Man Of Steel (2013)

Man Of Steel (2013) by Zack Snyder

Man Of Steel is sadly unbalanced, and that is in spite of its spectacle, which is exactly what Superman fans have been clamoring about since 2006's disappointing Superman Returns (which had its moments, mind you, in particular the airline rescue). There's a lot that this film does right in terms of making Superman a viable, interesting character in 2013 (it's been exactly 75 years since his first appearance, and he's been reinvented too many times over those years to boot). One of my favorite memories from when I lived in the Bronx (as a wee little one) was watching Richard Donner's original Superman: The Movie and being enthralled with the experience, getting what I can only describe as a warm, fuzzy feeling by the end of it. There is such charm and warmth to it, it's like wrapping yourself up in a warm blanket and eating cereal on a Saturday morning. Just earlier this week I revisited it with my girlfriend, who had vague memories of watching it, and by the end we were all smiles. 

There's something about that film, and about Superman in particular, that brings comfort and stability in an uncertain, sometimes petrifying world. 

Man Of Steel only hints at that wonder, which is a shame.

We know the story of Superman, his origins, his doomed world and what his journey to Earth meant not only to his birth parents, Jor-El and Lara Lor-Van (Russell Crowe and Ayalet Zurer, respectively), but to his adoptive parents Jonathan and Martha Kent (Kevin Costner and Diane Lane), and to humanity at large. As the opening scenes indicate, Kal-El's birth is an event in and of itself, as on Krypton the population is bred (essentially “grown” in pods that resemble the Matrix pods) for specific roles (politicians, soldiers, scientists, etc.). The natural birth of Kal-El is the catalyst of major civil disputes, with General Zod (Michael Shannon) attempting a coup, and eventually getting thwarted and banished (along with his private army) to the equivalent of the Phantom Zone, but not before Zod shoves a scythe into Jor-El's abdomen, all this occurring some time before Krypton explodes. This sequence, despite taking some liberties that neither take away nor add to the established Superman canon yet can be met with nothing more than a shrug of the shoulders, is one of the most purely imaginative sequences in any mainstream comic book film. Giant reptilian creatures graze on plains, and flying dragons are used by Kryptonians the way we would use cars (and there is a marked diversity in typography and architecture, some buildings built out of the grown, some hanging down from the ceiling of giant caves). These creatures and elements are glossed over, hinting at a larger world, and the fact that they are given little to no explanation makes them that much more interesting. They just exist, we see them for a few seconds, and then they're gone. In the first 20 minutes, Man Of Steel packs more sci-fi goodness than an entire feature-length version of the explicitly sci-fi Green Lantern. 

 

Belaying the standard origins story prevalent with rebooting a major franchise of one of the most recognizable characters in human history, Man Of Steel intercuts modern-day Clark Kent's (Henry Cavill) journey to find himself with scenes of his growing up in Smallville (which is never mentioned by name, merely by a water tower in the background) and trying to cope with his growing powers. The flashback sequences are touching enough (particularly a scene where a school-age Clark has a freak-out in the middle of elementary school because he can hear everything, and can see through people without any control and Martha arrives to talk sense into him).

Despite the big-budget spectacle in terms of action, it's the smaller moments in Man Of Steel that repeatedly gave me the most goosebumps. When Jonathan is explaining to Clark that he is from another world, and shows him his spaceship and says “Somewhere out there you have another father and another mother”, and posits that Clark's very existence will change the way humans react to concepts such as religion and our place in the universe and Clark's only response is to ask “Can't I just go on pretending I'm your son” and Jonathan says, simply, “You are my son.”, it's such a touching moment and one to which I'm sure any child feeling confused about their lives and identities could relate. Later on, when Superman has first tried on his suit and is first testing the limits of his powers and he's bounding and hopping around (much like he was capable of doing back in 1938, before it was established he could fly), there's such unbridled joy on his face. Here is a man enjoying, as any one of us would given the situation, the fact that he could fly. 

 

So often I'd wanted Man Of Steel to express that joy and optimism, to continue those small moments that peppered 1978's Superman (and while it is unfair to compare the two for so many reasons, at least the tone in Superman was consistent. Superman, as a character, embodies the absolute pinnacle of human potential, a standard to which humans are to aspire; if nothing else, Superman got that aspect of the character right. Superman is the ultimate optimist, being challenged but never giving in to fear and doubt). After an hour or so into Man Of Steel, once the plot falls into place and General Zod makes known his presence and demands to humanity, the film takes a decidedly dark turn and undoes the very essence of Superman in one of those most irresponsible, protracted, and yet awesome brawls yet seen in a comic-book film.

Zod, having tracked the warp signature from Kal-El's ship to Earth, lays an ultimatum to humanity: deliver Superman, or he'll kill everyone. Superman turns himself in, essentially announcing his existence by surrendering immediately. This is entirely in line with who Superman is: selfless and willing to sacrifice himself for his adoptive world. Having learned that the entire future of the Kryptonian race lays in Superman's DNA, Zod proceeds to attempt terra-forming Earth to turn it into Krypton, using two gigantic World Engines, placed on opposite sides of the planet, to do so. From an idealistic perspective, both Superman and Zod have the same goals: preserve the existence of Krypton, but their methods are entirely converse. Superman wants to preserve Krypton in a more archaeological sense by preserving the history and culture through interactive recordings sent with him by his parents, and in a crashed Kryptonian scout ship that is treated as an impromptu Fortress of Solitude. Zod wants to preserve Krypton by rebuilding it from the ground up, even if it means genocide. Humans are nothing more than pests, ultimately, nothing more than collateral damage.

And in this last point, both Zod and Superman are one and the same.

During the climax of the film, Superman goes up against Zod and his legion of Kryptonian soldiers. The battle starts small, in Smallville, before being taken to Metropolis, where one of the World Engines is laying waste to entire miles of the city. Superman goes all out against the other Kryptonians (who are also endowed with superhuman strength and abilities, but who can somehow master them in days rather than decades), destroying most of Smallville in the process. Once the action moves to Metropolis, destruction on an even greater scale takes place. Buildings collapse, entire blocks are laid decimated, and even single punches between Zod and Superman result in shock-waves that break windows and destroy entire blocks.

In essence, Superman destroys most of Metropolis and presumably kills just as many people as Zod and his World Engines. 

This aspect of the film, the wanton destruction and irresponsibility displayed by Superman is something not to be taken lightly. Sure, this is Superman's first foray into unleashing his powers, and presumably he has no conception of the extent of the damage he is capable of, but above everything else, Superman is a protector. That is his primary role.

If the previous movie incarnations of Superman got anything right (and yes, this includes Superman Returns), it is his primary role. And this makes not only for great cinema, but also for great characterization; when Superman is late saving Lois Lane during Superman, resulting in her death, there is such loss and anguish and pain in that loss. But why did she die? It wasn't because he was too busy punching bad guys to care, it was because he was out saving all of California. Even in Superman II where there is a protracted fight between Superman, Zod, Ursa, and Non within downtown Metropolis, there are multiple instances where Superman stops to save a busload of people, or to keep a truck from blowing up, and he attempts to at least move the battle to a place where there is no risk of civilians being hurt. In Man Of Steel, Superman gives one line in Smallville (“Get everyone inside. They'll be safe there”), waits for civilians to hide out in their houses and stores, and then proceeds to lay waste to the very houses and stores where people are hiding. There is very little regard to humans, and, in essence, very little of that protector role. Why would humanity trust Superman after all this wanton destruction? How can he be a protector? In the end, when he returns a destroyed Army drone that was tracking him...why would he think the Army would act otherwise? He just blew up a major city, of course they'll want to track and spy on him!

With all that out of the way, how is the actual film? 

 

Amy Adams is great as Lois Lane; for once Lois is an actual journalist following leads and gathering sources and she can fucking spell. And while the actual legitimacy of why Zod would have her kidnapped and brought to space are sketchy (in essence, she is a plot device, nothing more), she still seems like someone who can kick ass when she needs to, but who still lacks the attitude and spunk that Lois typically employs. Henry Cavill, who up until this film was an unknown (in typical “Superman-leading-man” style) owns this role. He is actually given material to work with, and is allowed to make the character his own (unlike poor Brandon Routh, who was forced to do a Christopher Reeve impersonation for his single outing), and it's his smaller, quieter moments that sell him in the role. And the guy is fucking cut; he looks the way Superman should look (at least in a Tim Sale/Jim Lee/Denn O'Neill interpretation of the character; all muscles on top of muscles). The guy doesn't have a single ounce of fat on him, and that is fucking impressive. And he doesn't look at all bad in the redesigned costume (and kudos for getting rid of the red underpants. It was time to get away from those). Laurence Fishburne as Perry White offers the sort of no-nonsense, gruff attitude that most leading correspondents and editors exhibit (this witness from first-hand experience). Michael Shannon offers up a version of Zod who is less psychotic and regal (no “Kneel before Zod”'s to be found here!), creating a menacing threat of a villain that actually has a goal in mind, and who can at least have his evil attributed to his upbringing: he was designed, from birth, to be Krypton's protector, no matter what. And the fact that the only way to stop him was for Superman to snap his neck makes him that much more of a force (and don't give me that “Superman doesn't kill” bullshit; yeah, it's true in a modern context, but prior to the Comic Authority's incorporation in the 1950s, superheroes in comics regularly killed. Even Batman's earliest appearances in Detective Comics shows him brandishing a gun and killing his adversaries, often with impunity. Even in Superman II, Superman threw Zod down a fucking crevasse, after de-powering him, breaking his hand and punching him in the gut). 

 

Hans Zimmer's score is hands-down on of his best. The new theme (“What Will You Do When You're Not Saving The World”) starts small and quiet, before building to a crescendo that does much to get me pumped (I tend to play it on loop whenever I go running). The bombastic, bass and drum-heavy score imparts a lot of weight and scope to the film, making an epic story that much more so epic. At times it threatens to overpower the smaller, quieter moments of the film, but it doesn't take away it either. 

 

Director Zack Snyder thankfully does away with his speed-ramping, and actually allows for some breathing room. While he seems to be the go-to comic-book action film guy, he has a surprisingly sure hand with the smaller character moments. I tend to place the emphasis on wanton destruction to his trigger happy need for spectacle, but at least he understands that a major film of this scope needs spectacle (and no, Superman throwing an island into space does not count). He overdoes it here, and hopefully in the sequel (which is thankfully greenlit) these issues are addressed, and the repercussions of Superman's wanton destruction is explored. Hopefully his role in the world, as both a threat and protector, is further explored as well.

This film makes major missteps in regard to Superman's role as a protector, and, yeah, there are some plot holes, but they didn't take away from the ultimate experience. And while the coda of the film neatly throws the Superman archetypes neatly in order (he's got the glasses; he works at the Daily Planet---despite having zero journalist credentials---and Metropolis is somehow rebuilt....unless LexCorp is responsible for the quick recovery, which would actually be cool), the journey to that moment is great. This film, while darker than any previous Superman film, is a necessary reintroduction to a world gone cynical and weary. 

 

Hopefully Superman will once again be considered what he was always intended to be: a symbol not only of hope, but of the human potential for good in the world.