner version, but portrays a very different Krypton than we saw before. This vision of the doomed planet shows one that was doomed by its very inhabitants exhausting the planet's natural resources. Jor-El (played by Russell Crowe), tries to warn his Government but is turned away. Seeing no other option, he prepares to send his only son, Kal-El, to Earth to survive. Kal was the first naturally born Kryptonian in a long time in a society where genetically engineered and bred children is the norm. Jor-El steals the codex device the genetically encodes all the new embryos and sends it with Kal-El in his rocket ship to Earth. Meanwhile, General Zod (played by Michael Shannon), begins trying to stage a coup to overtake the Kryptonian government and ensure the survival of their people, including seizing the codex. He is quickly taken down and sentenced to the Phantom Zone. 

Kal's ship finds it's way to Earth and we then cut to Kal, now known as Clark Kent (played by Henry Cavill), a young man traveling the Earth trying to find his place in it. He overhears word of a discovery of an odd ship in the Arctic from two Military men and travels north. Covering the discovery for the Daily Planet reporter Lois Lane (played by Amy Adams). As Clark finds the ship and is able to enter it due to a special Kryptonian key sent in his ship with him, he is followed by an inquisitive Lois Lane, who is attacked by the ship's computer as an intruder. Clark saves her and gets her out of the ship before taking off in it. Once it lands in a remote place, Clark is able to access the computer and begins learning about himself and his home planet from his Father, Jor-El, who had downloaded his consciousness onto the Kryptonian key he carries with him (It's a sort of flash drive, I guess). Meanwhile, Lois begins retracing Clark's steps by all the reports of heroic acts he's done in secret, eventually landing on the doorstep of Martha Kent (played by Diane Lane). Soon after, Clark returns home and asks Lois to keep his identity secret, which she agrees. He then returns home to his mother and shortly after a strange ship is seen in the air. On it is General Zod, who has escaped from the Phantom Zone and come to Earth for two reasons, first to reclaim the codex to rebuild Krypton in his image and two terraform Earth to build a new Krypton on, destroying mankind in the process. The only one that can stand in the way of Zod and his Phantom Zone minions is Clark. 

There was a lot that I liked about Man of Steel. The reimagined Krypton was bold and different, but seemed a bit more realistic and realized than previous depictions. I really enjoyed the flashback scenes to Clark as a kid and his interactions with his adopted father, Jonathan (played by Kevin Costner), especially the scene when Jonathan tells Clark about who he really was and Clark responds that he just wants to be Jonathan's son and not the rest of it, prompting Jonathan to respond, "You are my son!" was deeply affecting and played beautifully by both Costner and Dylan Sprayberry, who plays young Clark. I also liked that they switched it up with Lois encountering Clark and discovering his secret pretty much from the outset and the way they set that up. It was an intriguing set up and change of pace from the previous incarnations. I really liked Henry Cavill as Clark/Superman. He adds a lot to the role and makes it his own, never trying to copy what came before. We primarily see him as Superman throughout the film, his traditional Clark Kent persona only showing at the end. I also really liked Amy Adams as Lois and I loved that she had so much involvement in the film rather than just being a damsel in distress. Michael Shannon was great as General Zod and brought some new layers to such a well known villain which was great. He portrayed a man whose only utility in life was that of a protector of Krypton and it's way of life and would be willing to do anything to carry out that duty. It was an intriguing take on the character and he captured it wonderfully.

But at the same time, there were things I really didn't like with the movie. First off, the second half of this movie is more or less an ongoing concussive blast of destruction starting in Smallville before ending up in Metropolis with very little to break it up. It's just scene after scene of Clark fighting Zod and the other Kryptonian criminals as building after building is smashed to smithereens. Once we hit Metropolis and skyscraper after skyscraper falls in ultra-realistic fashion with no doubt untold thousands of people dying as they disappear in large clouds of grey dust and smoke, provoking countless 9/11 flashbacks. I know it happened to me as I watched the film, sitting in the theatre, eating my popcorn, my 3-D glasses propped over my regular wire frames. Suddenly, as I sat there a Superman movie stopped being fun. I stopped eating my popcorn, forgot about my Coke and instead began having an anxiety attack. I went to Superman movies to have fun and leave the theatre with a silly grin on my face. But this film had turned into a grim outing indeed and I was no longer having fun. And I kind of hated the movie for that.

The other thing I hated and this I really hated was the scene that can best be described as the Tornado scene. Now, the previous complaint was more of a minor complaint at the sheer overkill of the climax compared to this. Unlike that, I have seething hatred towards this entire sequence. Let me set the scene for you. Jonathan, Martha and Clark are driving down a Kansas freeway one afternoon. Clark and Jonathan are having an argument and Clark says, "You're not my real father!" I immediately grimace and think to myself, Oh fuck you, movie. Not screw you or you suck, movie. I go right for the F-word, I hate it that much. Then, they happen across a group of stopped cars and notice a Tornado in the distance headed right for the highway. Martha, Jonathan and Clark get out of the car and start directing the others that have stopped as well to seek shelter under the nearby overpass. Ok, let's stop here again. Maybe it's because I actually am from the Midwest. Maybe it's because I have some relatives who know better. Maybe it's because I had a Meteorology teacher who beat this into my head. The worst possible place one can seek shelter when encountering a tornado on a highway IS UNDER AN OVERPASS! Now, I can imagine you're thinking, "But Nate, there was that one video done back in the 80's..." Yes, I know about that video. The thing is though is that tornado went behind them. If it went directly over them they would've all been sucked out or if they managed to hang on basically they would've been sandblasted to death. And here was a major motion picture perpetuating the same myth. To say it's a peeve is putting it mildly.  What one should do in this situation, ideally is simply get out of the path of the tornado. If that's not an option, get away from the cars, get to the lowest point of ground possible, lie completely flat with your hands over the back of your head and pray for daylight. 

But wait, that's not even the part that makes me seethe the most. Nope, it's what follows. So, they have everyone under the overpass when Jonathan realizes the beloved family dog is still in the car. Rather than let his indestructible, super strong son go get him, Jonathan elects to go himself. He is able to get the dog free, but is injured in the process. Clark is ready to run over and save him, most likely using his super speed, but Jonathan motions him to stop and lets the tornado take him instead. It was right there that my hatred for this one scene hit fever pitch as I could see what the filmmakers were trying to do. They were trying to create a reason for Clark to be all brooding like Batman and that is not who Superman is. Superman has always been about light and optimism and I hated Zach Snyder and screenwriter David S Goyer for trying to force it to go another way.

Overall, Man of Steel is very much a mixed bag of a movie for me. There are parts I really liked and parts I really hated, without much middle ground between the two. I've seen the movie a few times and my opinion really hasn't changed much, which makes me want to enter future installments in the burgeoning DC universe with some trepidation.