“Man of Steel” is a good superhero/action film, but it’s not the great superhero/action film I was hoping for or that the Superman character deserves. There are many very good things about the film, however, as a whole, thanks to a heavy reliance on fight scene after fight scene and CGI effects after CGI effects in the final hour of the film, it loses some of its impact. In effects-heavy films, I tend to lose a lot of interest and my mind begins to wander as what I am seeing on screen does not require much thought. I don’t have to pay attention to dialogue or story arcs or any nonsense like that. It’s just explosion, fight, fight, explosion, gas tanker gets thrown onto a building, blah, blah.
The first 90 minutes of Zack Snyder’s “Man of Steel” are excellent, as he has given us a new vision of Krypton and Smallville. There are many thoughtful moments during this first hour and a half of the film. The performances by Russell Crowe as Jor-El, the beautiful Ayelet Zurer as Jor-El’s wife, Lara Lor-Van, Diane Lane as Martha Kent, and Kevin Costner as Jonathan Kent are all outstanding. They each bring the right amount of emotion and gravitas to their roles.
Henry Cavill is fantastic as the Man of Steel. He is never referred to as Superman in the film. We learn what the “S” on his costume means. Cavill’s performance is not as great as that of Christopher Reeve in the Superman films of the 70’s and 80’s, however Reeve’s performance would be very difficult to top. Cavill reminds me of a young Aidan Quinn and this is not at all a bad thing. Cavill brings a nice amount of humor to his performance, though, the film, to its detriment, does not allow for many moments of levity. The reason why the 1978 Superman film is so beloved is due, in part, to the humorous performance of Gene Hackman as Lex Luthor and Ned Beatty as Otis. These characters provided some laughs, an element always welcome in the best of action or suspense films. Why did so many people love “Argo?” Because it was so damn funny. “This is the best bad idea we have, sir.” “I'd rather stay home and count the wrinkles on my dog's balls.” “Argo” is full of funny lines while telling a very exciting story. There is no mystery revolving around why it won the Oscar for Best Picture of 2012. Didn’t everyone love what the Hulk does at the end of Joss Whedon’s “The Avengers?” Humor---add it. It always works. Adding humor to an action film does not mean that it has to lose its seriousness or lessen the thrills. While displaying a touch for light-heartedness, the script of “Man of Steel” does not allow for many such moments, rather, giving more screen time to things going boom and a very, very long fight sequence during the final 45 minutes of the film. That is where the film fails and a thud can be heard in the theater. Fortunately, as mentioned, the first 90 minutes of the film are fantastic, leaving less than an hour of the film’s remaining running time for bang-boom-explody moments. The fact that the movie opts for so many such moments, though, burdens it and interrupts the momentum it had created.
Overall, I did enjoy “Man of Steel,” despite its faults. The film has quite a few more impressive moments than mind-numbing moments. Michael Shannon as Kryptonian villain, Zod, delivers a good performance, though, at times, he sounds like he is from the American South. Shannon is an excellent actor as can be seen in his previous films, Werner Herzog’s “My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done,” and Jeff Nichols’ “Take Shelter.” It was nice to see the character of Zod fleshed out and given more depth than he was given in “Superman 2.” The scenes at the Daily Planet were a bit dull and did not add very much of interest. Lawrence Fishburne is fine as Perry White, though his character seemed unnecessary in this film as Clark Kent as Daily Planet reporter is not established until near the end of the film. Amy Adams as Lois Lane is fine as well, however, the character of Lois Lane in “Man of Steel” feels a bit superfluous as well, and I don’t mean she seems sick.
I recommend “Man of Steel,” however, if you are adverse to constant, mindless action scenes, the final hour may drag for you. Snyder’s new vision of a familiar story does resonate throughout enough of the film, though, to definitely make it worth seeing, especially in a theater. I saw the film in 2-D and at no time wondered how it would look in 3-D so I suppose I was entertained enough to not have wished that I would have spent more money to have the mindless action scenes thrown in my lap. “Man of Steel” ranks fairly highly in my list of superhero films and it is worthy of your money. Warner Brothers will be happy to take it, I’m sure.
