Man of Steel does for Superman what Nolan's Dark Knight Trilogy did for Batman: made two superheroes as real people in the real world. While the movie does misfire at times, it is a good, solid piece of the DC universe. Of course, we must go through the origin story since this is an official reboot. So we have to learn of Jor-El (Russell Crowe) and General Zod (Michael Shannon), the plot to overthrow the planet, the exile of Zod and his cohorts, and the escape of Kal-El to Earth. The story continues as the Kents adopt the boy and watch him grow up. Straying from the story, Clark (Henry Cavill) is a loner, realizing his abilities and identity make him an outsider. He does good deeds, moves on, does some more incredible good deeds, and moves on. He eventually discovers his father's spaceship. Also discovering the ship is a young Lois Lane (Amy Adams) who has been following the trail of mysterious good deeds. It is then, she discovers the lonely Superman. As he reveals himself to the world, it does not know what to do with him – especially the U.S. military. All that changes when Zod escapes and returns to Earth. Now, they must trust the incredible alien. A few problems do exist in the story. The beginning is laden with a complex plot addition that seems irrelevant to the rest of the story. It does allow for Zod to have a slight motivation, but it is negligible to the story's end, and it drags it down a little long. Second, the end battle is drawn out a bit too long, overdosing on the destruction and mayhem of a real fight between the last two survivors of Kyrpton. However, this is the greatest aspect in this particular version of Superman: a gritty realism in both characters and situations. It really gets going as Clark goes through changes, discovering his super- hearing and super-sight at a young age and not knowing how to deal with them. This keeps him as an outsider and a loner. Another scene has him deal with a rowdy restaurant patron who pours beer over Clark's head. When he discovers flight, Superman must learn to control it, and eventually finds it exhilarating. One of the best scenes is when he circles half the globe and then ascends to the edge of space. Then comes the burden of being Superman: defending the people of Earth from Zod. This is a lonely life that keeps him isolated. And his super powers cannot shield him from emotional trauma and his own fear of rejection. The characters of Jonathan (Kevin Costner) and Martha (Diane Lane) are stellar, giving a sense of worry and love for their adopted son. Many people are going to want to compare this one to the original Superman starring Christopher Reeve. True, it is a classic, especially with the more difficult special effects needed at that time. Also, Reeve played the roles of Clark and Superman as opposites: Clark the bumbling, inept fool, and Superman as the confident, strong type. Henry Cavill, gives a more quiet performance, giving us emotion on both sides of his identity. He does struggle with who he is, while Reeve only struggles as Clark. Margo Kidder gave us a strong Lois, but she was still ditzy. Amy Adams is strong and passionate, but needs coaching on restraint from Perry White. Also, Laurence Fishburne is a strong, wise, and reserved Perry White. Simply put: the older version was for kids, Man of Steel is for the adults that want to see realism in our heroes – even the imagined ones like Superman. We all have to reconcile seeing our parents, and our heroes as real, fallible human beings. In this case, Man of Steel, is about a Superman who may have steel-like skin, but has a fragile soul like the rest of us.
Review of Man of Steel
