With a patchy story, thin characterisation and action that outstays its
welcome, Man of Steel is often engaging and jaw-dropping despite its
flaws.
What it's about:
A young itinerant worker is forced to
confront his secret extraterrestrial heritage when Earth is invaded by
members of his race.
What we thought:
Man of Steel feels, in some ways, like an answer to the fans who complained that 2006's Superman Returns
was light on action and super-heroics. You really won't have that
complaint with this film. "Superman, smash" seems to be the order of the
day, and Superman does indeed smash like it's nobody's business, much
to the detriment of downtown Metropolis.
The origin of Superman
is one of the most recognised stories in popular culture, so much so
that a retelling almost seems redundant. Man of Steel stays
fairly loyal to its character's prescribed mythology, but kudos to
writer David S Goyer for finding ways to look at the tale with a fresh
eye.
Taking a leaf from producer Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins, Man of Steel
takes a similar flashback approach to its story. Starting with the
death of Krypton (the design here is fantastic, recalling the fantastic
design of the Star Wars films), the story then moves to Earth,
cutting back and forth between the adult Clark Kent, a drifter who keeps
his head down and moves from job to job while performing random, super
powered good deeds, and the younger Clark, beset with dealing with his
burgeoning powers.
Unlike earlier incarnations, the young Clark
Kent in this film doesn't revel in his budding abilities. Far from it,
his quickly developing powers are often a torment to him. He dare not
defend himself against school bullies for fear of what a super powered
punch might do while an incident in the classroom illustrates the more
distressing side of having x-ray vision. This is a Clark Kent beset by
insecurities and fear for what he is and I suppose that’s a Superman for
our jaded times. Man of Steel is a concerted departure from the
Superman films with Christopher Reeves, but then, to be fair, today's
Superman comics aren't like the ones that those films drew their
inspiration from.
While deserving credit for taking a fresh
approach to Superman, the earlier parts of the film do feel somewhat
disjointed, with some good to very good bits that don't really mesh into
a great whole, a flaw that applies to the film at large. Not helping
things is a script with dialogue that often feels like homily and
characters that are pretty thinly sketched.
None of this really matters once Zod shows up with a few other surviving Kryptonians in tow and Man of Steel kicks
into high gear. With Superman finally suited up and ready to take on
Zod, what started out as a sci-fi film with touches of a coming-of-age
tale quickly morphs into a super powered face-off on the scale of a
Roland Emmerich disaster movie. Quite frankly, it makes the battle at
the end of The Avengers look like a scuffle at primary school during breaktime.
Whole
blocks of the city are laid to waste; punches send out sonic booms. The
destruction on display here would keep insurance companies busy for
decades. I guess enough time has passed for people to be comfortable
with blatantly 9/11-like imagery being re-purposed for superhero
fisticuffs.
Still, as impressive as all the action is, it does
feel overlong and as if it exists in large part to distance this film
from the 2006 outing. What I missed was the perspective of the ordinary
man on the street, the guy just going to work and looking up at the sky
in awe to see people trading blows high above. That might have lent the
film something extra and would hardly have been out of place.
So, a patchy story, thin characterisation and action that outstays its welcome. Yet, despite these flaws, Man of Steel is often engaging and the action staged in a manner that is jaw-dropping before it becomes tiresome.
If
ever you wanted to see Superman going at it all out, this film is for
you. Some of the imagery here seems ripped from the pages of the comics
(with the glowing red eyes being my personal favourite). Credit must go
to director Zack Snyder for crafting a film that dazzles the eye more
than any other film so far this year. The flying sequences are also
pretty impressive, with this being one of the rare occasions where I
actually enjoyed the 3D (though, on the whole, the 3D doesn't get a
proper workout).
Henry Cavill, if nothing else, is the most
physically convincing screen Superman ever and the first to truly match
the exaggerated musculature of the comic counterpart. In terms of
performance, the script does not give him much, though he does sell that
sense of benevolence that Superman needs.
As Zod, Shannon is
all fury and blazing eyes, and does make for a formidable foe. Russell
Crowe is noble and portentous as Jor-El though he does get a few chances
to play at hero while Kevin Coster infuses the role of Superman's human
dad with a sense of golden Americana usually seen in Norman Rockwell
paintings.
As for Lois Lane, Amy Adams nails the sassy,
single-minded nature of the character but the relationship between her
and the leading man isn't developed well enough and its climax rings
false. Given how little he has to do, I would have left Laurence
Fishburne's Perry White for the sequel, as his presence here seems
obligatory at best.
I'm giving Man of Steel three stars
but that is a very enthusiastic three stars. It's only some pretty
obvious flaws in the script that keep it from being very good. But that
doesn't mean this isn't a fantastic piece of entertainment, with
spectacle on a scale unlikely to be matched this year. As a fresh start
for the character for a new generation, it does well to whet the
appetite for future instalments./channel24.co.za
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