Review of Man of Steel

I once wrote that superhero movies post-Dark Knight and post-Avengers will have to either go into spectacular overdrive or go dark and serious to remain relevant in Hollywood's game of one-upsmanship. Now it's Superman's turn to go through the Reboot Wringer. With Man of Steel, Warner Bros., director Zack Snyder, and producer Christopher Nolan attempt to take the venerable hero in not just one, but both directions. It is both a darker vision of the title character as well as an exercise in pyrotechnics that would make Michael Bay blush. This movie covers the expected "setup" material of Superman's origin story, but it does so with such a vastly different feel and tone that it stands confidently on its own. Sometimes the two approaches war with one another, but one charge no one can be level against the movie is that of re-hashing.

Much like Richard Donner's 1978 film, Man of Steel opens with the planet Krypton on its last legs, where Jor-El (Russell Crowe) is about to send his recently-born son, Kal-el, on a trip to Earth for a better future. As this is going on, the power-hungry General Zod (Michael Shannon) attempts a coup of Krypton's government, but he fails and is sentenced along with his minions to jail time in the Phantom Zone. Once Krypton is destroyed, Zod is free, and he vows to locate Kal-el's whereabouts.

Once we meet a grown-up Kal-El, now named Clark Kent (Henry Cavill), he doesn't wait long before displaying his superior strength in saving some workers from a collapsing oil rig. From there, we flash back to  a few scenes of his childhood living with his Kansas-based Earth parents (played superbly by Kevin Costner and Diane Lane). Once we're done with that, he locates the Fortress of Solitude, which in this case is a massive alien ship located under a bedrock of ice, where he encounters an avatar of his father and receives his official costume. During this time, he also saves the life of intrepid Daily Planet reporter Lois Lane (Amy Adams), and her feelings slowly grow for him. Unfortunately, they don't have much time to get to know one another. Zod has made his way to Earth, and he's not interested in anyone kneeling before him. His initial demand is for Earth to turn in Kal-el or suffer mass destruction, but he has something far more sinister in mind.

The treatment of Superman here differs so radically from previous versions of him that I expect fans will be polarized. Gone is the light, airy tone of adventures past, as are (thankfully) some of the annoyances like no one recognizing the similarities between Clark and his alter ego. But Snyder still understands Superman's heart and strict moral code. This is developed meticulously over the first half of the film. As befitting of the time we live in, with cynicism abound, Kal-el struggles mightily with the issue of saving lives versus not letting the unwashed masses in on his secret. Man of Steel mines territory similar to Nolan's Dark Knight movies here, where a hero tries hard to do the "right" thing even though a lot of the public will not be able to comprehend what that means. Man of Steel recognizes the weight of a burden placed on a person with an uncommon gift few will understand.

Once Zod arrives, however, the movie takes a sharp left turn into garden-variety blockbuster territory. Starting with a brutal two-on-one fight scene between Superman and Zod's cronies and continuing through spectacular destruction scenes of Metropolis, Man of Steel temporarily loses sight of what makes Superman unique and contently makes him a kick-ass hero. He gets the job done, all right, and every action scene is well-shot and cleanly edited, but something can't help but feel a little "off." In his efforts to stop the bad guys and save the day, Superman causes nearly as much destruction and mayhem as the villains do. One could argue that this is just a result of him letting his emotions get in the way, but the movie doesn't address this as well as it should.

Fortunately, the final fight scene, an expected one-on-one smackdown between Superman and Zod, delivers everything movie-goers and fans could reasonably expect from it. The energy and intensity of this battle is something no previous Superman movie has ever come close to, and when it's over, Superman agonizes over the action he had to take in order to win. This is true to the character built up in the movie's first half, and the previous 30-or-so minutes should've delivered more of it. Still, give Snyder credit for saving the best for last.

One aspect of Man of Steel few will quibble about is the successful casting of Henry Cavill in the title role. His presence and emoting ability exceed that of both Christopher Reeve and Brandon Routh, and he's the man for the job in future installments. Michael Shannon is appropriately over-the-top as Zod, but this is intentionally a very different take than what Terrence Stamp delivered in 1981's Superman II. Zod has a compelling reason for doing what he's doing, misguided though it may be. Mention also must be made of Russell Crowe, who is fantastic as Jor-el, creating a heroic character who easily makes us forget about Marlon Brando's phoned-in performance from the original Superman. Finally, while Amy Adams does a solid job capturing Lois Lane's ambitious nature, the character is underwritten here. She and Cavill don't share enough scenes for the romance to really work, but I'm sure the inevitable sequel will expand upon it.

Is this the definitive, 21st Century version of Superman? That depends on what you're expecting. Some will undoubtedly lap up the darker take on the Man of Steel, praising producer Christopher Nolan's apparent influence even though he's on record saying that this is Snyder's film. Others will yearn for the warmer, romantic touch of Superman tales of yore as well as John Williams' famous score (yeah, I missed the latter, even though Hans Zimmer does a workmanlike job). I'm somewhere in the middle, although my overall impression is indeed a positive one. I have a few reservations about the film, but I have to admit I had a good time and left the theater with a smile on my face.

Rating: *** (out of ****)