A Few Other Things About Man of Steel (Yes, I'm Going to Talk About the Zod Thing)....

So, after my Man of Steel review, I instantly got a few criticisms about the movie and the review that deserve to be addressed. WARNING: There are spoilers ahead. If you don't want to know some parts of the movie, jump out now.

Last Warning...there are spoilers. Okay, you had your chance.



1). There were a couple of problems I had with the movie that I didn't mention.

-For one thing, the Lois/Superman romance was a little rushed. A kissing scene after he's just killed a man with the backdrop of a half-leveled Metropolis played out on screen a lot like the end of a Godzilla movie where, "Sure, he wrecked all of our shit, but we're alive and he beat up the monster, so thanks, Godzilla! You're alright."

-With the exception of Superman's costume, the color palette for this movie was really sepia. I don't have a good joke for that. I just found that kinda odd.

2). There were a lot of people who feel that the death of Krypton should have been skipped altogether and although I don't agree, it's a fair reaction to have. After all, you'd have to travel a long way to find someone that doesn't know that Superman's an alien raised by kindly midwestern farm people. However, it's also fair to say that the last time we saw an origin story on the big screen was over 30 years ago. I literally hadn't even been conceived the last time a movie depicted Jor-El shooting his only son off into space. There's a whole generation who hasn't had the chance to have the same experience we did. Furthermore, the larger reason it's important to, at least, glance at the final moments of Krypton is to add gravitas to the hero's journey. Not for the hero, mind you, but for the viewer. I detest the idea of risking a discussion about comparing Superman to Jesus, but please bare with me.

One of the prevailing ideas in the Bible is that the morals of the Judeo-Christian faith have an overwhelming impact on those who study them when they understand what Christ sacrificed to convey them. In turn, the idea in Man of Steel is that we, the viewers, are sympathetic to the idea that Clark will never truly know (not firsthand, anyway) what his parents gave (specifically Jor-El) to make sure his son didn't have to explode alongside his people. Glazing over the death of Krypton is tantamount to overlooking the fact that Batman's parents got shot.

3). I read several comments on Facebook and Twitter where people were groaning about all the product placement. I dismissed most of this as the bitter fan-tears of trolls. People whined about this as if product placement were some new phenomenon. The Lone Ranger is selling Subway sandwiches, Iron Man and Mister Spock are selling Audi sports coupes, Smallville was practically an hour long Old Navy ad each week, Batman and Robin (and Sylvester Stallone) sold Taco Bell and NOW people are whining about Corporate America's involvement? Yeah, okay. Next....

4). The complaints about Jonathan Kent being un-Kent-like....**sigh**...okay. There were more than a few people that found it a little left field that, when asked if he should have let the children on the school bus die, Pa Kent replied "Maybe." This was the first time in the history of the mythology I saw Jonathan portrayed as a real person and not what we think kindly midwestern farmers should be like. He sounded like someone my dad would know. My father is honest enough to know he doesn't have all the answers and replied to my questions several times throughout my childhood with "Fuck, I don't know...maybe." It's debatable that, perhaps, he offered mixed messages for his son throughout the movie, but what we saw was a man who'd come face to face with the possibility that he might not be properly equipped to give his son all of the guidance he needs. Just like many real fathers.

5). Another complaint I heard A LOT was about the Zod fight. Two specific things about the Zod fight seemed to rub people the wrong way.

-Apparently, some people were shocked by the wholesale destruction being so....well....destructive. Yes, you heard that right. People were actually mad that Superman beat a bad guy by punching him. I find that particularly silly after this.....


....and this.

  c

Even without the fact that Superman fights have traditionally been just plain destructive, I see where some fans would take issue with the final act in Man of Steel. As a Superman fan, I do appreciate those moments ("All Star" is full of them) when Superman can cure all ails with his never-ending well of compassion and feelings. After all, we've become accustomed to a mythology where Superman always has the right answer and is powerful enough to choose the "third" option that wouldn't always be available to everyday people. He's fast enough to usually get there just in time. He can hear well enough to get to wherever "there" may happen to be. In short, he's able to realize those "nick of time" moments we all wish for in real life. So, it's not unreasonable to consider people being a little turned off by all the death.

Consider the other end of the spectrum, though. I mean, sure, there were TONS of buildings being smashed and yeah, there were people clearly still in harm's way, but Superman was clearly fighting a guy who was a powerful as HE was and twice as dangerous because he a). was severely pissed and b). didn't give a single solitary fuck about hurting humans. The evil Kryptonians were pretty relentless already. I mean there were several times during the fight in Smallville where he tried to get some distance and wasn't allowed a single moment of pause by Faora and Other Guy. Did we really think Zod would be any less relentless? In fairness, Superman did try to knock him into orbit at least once, but it's like I said. Superpowered fights just tend to be really fucking dangerous.

-And of course, there is the death of General Zod. This was something I expected from the moment he killed Jor-El. It's a type of favored "eye for an eye" karmic symmetry in blockbuster action movies, certainly in superhero films. Granted, I wouldn't have predicted Superman snapping his neck Chuck Norris style, but the backlash is understandable. Even though I feverishly disagree with the comparison, I've noticed a lot of people (I know...not everybody) see Superman as a Jesus analog. Whether they're a fan of him or not, wondering what Superman would do is akin to asking what Jesus would do and while my theology is rusty, I'm pretty sure when the Good Book said to "turn the other cheek," it didn't mean "turn thy neighbor's cheek from one side of his body to the other." Having said that, I think that, as I mentioned before, often times, people expect Superman, with all his power, to have the option of an easy way out. But, once again, he was up against a foe every bit as powerful as he is and, in fairness, he pleaded with Zod to stop at least three times. And it's not like he wanted to kill the guy. For fuck's sake, he immediately fell to his knees and cried as Lois held him. I mean he was sobbing about the shit. I appreciate this dimension to the character. Storywise, I like the idea of a Superman that isn't instantly sure enough of the right thing to do to in every situation partly because he's still new.

My Review of Man of Steel (minor spoilers enclosed)

Let's be honest. The last good Superman movie to ever get made was Superman II. Three bizarre, contrived, aimless movies and a slew of successful movies later from several other superheroes, the Last Son of Krypton needed a win. Furthermore, DC Comics needed a non-Batman win. Enter Henry Cavil. Enter Man of Steel, a film that, in many ways, asks old fashioned comic fans like myself to let go a little and open themselves up to a re-imagining of the Superman mythos that could be compared to the early ambitions of Marvel's "Ultimate Comics" line. Gone is Richard Donner's largely optimistic world, traded for a darker tone and more post 9/11 atmosphere of fear (while still goodhearted and well-meaning) in keeping with a slightly more cynical brand of heroes in the current superhero genre. Even the Man of Tomorrow's outfit (referred to as "armor" here) looks like it's meant to be more functional than it's noticably brighter predecessors in the same way Christopher Nolan's Batman forgoes tights for battle armor. With the exception of a few laugh tactics here and there, Snyder's story is light years more serious in nature than anything Richard Donner or Bryan Singer dreamed up.

The origin story of Superman is, in many ways, a challenging one. In many superhero beginnings, we see a character given a drastic alteration necessary for their evolution. Captain America was given his strength via a science experiment. Daredevil was endowed with enhanced senses during an accident with toxic waste. Batman was born of trauma. Clark Kent has always been what he is whether he realizes it right away or not. More than anything, Man of Steel tells the story of a powerful but noble man discovering his place in the world.

A notable departure from tradition is most apparent in the depiction of Krypton, Superman's ancestral home. Though the designs cannot lay claim to being the most original, the lifeless crystal cities we've seen so much of in the past are no more. Here, we see a vibrant planet that's equal parts Dune, Avatar and The Matrix's Zion. Superman's biological parents, Jor-El (Russell Crowe) and Lara (Ayelet Zurer), while intellectual, are also men and women of action, leaping onto flying creatures and shooting down surface air projectiles with little more than a shrug in the face of rebel leader General Zod (Michael Shannon, who has mastered the villainous face clench), who isn't nearly as much the third person talking, would-be-conquerer we saw in Superman II. We find Clark (Henry Cavil) later in adulthood after being raised by Jonathan and Martha Kent (Kevin Costner, Diane Lane) as a drifter, taking odd jobs, compelled to help people wherever he goes. Eventually, his destiny becomes almost unavoidable when his fate intertwines with the vengeful Zod's as well as that of Earth's.

Cavil gives us an immensely likeable but burdened Superman that recalls key moments in his childhood where he and his parents struggle to understand his powers and the necessity to conceal them. There is an especially awesome scene where Clark is overcome by his super senses to such a point that the whispers and footfalls around him are too much to bear. By far, the show-stealing performance in this movie is almost certainly that of Costner. This is easily my favorite incarnation of Pa Kent because he came across as a man and not an idea much like Martin Sheen's Uncle Ben in the Amazing Spider Man. He was a man that many of us could see in the company of our own fathers who was, sometimes, unsure of the right thing, completely conscious of not being fully equipped to give his son all the right answers in every situation, something many (if not all) fathers struggle with at some point in their lives. Amy Adams was definitely a better Lois Lane than we've seen in a while, capable of getting herself out of most of the trouble she gets herself into. She shoots at the bad guys, uses her journalistic know-how (and honestly, common goddamned sense) to investigate Superman and tells off military officials unapologetically. It's one of the first times we see a love interest (although it's a rushed love) that proves why she's worthy of our hero. Michael Shannon was a compelling Zod, moreso than his predecessor, played by Terrance Stamp, simply because he's a protagonist with more dimension, who doesn't just feel he's doing what he does because the hero is doing the opposite. He thinks he's doing what's right. In turn, Superman seems to understand this much about his foe while still seeing the necessity in stopping him. And that's who this hero is, one who sympathizes and grasps the need for compassion even though he can't always make his enemies see it. Though it's a self contained adventures, it obviously leaves enough leg room for sequels and (who knows) cross-franchising later on to compete with Marvel's Avengers initiative. Good luck with that, by the way.

Bottom Line: This movie is exactly what the Superman of this generation should be: equal parts morality play and slugfest. It's refreshing to see a Superman who is still attempting to figure out who he is and who he wants the world to see him as just like every other person that was raised by human people instead of a hero who instantly knows exactly what to do to solve every problem. 9 out of 10