Superman...can't wait for the sequel

This reboot of the Superman story is great, the action amazing and the changes to the characters were needed to ground the story more into reality. That is not to say that the movie could not have been better as there were some minor problems with the plot and editing, but all in all a movie you do not want to miss. In fact Warner Bros. has already fast tracked the sequel.

The movie starts, from the beginning of the Superman legend, on Krypton showing an advanced civilization that ultimately destroy their own world (sounds familiar?) then to an adult Clarke on a seemingly Australian styled ‘walk-about’.

  

As we learn more about Clarke in the present, we also, at the same time through flashbacks, learn the story of his youth and the life-changing moments that lead him to question who he is, why does he have these extra abilities and what is his purpose. His parents Jonathan (Kevin Costner) and Martha (Diane Lane) share in his turmoil but also, more importantly, supply the grounding that instils the values of honour, family, sacrifice (Jonathan making the ultimate sacrifice) and above all love for his adopted race.

His search to discover himself is completed when he discovers an old Kryptonian space craft and learns about his origins from an artificial Intelligence (AI) created by, and resembling, his birth father Jor-El (Russell Crowe). This all comes to a head with the arrival of General Zod, whose life was returned ironically by the destruction of his planet, Krypton, which ultimately fuels Zod’s need to recreate Krypton, to earth’s and humanity’s ultimate demise.

A note to the religious among the audience, Superman finally reveals himself to his adopted Earth society after 33 years of obscurity.

  

Henry Cavill (the first non-American to play Superman aside for ‘baby’ superman in the 1978 Superman) superbly plays this incarnation of Superman, exquisitely showing the feeling of loss and not belonging that a man-out-of-place must feel.

Director Zack Synder (Sucker Punch, Watchmen, 300) wanted to ground Superman more into the real world than had previous incarnations and thus created (and adopted from more modern comic generated stories) elements that explained Superman known facts.

The symbol ‘S’ actually means hope in Kryptonian (rather than the initial for Superman) the symbol also being a herald/crest for the house of El. The superman costume is in truth an undergarment worn by Kryptonians on top of which fighting armour is placed. No more wearing of underpants on the outside of leotards for our super hero.

And of course Cavill having the body of a very strong (Kryptonian) man, which can be aptly seen in an early shirtless scene of Clarke rescuing oil rig workers (if you look closely you can see the ‘S’ being formed by soot and flame on his chest) and his coming to land after a long sea swim, just so the audience knows that the musculature under the suit, is in fact very real.

  

Continuing in this theme, Superman’s soul-mate, Lois Lane, is also grounded in reality. I could never understand how a seemingly Pulitzer prize winning investigative reporter could not see that in fact she has worked alongside Superman for years, well ‘director’ Synder solved this dilemma by having Lois (the beautiful Amy Adams) track Clarke/Superman down and identify him even before the world knows about him.

Synder and the writers (David S. Goyer – screenplay & Story and Christopher Nolan – story) though missed one major inconsistency. In Krypton they bred citizens based on society’s needs, so when a new scientist is required they genetically grew a child who will become that scientist. Zod and his crew were mostly soldiers and Zod himself a general, so we must assume that they were grown and trained as proficient fighting machines. If this is so then they should be, at worst, evenly matched with Superman (strength vs. technique) but when Zod gains our yellow sun’s super generated powers surely he would be more than a match for Superman, who for all we know, has no fighting training or experience.

  

That being said the end of Zod is a great departure from the Superman we've come to know (though Zod suffered the same demise in another Superman film though not as personally).

The Man of Steel’s editing also was a bit off as well. Good editing is as much about good timing as telling a story and any good DJ will tell you knowing when to change the rhythm from slow to fast and back again is critical to keeping dancers on the floor so is good editing critical to keeping the audience interested in the story as it is unfurling on the screen.

At some periods the movie seems to slow to far down, allowing the audience to drift away from the story from time to time. The end result is the movie seems long, unlike the editing of the Avengers which kept you riveted to the end while not realizing the time spent in the cinema, by the by both movies were the same length at 143 minutes.

  

And now for a bit of movie trivia, the movie showed two quick references to Lexcorp, the company run by Superman’s titular arch rival Lex Luthor. First in a scene at the Kent’s farm house: a tanker with the Lexcorp logo drives by and later the logo appears on a truck in Metropolis during the fight with Zod.

In the final fight scene Zod and Superman, at one time, end up in a construction site with a safety sign saying 143 days without an accident, Zod throws Superman into the sign which then says 0 days without an accident.

Also, as a possible nod to Christopher Nolan’s Batman, the satellite that Zod and Superman crash into during their epic fight has the Wayne Enterprises logo on it.

  

My suggestion, go and see Man of Steel, you’ll end up sorry you did not. See you later and I hope we can meet at the Movies