Man of Steel

Man of Steel

Director: Zack Snyder

Genre: Action/Sci-fi

Starring: Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Russell Crowe, Michael Shannon

Distributed by: Warner Bros. Pictures 

Release Date: June 14, 2013

My Rating: 4/10

I have always been a great fan of superhero flicks. To name just a few, my personal favorites include Iron Man and The Dark Knight trilogy. After watching several trailers and learning that this film would be produced by none other than this famous trilogy's director-Christopher Nolan-I was naturally very excited and had high expectations. Unfortunately, I was vastly disappointed by the end of this movie.

In this version of DC Comic's classic hero Superman, a young boy born with the name Kal-El on planet Krypton to parents Jor-El (Russell Crowe) and Lara. After a military coup by the evil General Zod (Michael Shannon), Jor-El sends his son to Earth to ensure his safety and so that he may protect human beings. Kal-El lands in a small town in rural Kansas and is raised by an elderly couple, Jonathan and Martha Kent (Kevin Costner and Diane Lane), who name him Clark. As a boy, Clark discovers and learns to control his powers and then as a young man (Henry Cavill), embarks on a journey to find out where he came from and what he was sent to Earth to do: save mankind from dark forces. Also attempting to learn more about Superman's origins is a young reporter for the Daily Planet named Lois Lane (Amy Adams). 

Zack Synder (Watchmen, 300) directs this superhero epic that proves rather short on substance and character development and long on action. Although the special effects are very well created, the fight/action sequences are far too prolonged, to the point where the destruction of New York City-for example-comprises a significant portion of the second half of the film. And there aren't even doses of comic relief like those in 2012's The Avengers to momentarily take the audience's mind from all of the fights and explosions.

The film also seems to be unable to maintain a uniform pace/rhythm all throughout. The beginning appears very slow, while the second half, where the action sequences prevail, seems much faster. I'm sure that one or two scenes from the first half could have been omitted or shortened and the fight scenes reduced as well.

I have never been a big fan of Mr. Snyder's films, as I personally find his style to be rather eccentric. However, this is not to say that his films are all major flops, as he has delivered great works such as 300. Compared to many other superhero flicks however, this movie proved to be a great letdown, although not as much as 2006's Superman Returns, where another virtually unknown actor (Brandon Routh) also played the Man of Steel himself. I also find it ironic that a British thespian was chosen to play a classic American superhero. Hearing Henry Cavill say "I'm from Kansas, General. I'm about as American as you can get" was quite amusing for this very reason. As tragic as it sounds, I suppose it's just simply become difficult to direct any half-decent new versions of movies about this beloved superhero. The Man of Steel's kryptonite has recently been mediocre directing/screenwriting.