By Geno McGahee
In 1978, SUPERMAN was released and it was the first time that we were able to really connect to the character. It was an event as much as it was a movie and Christopher Reeve was the character. He maintained the role until SUPERMAN IV: THE QUEST FOR PEACE in 1987, and it really killed the series. The fourth entry proved incredibly weak and unrealistic. The zaniness that came into the second entry and got worse in the third was overwhelming and the Superman fans gave up. The hero would not resurface until 2006.
SUPERMAN RETURNS had some of the elements to be a good film and it was a good film…not a great one. Kevin Spacey fit the role of super villain Lex Luthor, but Brandon Roth wasn’t accepted as the new Man of Steel. The sense is that he was selected because of his resemblance both in his look and the way that he sounds to Reeve, but he just wasn’t right for the role. Beside that fact, the screenplay was weak and outside of one cool special effect where Superman lands a plane in a football field, there was nothing notable about it. It was a failure.
It took another seven years for Hollywood to take another shot. With the success of IRON MAN, THE DARK KNIGHT, THOR, and THE AVENGERS, the public was obviously hungry for superheroes. MAN OF STEEL, the newest attempt to revive the Superman series was released and it has gone over a lot better than SUPERMAN RETURNS and with good reason. It’s a far better film and has a shot to bring back the series that made its mark in the late seventies and early eighties.
Unlike the other Superman films, MAN OF STEEL spends time introducing us to the world of Krypton and the turmoil that’s going on. The world is about to end and there is a fight between the current government and General Zod’s (Michael Shannon) small army that are looking to take over what’s left. Zod and his group are sent into the phantom zone, but when the planet of Krypton explodes, they are unleashed. This intro reminded me much of THOR and it was rather neat to get an idea of where Superman came from. The visuals are very good.
Before the planet explodes, Jor-El (Russell Crowe) sends his son, Kal-El, to earth, where he is adopted by a human family. Jonathan Kent (Kevin Costner) and Martha Kent (Diane Lane) raise him as a human but he quickly discovers that he is different. He begins to develop his powers and is unable to control it. It’s terrifying for him as he starts to see right through the skin of his teacher and fellow students. Having the superpowers proves to be an inconvenience at first, but then he develops them and starts helping humanity.
Kal-El’s human name is “Clark Kent”. Clark (Henry Cavill) feels out of place and is on a quest of self discovery and when he finds a craft, it sends out a beacon to General Zod and starts their trip to earth. Unknown to him, Clark has attracted the attention of Lois Lane (Amy Adams) and she discovers who he is early on. That is a nice change in format for this series. We usually see Lois Lane not knowing who he is and is tricked by regular glasses and a different part in this hair. Lane is sharp and aware of her surroundings. Amy Adams plays the role incredibly well and her knowing who he was and his history made this relationship that much better.
General Zod comes to earth with his army and demands Kal-El and, in the interest of peace, he surrenders himself, but you can’t trust Zod. Zod’s plan is to kill humanity and restart Krypton and the only thing standing in his way is Superman and the human race that is willing to fight. Michael Shannon did an amazing job as Zod. I wasn’t sure because in SUPERMAN II, Zod was a great character and it was hard to see somebody else in the role, but Shannon nails it and is far more imposing in this role.
I was happy to see Christopher Meloni as Colonel Hardy. Meloni was so great in his run on LAW & ORDER: SVU as Stabler that it was nice to see him get a substantial role in a major motion picture. It was hard to look at him as nothing other than Stabler, but they put him into a role of authority and he took right to it.
The battle ensues and Superman vs. Zod is quite an epic showdown, leading to a great conclusion that has been under some scrutiny by Superman fans. (Spoiler) He literally kills Zod with his bare hands. Some people have a hard time thinking that Superman could murder anyone, but he had no choice in this one and it destroyed him mentally. It was an intense scene.
MAN OF STEEL is a winner. It is cut out of the same cloth as the modern superhero movies. It’s a serious attempt to bring this character back in a big way and it worked. I highly recommend it.
Rating: 8/10
The Blu-Ray collection comes with 4 hours of extras, including documentaries JOURNEY OF DISCOVERY: CREATING MAN OF STEEL, ALL-OUT ACTION and PLANET KRYPTON. Currently MAN OF STEEL is priced at a very reasonable price. If you are a superhero fan, this is one you want to purchase.
I’ve the movie on DVD, but haven’t watched it yet. I guess it’s time to do so.