Man of Steel
Having seeing the “sequel” Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice before this and being a fan of the original Christopher Reeve’s Superman movies, I was eager to finally watch Man of Steel. The story follows a combination of the first two movies as it tells the story of Kal-El’s journey to Earth but General Zod is the main antagonist. Henry Cavill has the right look for Superman but seemed to not have quite as much “slyness” or “charm” as Reeve did, but I am not sure anyone could outdo Reeve’s Clark Kent. Rest of the acting is well done without being hokey, Micheal Shannon plays cold, calculating General Zod who can snap a the drop of a hat. He was so good on Boardwalk Empire I can’t help to still see that character on screen. Russell Crowe fills in the role of Jor-El very, very well. Smart and compassionate he is less rigid than how Marlon Brando played in the original movies. Although I wish they dressed him in the original glowing tin foil costume.
Special effects are top notch and realistic (especially the heat vision!), but the filming could have used a little-less “lens flare”. It was there when it wasn’t needed as seemed distracting, but that seems to be the going trend in action movies lately. The action is well paced but the story jumps back and forth in time lending confusion to the first-time watcher.
Two other minor gripes are (1) not using John Williams’ iconic score and (2) no Lex Luthor. Hans Zimmer is wonderful, but I thought it seemed too dark and low-key for this story. It needed a brass “punch” that Williams is so know for. I know Lex Luthor has been in all the other Superman movies, but there is a reason for it. He is Superman’s main enemy! He could have made a cameo. Luthor does show up in the sequel Batman v Superman but Jesse Eisenberg totally ruins that character, but that might eventually go under What Grinds My Gears.
Hard to call it a classic as the original two Superman movies, but it deserves a solid 3 out of 4 star rating.
Year: 2013
Directed by: Zack Snyder
Starring:
- Henry Cavill
- Amy Adams
- Michael Shannon
- Kevin Costner
- Diane Lane
- Laurence Fishburne
- Antje Traue
- Ayelet Zurer
- Christopher Meloni
- Russell Crowe