A film review by James Berardinelli for ReelViews.net on June 13, 2013.
Man of Steel represents the latest attempt by Warner Brothers to revive a
Superman franchise that, since its stunning 1878 revival, has been abominably
treated for about 30 years (ever since Richard Donner was unceremoniously fired
from Superman II). This movie
certainly looks and feels a lot different than any of its predecessors, and
that's not just because of the crappy 3-D. It's more of a science fiction/fantasy
adventure than a superhero movie. In a way that's good, because it doesn't come
across like a tired retread of every origin story we've ever seen. On the other
hand, it's not good, because the sci-fi feel has been overly influenced by the
likes of Independence Day and Transformers. That's right: blow everything up, real
good! Pyrotechnics! Special Effects! CGI up the wazoo! For those who crave
cinematic mayhem, Man of Steel is right up your alley (and it will
make a ton of money). But something important has been lost along the way:
heart. This is a cold, sterile motion picture. The characters are so thinly
drawn that it's tough to get much feel for them. And one senses that director Zack Snyder is less interested in
Superman than he is in the orgy of destruction he gets to rain down on
Metropolis. Somewhere, Roland Emmerich and Michael Bay are smiling.
Man of Steel opens with the obligatory introductory Krypton sequence. It's some
of the best material the movie has to offer; the dying planet is visually
impressive and the acting by Russell
Crowe as Jor-El is some of the best work the actor has provided in a long
time. Gone is the flat, stilted interpretation offered by Marlon Brando
sleepwalking his way through the role on the way to a fat paycheck. Crowe's
Jor-El is heroic and charismatic. With Krypton nearing its end, he places his
little boy into a spacecraft and sends him to Earth. Meanwhile, the hard-ass
General Zod (Michael Shannon in full
scenery-chewing mode) attempts a coup, fails, and is sentenced to spend some
time in The Phantom Zone for his troubles.
The first time we meet Clark Kent (Henry Cavill), he's trying out for The Deadliest Catch. After
saving some men on a doomed oil rig, Clark floats around in the water
experiencing convenient flashbacks to his childhood living in Kansas with Ma
and Pa Kent (Diane Lane and Kevin Costner). Once these are done, he
heads north and, after paying homage to the diner scene in Superman II, reaches the
Fortress of Solitude, which is actually a spaceship buried under arctic ice. In
that frozen wasteland, he also meets intrepid reporter Lois Lane (Amy Adams) who immediately falls for
the big hunk after he saves her life. In the spaceship, Clark meets an avatar
of his dad and gets his costume. It's around this time that Zod and his
followers, freed from The Phantom Zone, reach Earth and Superman must choose
between continuing to live anonymously or taking a front seat as the planet's
defender. Unlike Zod in Superman
II, who came to conquer, this Zod comes to destroy.
Man of Steel is, first and foremost, a great spectacle. The effects work is
first rate and the action sequences, of which there are many, are delivered
with a kinetic punch. The tone is dour - humor is at a premium and, on those
rare occasions when it's there, the delivery is decidedly low-key. The movie
wants desperately to be taken seriously and viewed as something more than a
comic book film. Perhaps, in the end, that's one reason why Man of Steel rarely feels heroic and never truly
soars. Sure, Superman eventually wins but at the cost of thousands of lives
(we're not given a specific body count but it has to be very high).
Christopher Nolan's influence will be hotly debated,
especially since the producer has been coy about the full extent of his
involvement in the final product, stating only that it's Zack Synder's film. Indeed, Man
of Steel is closer to Watchmen than to Batman Begins in terms of its look and feel. It's a style over substance
thing, spectacle over heart. Snyder never ceases to amaze visually but one
could make a compelling case that he
misses what defines Superman's uniqueness. It makes sense for Batman to
live in the dark but Superman has always been a figure of light and truth.
That's one reason he's a difficult movie subject because there's no ambiguity
about who he is and what he represents, and there's something about the
darkness that pervades Man of
Steel that feels wrong for
the character.
The choice of Henry Cavill to don the
cape is inspired; Cavill is easily the most accomplished actor thus far to fill
the role and, while no one will ever fully eclipse what Christopher Reeve
brought to the screen, Cavill uses Man
of Steel as an opportunity to
lay the foundation for what could be a long and memorable run. He combines the
matinee appeal of Reeve and Brandon Routh with a stronger resume although,
truth be told, the screenplay under uses his range. The main requirement for
Cavill is to look the part.
As a cookie-cutter super-villain,
Michael Shannon does a good job overacting. He snarls and yells and exudes
menace. He rants and does all sorts of nasty things. In the end, however, it's
the name Zod that puts Shannon at a
disadvantage because it forces him to exist in the long shadow of Terence
Stamp. Stamp's Zod is arguably one of the twenty most memorable movie bad guys
and Shannon doesn't touch him. The other casting miscalculation is Amy Adams as
Lois Lane; the part doesn't fit. [Blogger’s comment… I disagree. Amy Adams is
excellent.] On the other hand, there are
some great choices, although most of them are sadly underused. Laurence Fishburne makes a terrific
Perry White, although he has very little screen time. Kevin Costner and Diane
Lane are great as Clark's Earth parents although Costner in particular deserves
more screen time.
Man of Steel delivers forcefully on its promise to take Superman in a different
direction. Perhaps that's a good idea; after all, Richard Donner (with an
assist from Richard Lester) has done the traditional
Superman as well as it can be done. But a lot is missing, and the most telling
absence is the element that makes Superman more the hero of his own story
rather than the pawn of special effects. This is a less promising opening act
than Batman Begins because it mines so little new
territory. Remakes like Man of
Steel are about intangibles
like tone and style and how well the soul of the central conceit has been
maintained. Snyder succeeds in making this movie sufficiently different to
justify its existence. The open question is whether this Superman can spearhead
a franchise that aspires to greatness or whether this new dark vision is merely window dressing. [Berardinelli's rating: *** out of 4]
Labels:
action, adventure, alien-invasion, fantasy, sci-fi
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