As one of the most highly anticipated movies of the summer, Man of Steel is a fantastic and convincing reboot of one of the most beloved superheroes, Superman – yet not perfectly executed. Some minor spoilers ahead.
Zod believes staring a coup against the Council in order to have control is the best way for their species to survive, and Jor-El believes that having the natural birth of a child for the first time in centuries who is free to choose what they want to do, rather than an engineered embryo who is very strictly created to fulfill a specific role, is the best guarantee for the species to survive.
Jor-El encrypts the entire genetic coding of the embryos – the future citizens of Krypton – into the cells of his naturally-born son, Kal-El, and then places Kal-El onto a ship headed for Earth. Zod attempts war and when tried for his actions, Zod and his crew are not killed, but banished into the Phantom Zone. Before being banished, Zod exclaims to Lara, Jor-El’s wife and Kal’s mother, that he will find his son one day in order to keep the species alive. Regardless, the planet of Krypton self-destructs, and Kal-El and Zod and his crew (although in the Phantom Zone) are the only survivors. Kal hits Earth and is found and adopted by a couple in Kansas, the Kents, who raise him. As Clark grows up, he finds out who he truly is and how to use his power for good rather than evil, as the lingering destiny of Zod finding Kal-El unknowingly overshadows him.
Director Zack Snyder’s reboot of the 75-year-old franchise is without a doubt the most artistic adaption yet, and writer David S. Goyer completely lays out the entire origin of Superman. While the first act of Man of Steel mainly develops the alien-origin of Kal-El, the second act develops Clark Kent on Earth, and is told in a non-linear fashion through many flashbacks to his childhood. Developing Clark’s character through flashbacks gives a solid foundation to progress the film and adequately demonstrates how Clark made his decisions to use his power for good, rather than evil.
Set in present-day, Man of Steel is a unique Superman film in that it rightfully shows how the world would react upon finding out there are other living creatures in the universe. While the latter half of the second act and the entire third act is basically one entire action sequence, about 15-20 minutes of the action could have been cut and Man of Steel still would have been just as artistic and ambitious – if not more so.
The film seems to struggle between a Superman biopic of sorts – how the publicity and trailers made it seem – and an all-out intense summer action movie. While the CGI is excellent in the action scenes, the sequences are lengthy and made me antsy to see the final resolution of Man of Steel. Without giving away the biggest spoiler of the film, I need to say in the review that I predict the end of the film will be debated, and Superman fanatics will understandably have mixed feelings towards the end.
Henry Cavill’s performance of Clark Kent/Kal-El is no less than excellent as he convincingly explores the many different sides of Clark – romance, sense of duty, confidence, and confusion of who he should and needs to be. Amy Adams plays a very convincing Lois Lane; however, more screen time could have developed her character a bit more – she didn’t have quite as solid of a foundation as Clark and other supporting characters. Although with less screen time than I anticipated, Crowe makes up for his lack-luster performance from Les Miserables, and pulls off an outstanding Jor-El with a clear air of confidence.
With the same Christopher Nolan-esque dark undertones as The Dark Knight trilogy, Man of Steel is a highly entertaining and semi-fictional biopic of Superman. Although it does have some minor problems, Man of Steel‘s story and characters are extremely well developed, paced nicely, and is one of the most enjoyable and refreshing comic book reboots in a long time.
Grade: B+
Rated: PG-13 (for intense sequences of sci-fi violence, action and destruction, and for some language)
Man of Steel opens in theaters on June 14.