Directed by: Zack Snyder
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 59%
Hello Film Fans!
Being the nerd that I am, I love superhero films. I had never been an Iron Man fan until the movie...after that, I was hooked. The hero I hold dearest to my heart is The Caped Crusader; The Dark Knight; The Batman. His lack of traditional powers is what makes him so appealing. Critics point to this as reasoning against proclaiming him as a superhero, however they couldn't be further from the truth. Batman is abnormally smart, is incredibly observant, and has a seemingly eidetic memory. Just because he can't fly doesn't mean he isn't super. On the other end of the spectrum is Superman. Supes has just about every power you can name: flight, strength, heat vision, x-ray vision, and invulnerability. He is so overpowered that the only way to effectively fight him is to have access to an element (Kryptonite) that does not occur naturally on Earth. I have despised Superman for years because of his excessive abilities. The old question of whether who would win, Batman or Superman, is a stupid question. Superman should win every time because Batman doesn't have a stockpile of Kryptonite. The question of who is a
!!!Obligatory Spoiler Warning!!!
I am going to provide a short summary of the film. Most of what I will reveal below can be gathered from the trailer and/or prior knowledge of the Superman mythos.
If you don't know the origin story of Superman, I will explain it now (also where have you been). Krypton was a planet far far away from Earth. The people of the planet were an advanced race but they had reached the tipping point of their existence. Since I have not followed the Superman comics, I can only provide the story that the film tells. The persistent expansion of the Kryptonions have forced them to harvest energy from their own planet's core. This eventually causes the planet to implode. Acting out of rage for his people, General Zod (Michael Shannon) decides to take over Krypton in an effort to preserve its people. Jor-El (Russell Crowe), realizing that those on Krypton are all doomed, decides to send his newly born son, Kal-El, to a distant planet where he can rebuild their race. He chooses Earth because an old scout ship had been sent there thousands of years earlier and it would be a suitable home for the new Krypton. He embeds all of the information about Krypton inside Kal-El's DNA and sends him off. As punishment for his betrayal, Zod and his army are sentenced to a place called The Phantom Zone. There are to remain encased in an icy substance for hundreds of years. WHen Krypton explodes, Zod is released from captivity and he begins to hunt for Kal-El. Kal-El's ship lands in Smallville, Kansas and is discovered by Jonathan (Kevin Costner) and Martha (Diane Lane) Kent. They rename Kal-El Clark and they raise him as their own son. Clark suffers through growing pains a tad different than the normal teen. The radiation from the Earth's sun provides Clark with superhuman abilities. In addition to this, the lighter gravity of Earth allows Clark to do truly extraordinary things. The first half of the film is told through flashbacks that reveal how Clark has made it to his current station in life. When a NASA satellite is pinged by a foreign object in Northern Canada, Lois Lane (Amy Adams), a Pulitzer Prize winning reporter for The Daily Planet, is sent to investigate. After some snooping, she discovers that the object is, in fact, a huge alien ship. She encounters Clark and he convinces her to stop trying to discover who he is. Clark activates the ship and moves it to a remote place at the North Pole Due to Clark activating the ship he found, General Zod is alerted to Clark's presence. Clark decides that the people of Earth must know of his existence, whether they're ready or not.
This is the most beautiful superhero film I have ever seen. There are great moments that show Clark growing up that foreshadow events that occur later in his life. Other than some of the cheesy computer imagery, the film shows a skilled director's hand throughout. Something that has been evident in several Superman stories are the religious undertones. Man of Steel is not without. First and foremost, Clark is 33 years old when he decides to reveal himself to the world. This is the same age Jesus was when he learns of His fate. Jor-El says that Kal will be a god among men. This is literally what Jesus was; a God among men. Clark's abilities come from the Sun which is located in "The Heavens". The ship that Clark finds was designed by Jor-El. When Clark inserts the "key" that was sent in his pod, the ship recognizes him as Kal-El and a "shadow" of Jor-El appears. He is able to be anywhere in the ship immediately, and he can also sense the presence of intruders. This effectively makes him Omnipotent and Omnipresent; it makes him God. There is even a point in the film where Clark must decide what he wants to do: come forward and protect Earth, or remain in hiding from Zod. He walks into a church and seeks the advice of a priest. As he sits in the pew, we see a stained glass depiction of Jesus over his right shoulder; real subtle. Perhaps the most compelling piece of the Christ analogy is the need for sacrifice. Something that Superman doesn't do is kill. He'll beat suckers into submission everyday, but when it comes to murder, he shies away. It is mentioned by one of the invading Kryptonians that Clark's sense of morality will be his downfall. During a battle, Clark pleads with an enemy that is threatening to kill a helpless family with their heat vision. During the confrontation Clark must make the decision; save the family or keep his morality. He decides to save the family and, thus, sacrifices his humanity. The story of a Superman is such a great backdrop for a Christ allegory and it makes me wonder how many will pick up on it.
Man of Steel is great. As I mentioned above, I am not a Superman fan, but I am glad I saw this film. It is definitely worth seeing in the theater. Snyder and Nolan do a fantastic job of abandoning the campiness associated with the hero, and injecting some reality. Superman doesn't feel overpowered. He has his work cut out for him with Zod and his army. They replace the neon green Kryptonite with a grayish metal, and they explain why Clark is weak around it. See Man of Steel ASAP.
My Score: 9/10
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