IT MEANS "HOPE"?

“It Means ‘Hope’”?

A Review of MAN OF STEEL

Directed by Zack Snyder

Reviewed by Ernest M. Whiteman III

Okay, let’s get this out up front. I was never a big Superman fan. I love the character of Batman. Ask anyone. As a child did you ever go though this thing with your siblings of “You can’t like that because I like that!”?

I did. Because of it I could not be a fan of the Oakland Raiders, the Boston Celtics, Elvis Presley and Batman. In those early formative years, this silly childish behavior also molded my individuality. Screw it, I’ll like The Rams, Johnny Cash and Captain Marvel. (Which is why I wore a kerchief around my neck constantly. We have lots of pictures of me as a kid with a gold or red kerchief tied on as a cape.) I think the Celtics was the first time I asserted my own preference in that “Well, I can like them too!”

Because Batman was banned to me as a kid (Thanks Ken.), I gravitated toward Captain Marvel because Superman never really captured my imagination. Or maybe Forrest or Dalco liked him first. But the idea of flying did. Also, what I was into was movies. Again, that was thanks to my dad and his Super 8 projector. I also grew up reading comic books, mostly sci-fi. The few I was able to buy were movie adaptations like “Star Trek the Motion Picture”. (Really.) My first comic book subscriptions were “Star Wars” and “Conan the Barbarian”. (The latter thanks to Ken’s insistence.) But I did not become a fan of Superman until the 1978 Richard Donner film. After that, I bought anything attached to the Superman movie.

It captured my imagination and set the standard of on-screen Supermen for many, many years. I saw all but Superman IV in the theater. By the time Superman VI came out, it was struggling at Golan-Globas and our local theaters for some reason stopped showing the mainstream fare. I think it was due to theatric fees that theaters pay to run the big films. You see, back then, most small towns had local Mom-and-Pop theaters run by local business folk and they paid out of profits for movies. So, many, to keep up in the escalating cost of everything in the eighties, had to paid for the cheap movies. Riverton got what would amount to DTV movies or “direct to video” movies.

But, enough about nostalgia, this review is not about nostalgia. This is a review of Zack Snyder’s “Man of Steel”. There is no place for nostalgia here.

REVIEW

When it was announce that Zack Snyder would be directing the new Superman movie, it sort of made sense to me. I am really not a fan of his movies. His “300” and “The Watchmen” were some of the more trite comic book movies out there. Yet, when I saw his animated feature, “The Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’hoole” I was suddenly struck that maybe he could do something really great, especially with his stylistic flourishes that he is known for. The many flying battle sequences and the attached mythology of the story in “The Legends of the Guardians” made me feel that Zack Snyder was the right director for a Superman for the new century.

We begin again on Krypton with scientist Jor El trying to convince the ruling council to evacuate the planet due to their overuse and stripping of the natural resources that has caused the planet core to become unstable. In the middle of all this, military leader General Zod stages a coup to preserve Kryptonian culture. Jor El then sends his infant son to Earth with the codex of Krytonian genetics in him. For that, Zod kills Jor El but his cronies and he are immediately arrested and banished to the Phantom Zone. Then, Krypton explodes.

Kal El, the son, lands on Earth and is raised by the Kents. Here the movie takes the familiar story and opens it up for examination as we follow Clark in his search to find his place in the world. As a youth he has exhibited great powers, which his adopted father (Kevin Costner) tries to keep secret. But young Clark empathy towards humanity leads him off to walk the Earth saving people as a sort of silent guardian, a watchful protector, keeping his power a secret from the rest of the world for fear of rejecting and attacking him. How much this affects Clark is evident as he is unable to fully integrate into humanity. He remains a loner.

Enter, Lois Lane, Daily Planet reporter on the hunt for this mysterious guardian angel. She discovers Clark’s secret and after hearing his story of why he keeps it secret decides to not reveal him to the world. They meet when Clark finds an abandoned Krytonian ship in the Arctic and it is revealed to him, who he really is.

Zod returns from the Phantom Zone after the destruction of Krypton and for the last few decades has been traveling the depths of space searching for the remnants of their people, which leads them to Earth, having been led there once Clark activated the abandoned ship’s power, which sent a signal into space. Zod arrives looking for Kal El and the Codex and threatens the planet unless Kal El surrenders to him.

Here, Superman makes his first appearance to humanity as he agrees to turn himself to Zod to save lives. Zod then decides to terraform Earth into a new Krypton and using the Codex to remake the Kryptonian race. It is then up to Superman to stop him. In the middle of this, Kal El must choose between the humanity that could reject and fear him or turn to his fellow Kryptonians that only want to dominate the only home he has ever had.

Here is how much the movie impacted me: I had to look up that synopsis on Wikipedia. Overall, I did enjoy the movie. It was the most ambitious attempt at retelling the Superman Origin for new audiences.

What I loved most about this adaptation is its earnest tone. It takes everything about the mythology at face value and explores it deeper that past movies have done. Mostly, all comic book movie stories end up being one story, whether or not they should be the superhero. It works for the normal human granted huge powers and responsibilities, but what about Superman? He has the powers borne in him. That is where Superman differs and where stories about him ultimately fall apart.

Here, they are treating it as a first contact story. Not whether Clark Kent should be Superman but where is Superman’s place in humanity. Some of the Justice League cartoons covered this very well and I am glad to se that the new movie went in this direction.

Its seriousness is in contrast to the beloved Richard Donner film, which got goofy and slap sticky in the third act. The Donnor film and the Burton Batman burdened their films with a wacky, comic villain, a silly, land-grubbing Lex Luthor and a silly, clownish Joker, which Nolan tossed right the fuck out. Here we get another rehashed villain from another past sequel film: General Zod. But here the villain is integrated with the hero’s origin unlike Star Trek Into Darkness where he was just Khan for being Khan’s sake.

The tone, the acting and the music were great. Seeing Superman master his powers was inspiring. Henry Cavill makes a great Superman and a very human Clark Kent. He watches college football and drinks beer! He’s one of us! But faced with the destruction of his new home, he must choose to rise above and take on a greater responsibility in looking after the world now that alien life is proven to be out there.

The downside is that in Nolan’s Batman movies, we were given a caper but he also built towards the ending of every film. Look back at every one of Nolan’s Batman movies and you get some great endings that were dictated by the story being told. Here, Synder just cannot match that. He simply puts everyone where they are supposed to be. With some minor changes to the myth; Lois knows who he is and Superman isn’t interested in protecting the U.S.’ interests. Well, nor should he be, but that is neither here nor there.

So, let’s talk about the controversial ending. I am sure you’ve heard by now and so I will not be spoiling anything for you, in a moment in which he must choose in subduing the villain at the risk of some human lives, Superman kills Zod. Many had a problem with it. “Superman doesn’t kill!” they cried. But this is a different Superman. Besides, that’s Batman you’re thinking of. Here, Superman knows he is responsible for the lives being threatened by Zod, who swore to kill them all. Superman knows he can only hold him at bay since Zod quickly mastered his new earthbound powers. There was only one way to insure that Zod did not do that. It was a crucial moment in the development of this new Superman.

You might cry about all the destroyed buildings and the people lost in those. Yes, there were some casualties, but that lends to the importance of Superman’s decision. Besides, you cannot have two super-powered beings fighting in a city and not see the destruction that would create. More folks say that Superman should have flown somewhere isolated, but they are mixing the old Zod with the new. The old Terrence Stamp Zod was focus on subjugating Superman and only came to harm humans as a means to do so. So, Superman took off to the North Pole. This Zod promised to kill every single human on earth to make Kal El pay. If Superman had flown off, Zod would have stayed and killed everyone.

Then, there is the fight: Since the collapse of “Superman Returns all the Fanboys were saying, “I wanna see Superman punch something!” and guess what, when he does, we see that that gets pretty boring, pretty damn quick. So we complain about the “endless action” that we wanted to begin with and pretend we wanted a good story and characterizations. Lying hypocrites. We got what we wanted and when it turns out to be not-very good, we try to cover it up by pretending we wanted something else. The ending fight did get tedious for me, but what else would happen when Superman fights Zod? My little girl, who saw it with me, declared it “Good, but it had too many explosions at the end. But, that’s Zack Snyder.”

What more could I add to that? “Man of Steel”, it does have a lot going for it and overall I enjoyed it enough to see it twice. I will probably appreciate it more as time goes on and it does make me long for the Superman/Batman sequel despite its casting of Ben Affleck. Because in the end, it is a Superman movie and Batman simply should not overshadow Superman in his own movie. I remain hopeful….

Recommend.

2013 Ernest M. Whiteman III