FCSyndicate's Morning-After Review: MAN OF STEEL (2013)

Henry Cavill is our main actor in this installation from Snyder who has seen his share of hits and misses since 300, Watchmen and Sucker Punch. While I imagine there are several people who could have played the role, Cavill defintely had the look and did the job very well. He is joined by Kevin Costner and Diane Lane who play Jonathan and Martha Kent, Clark’s adopted parents who raise him from childhood and help him adapt to Earth’s natural environment unlike Krypton’s.

Evidently, because of his alien physiology, Clark is granted superhuman abilities that Jonathan fears mankind is not ready to witness.

The film goes back and forth at times reflecting from Clark’s past to present day events as he learns who he is and sets out to discover his roots. As the story peels back the layers, we meet the Daily Planet’s Perry White by way of Lawrence Fishburne, Lois Lane in the form of Amy Adams, whose portrayal gets way better treatment than a mere damsel in distress whenever bad things happen and suddenly Superman needs to save her. Yes, Lois does put herself in harm’s way and gets rescued, but it isn’t set up so much where its annoyingly forced down our throats. Those moments feel more real now in Snyder’s hands.

We also see Krypton in the film, with a much larger view of what the planet could actually looks like. We see the atmosphere, the architecture and some of the vast array of organic and artificial technology they have acquired in their existence until the planet’s last moments, which is exactly the film starts where we first meet Clark’s natural parents, Jor-El and Lara, played by Russell Crowe and Ayelet Zurer. Michael Shannon gives his own updated take on General Zod, originally played by Terence Stamp in the second Superman movie in 1980. He is joined by Antje Traue who plays Zod’s second-in-command, Faora-Ul, who helps lead Zod’s uprising against the Kryptonian councilmembers in their own failed attempt to save their planet from extinction.

Our human hero counterparts are actors Harry Lennix and Christopher Meloni who play an Army General and Colonel leading the defense against the extinuating circumstances surrounding Clark’s presence on Earth, and the threat it possesses now that Zod and his angry Kryptonian posse are in town in search of a special genetic codex located in the space pod Clark arrived in as a newborn when he crashlanded in Kansas. As it turns out, activation of the codex to restore Krypton could come at a terrible price that Zod is willing to pay, but not if Clark has anything to say about it.

As story/screenwriter David S. Goyer evolves, the Superman story here continues to journey into the most important parts of the story, illustrating and telling audiences only what we need to see to get the best of out of a reboot as much as possible. At times I felt it lagged and I felt stuck in Smallville, but it wasn’t a huge thing, and ultimately the story continued. Snyder’s turn at the helm doesn’t dance around the Superman mythos by trying to tell the same story here. In fact, the film is basically similar in structure, in addition to taking parts of other Superman movies that add get to the absolute meat and potato-references of the comic book and film franchises transitioned to the big screen adventure seen here.

We see a version Superman who is not merely instantly used to his powers, but evolving with them testing his limits and getting used to them, even after he puts on the good old blues and reds. And when he flies with explosive authority and power that lets viewers actually feel like Superman is in flight, and not just a guy gliding in midair with a green screen in the backdrop-it’s similar to what we with Neo in The Matrix Reloaded and Revolutions, only ante’d up.

More importantly, we also see Superman brawl with Zod in some of the sickest battles to ever hit Metropolis in a Superman movie. Punches and kicks are thrown, people get hurt, vulnerabilities are exposed, moments of pain and surprise happen with our characters, and by the third act, shit blows up, buildings are decimated into ruins, and Superman does what he needs to in order to kick that Kryptonian ass and finally save the day…or what’s left of it.

Man Of Steel was a very compelling, perilous, wonderful and refreshing experience for me when I went to see it on Friday. It is not the Superman of yesteryear. No, no…Zack Snyder‘s Superman completely undoes everything we have known in the past century about the character from Krypton, and the story surrounding him. The film is a solid reboot that pays tribute to the property created nearly 75 years ago at DC comics, and gets much to the heart of the matter that it needed to in order to tell the story. And at the end, you are not left feeling unsatisfied. Not in the least bit.

While some people may have their opinions about superhero movies these days (I know I do), I’m glad the film industry is taking these concepts to a whole new level of artistic vision. If anything, Man Of Steel is likely the film we would have seen if Richard Donner had the same vision and technology back in the 1970s.

Zack Snyder’s tale of the Kryptonian who would become the superhuman symbol of hope is, in summation, the perfect set up for the sequel that is already in play, and the Justice League film we all have been waiting to see for so long.

The bottom line: Man Of Steel is a must see. Especially if you are an action fan and comic book junkie who loves a good movie. I’m proud to have seen it myself…and on opening night, which is a rarity for me.

Definitely check out Man Of Steel, in theaters now.