Man of Steel is a strong first outing for Superman!
Pre-review of Man of Steel
2013 is all about Man of Steel for me, ever since I heard they were making another Superman film a good six years after Superman Returns in 2006. It was critically bashed and stank commercially, Returns didn't really create a new franchise or build a decent career for Superman himself, Brandon Routh who completely disappeared afterwards.
2013 is all about Man of Steel for me, ever since I heard they were making another Superman film a good six years after Superman Returns in 2006. It was critically bashed and stank commercially, Returns didn't really create a new franchise or build a decent career for Superman himself, Brandon Routh who completely disappeared afterwards.
Anybody would have had high expectations for this new fresh faced Superman reboot, simply for the fact that Christopher Nolan who re-imagined Batman could possibly do the same for Superman.
Hype during the build up to MOS
Hype during the build up to MOS
The combination of Zack Snyder, Christopher Nolan and Hans Zimmer should equal any decent summer blockbuster since the beginning of legendary comic book films with The Dark Knight.
It would hopefully be an original take on Superman. Russell Crowe is Jor-El, Kal-El's biological father from Kryptonite, who sends his son to earth to save him and also to give hope to others after Kryptonite's dramatic fall.
His adoptive parents are played by Kevin Costner and Diane Lane. Costner is a wonder as an underplayed calm but supportive father figure for Clark growing up. Whilst Lane plays Martha, a character you wouldn't think she could pull off, but does.
Crowe's inspirational quotes fill the trailer with resonance and gravitas as Jor-El; "You will give the people of earth an ideal to strive towards. They will race behind you, they will stumble, they will fall. But in time, they will join you in the sun. In time you will help them accomplish wonders."
The big day Man of Steel has finally arrived
The result of Snyder's first outing to debut the origin story is perfectly imperfect (there are a lot of little imperfections and some very bold changes)- but the cast shines regardless, with Oscar statuettes and Oscar nominations across the board. From Russell "Gladiator" Crowe to Diane Lane, Amy Adams to Michael Shannon, it's impressive and bodes well.
With talent in front and behind the camera, the only fresh faced newcomer Henry Cavill has been welcomed to the big screen in his first major film role.
His jaw is chiselled, he has the curl in his jet black hair, he definitely has the "I'm an alien from the planet Krypton" body and the mannerisms of the 21st century edition of the character, something that is enjoyable to watch, at last the do-gooder is back on the big screen.
Cavill plays such a perfect Kal-El, but we are yet to see him immersed fully as the bumbling human/journalist Clark Kent that we all know and love from the newsroom of the Daily Planet.
He's got the well meaning, "I will save everyone on this planet" ideal down to a tee. But he harbors a secret humorous side, swapping the outdated and small cheesey lines, but not as cheesy a one liners that should keep fans of the old films happy.
Whether this film is too serious for a first Superman film, or whether it has any humour whatsoever is debatable, but they are few and far between. It is a very serious opener to the franchise, but didn't Batman Begins have the same dark start and it helped make the character that much more epic.
The film is dark, but never as dark as the Dark Knight trilogy. Superman is the original superhero, the grandaddy of the superhero comic books.
One of the only darker moments in the film revolves around the villain General Zod played by the increasingly scary Michael Shannon, renowned for playing incredibly high strung characters.
A much needed fresh faced villain, (other than the Terrence Stamp's version) Terrence Stamp does an amazing job of playing the villain with a vaild reason and understandable motive for causing mayhem on planet earth.
Superman was what every boy wanted to be, donning the red cape and blue pants and pretending to fly around their back garden saving the world.
It is a lot more grown up, but, no matter how many times you see any old or new Superman films, it never fails to garner the same excitement of when Clark dons the cape for the first time and learns to fly.
The film is so fresh faced that it does completely re-write quite a few plot points that feature heavily in the original comic books, but that are just about welcome after the same ideas about what a Superman film should look and be like.
Comic book fans may be slightly in despair over Snyder's changes, but ultimately they are for the best, it will mark a new era in the Superman film history, something original yet unoriginal, taking it in new directions for the better.
Nolan has had a lot to do with this new take, after reviving the unequalled Batman DC comic books into another dimension for fans of the comics and rivalling Marvel's own incredibly popular characters. He single handedly (with a little help from his friends) revived the Dark Knight into a popular dark and fantastical trilogy; Man of Steel will hopefully become equally respected as a DC follow up to the Dark Knight.
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