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Man of Steel is the latest iteration of the Superman character. The film follows Clark, a.k.a. Kal-El (Henry Cavill) as he is sent from Krypton to Earth by his father Jor-El (Russell Crowe). Here he ends up taken by Jonathan and Martha Kent (Kevin Costner and Diane Lane), who try their best to instill in Clark a sense of goodwill. However, this clashes with his inner struggle of identity and belonging as he tries to figure out who or what he wants to be.
The above quote occurs at a moment when teenage Clark has been bullied by some kids. "I wanted to hit that kid", he says, but "Then what?", says his father. Would it have made any difference? Then he follows with that advice; to figure out and decide who he wants to grow up to be. That struggle is ever-present on the film, not only in the character, but also in how director Zack Snyder and writer David S. Goyer perceive and portray Superman.
I've always been a fan of the original Superman films, and of the character in general. I even liked Bryan Singer's nostalgic callback to Reeves' era in Superman Returns. That is probably why I pushed back a bit when Man of Steel came out relatively soon after; that, and the fact that I didn't really enjoy Snyder's previous film or that the film wasn't really getting glorious reviews back in the day. Because of this, I haven't seen a single DCEU film. So when a good friend invited me to talk about it on his podcast, I dreaded the clash of my perception and expectations with those of Snyder and Goyer.
At one point, one of my younger brothers, a hardcore DCEU fan, told me "this is not the Superman you grew up with. You just have to accept that this is a different Superman", and maybe that made the clashes a bit more easier to swallow. And I'm OK with that. A more morally conflicted character could be more interesting, but not if you're not consistent. You can't have a character whose sole drive since childhood has been to protect people, then be so blatantly in disregard of public safety as he beats and pummels a bad guy through buildings and streets. Not when it's done for "cool looks" and not when his alleged inner struggle shifts from one scene to the other.
That alone pushes the film a few notches down for me. On a more surface level, Snyder's direction was pretty bad. Too frenetic, too shaky, too blurry, and too messy, which is heightened in the excesses of the last act. Whenever he kept the camera still, he was able to present some striking visuals and solid imagery, but those were too few and far between. The special effects and CGI were also pretty mediocre. Not to mention the nonsensical and ultimately pointless plot about the Codex, or the lack of chemistry between Cavill and Amy Adams.
I did like the flashback bits, mostly because of Costner's performance. I thought he added a lot of gravitas and a strong emotional core to the film. His conversations with Clark, like the one I quoted above, where among the stronger moments of the film for me. I also liked that the film tried to address deeper themes of fate vs. free will, and contrast it through Zod (Michael Shannon) and Superman, but I wish they would've done a bit more with it.
Obviously, despite some mixed reviews and a tepid reception by critics, the film kickstarted what would be known as the DCEU, uniting a certain group of fans in a way that few fandoms have. Fans that, for better or worse, have rallied behind Snyder's efforts through the years, maybe even shaping how studios respond to audiences. Kinda like what Jonathan said: whatever that film is, good or bad, it's gonna change the world.
Grade:
MAN OF STEEL
(2013, Snyder)
A fantasy film
(2013, Snyder)
A fantasy film
"You just have to decide what kind of a man you want to grow up to be, Clark; because whoever that man is, good character or bad, he's gonna change the world."
Man of Steel is the latest iteration of the Superman character. The film follows Clark, a.k.a. Kal-El (Henry Cavill) as he is sent from Krypton to Earth by his father Jor-El (Russell Crowe). Here he ends up taken by Jonathan and Martha Kent (Kevin Costner and Diane Lane), who try their best to instill in Clark a sense of goodwill. However, this clashes with his inner struggle of identity and belonging as he tries to figure out who or what he wants to be.
The above quote occurs at a moment when teenage Clark has been bullied by some kids. "I wanted to hit that kid", he says, but "Then what?", says his father. Would it have made any difference? Then he follows with that advice; to figure out and decide who he wants to grow up to be. That struggle is ever-present on the film, not only in the character, but also in how director Zack Snyder and writer David S. Goyer perceive and portray Superman.
I've always been a fan of the original Superman films, and of the character in general. I even liked Bryan Singer's nostalgic callback to Reeves' era in Superman Returns. That is probably why I pushed back a bit when Man of Steel came out relatively soon after; that, and the fact that I didn't really enjoy Snyder's previous film or that the film wasn't really getting glorious reviews back in the day. Because of this, I haven't seen a single DCEU film. So when a good friend invited me to talk about it on his podcast, I dreaded the clash of my perception and expectations with those of Snyder and Goyer.
At one point, one of my younger brothers, a hardcore DCEU fan, told me "this is not the Superman you grew up with. You just have to accept that this is a different Superman", and maybe that made the clashes a bit more easier to swallow. And I'm OK with that. A more morally conflicted character could be more interesting, but not if you're not consistent. You can't have a character whose sole drive since childhood has been to protect people, then be so blatantly in disregard of public safety as he beats and pummels a bad guy through buildings and streets. Not when it's done for "cool looks" and not when his alleged inner struggle shifts from one scene to the other.
That alone pushes the film a few notches down for me. On a more surface level, Snyder's direction was pretty bad. Too frenetic, too shaky, too blurry, and too messy, which is heightened in the excesses of the last act. Whenever he kept the camera still, he was able to present some striking visuals and solid imagery, but those were too few and far between. The special effects and CGI were also pretty mediocre. Not to mention the nonsensical and ultimately pointless plot about the Codex, or the lack of chemistry between Cavill and Amy Adams.
I did like the flashback bits, mostly because of Costner's performance. I thought he added a lot of gravitas and a strong emotional core to the film. His conversations with Clark, like the one I quoted above, where among the stronger moments of the film for me. I also liked that the film tried to address deeper themes of fate vs. free will, and contrast it through Zod (Michael Shannon) and Superman, but I wish they would've done a bit more with it.
Obviously, despite some mixed reviews and a tepid reception by critics, the film kickstarted what would be known as the DCEU, uniting a certain group of fans in a way that few fandoms have. Fans that, for better or worse, have rallied behind Snyder's efforts through the years, maybe even shaping how studios respond to audiences. Kinda like what Jonathan said: whatever that film is, good or bad, it's gonna change the world.
Grade: