Man of Steel (2013) - Revisited

Back when I saw this movie in 2013, I found it to be a disappointment. I enjoyed exactly two scenes in the entire movie: the Superman flight scene and his aerial rescue of Lois (preceding the Smallville fight sequence). I also liked Antje's performance as Faora. Other than that, the movie did not impress me.

 

I found Man of Steel (MoS) to be the polar opposite of the Richard Donner/Chris Reeve 1978 Superman: The Movie:

• Cavill's Clark Kent/Superman is almost 100% humor/smile free (except for the last shot at the Daily Planet)
• Like Clark, the movie itself has a grim tone, which would befit Batman or Punisher or Spawn better.
• The cinematography choices is also dark and is probably one of the main reasons this movie did not strike a chord with me
• Lois Lane already knows Superman's secret identity, even before they meet. Plus the chemistry between Henry Cavill and Amy Adams is non-existent.
  
• Hans Zimmer's soundtrack does not have a single romance track. John Williams' love theme is still one of his best works.
• The action sequences are way overdone. The movie starts with one (set on Krypton), the second is set in Smallville and the finale in Metropolis. Except the first one, the special effects in the the remaining ones appear unfinished multiple times. We can overlook the lack of humor and the characterizations, but the way these action sequences have been handled is puzzling.
  

 

 

Revisited MoS after a long time and finally came to terms with it. This is a modern take on Superman in the same vein as BBC Sherlock is on the 20th Century Victorian detective. The obvious difference is that while the BBC show also takes deviations, it is a very well made show with great casting choices (among other things). MoS still remains a mixed bag. Yes there are some positives, but the movie still suffers from a number of weak spot. Let us get started.

 

The opening prologue on Krypton feels unnecessary and serves only to remind us that Warner Bros had provided only one mandate to Zack Snyder: make the movie as action packed as possible. If further proof is required, look no further than the casting and characterization of Jor-El. Clearly, Snyder is a fan of Gladiator - in addition to Russell Crowe, we have Connie Nielsen as Hippolyta and Hans Zimmer providing another bombastic soundtrack. One final link would Joaquin Phoenix who played Joker.

Back to the prologue - a good example of a prologue well done would be the one at the beginning of The Fellowship of the Ring. That was such a good beginning to the movie and the trilogy. The Krypton sequence on the other hand looks generic and Jor-El is a martial artist/scientist who can go toe to toe with General Zod (Michael Shannon) and ride dragon like beasts (reminded me of Avatar though). 

 

This entire sequence could have been done away with and the money would have been better spent on making the Smallville and Metropolis action sequences better. The city wide destruction and Superman snapping Zod's neck has been widely criticized and commented upon. I can understand that these were justified from a story point perspective, but the low quality of graphics in the fight sequences is something that Zack could have improved on.

 

 

To give Zack and the movie due credit, I liked the scene where Faora-Ul (Antje Trauje) gives special breathing gear to Lois Lane (Amy Adams) in the Kryptonian ship. Also Superman struggling to adjust to the Kryptonian atmosphere was another nice touch. I mention this point specifically for one main reason: When watching Avengers: Endgame, I was struck by how Tony Stark, Peter Parker, Dr Stephen Strange and other humans were able to adapt so quickly to the atmosphere on Titan and breath without the help of any special instrument/aid. So kudos to Zack and team.

 

The other aspects that the movie absolutely delivered are the flight scenes featuring Supes and the Kryptonian ships. The design of the alien ships is another strong point. 

 

The final and the best thing about the movie is Hans Zimmer's soundtrack. Following John Williams' iconic work is a daunting task. Hans delivers a great theme to both Supes and Zod. The movie would lose half its impact without the soundtrack. Superman's first flight scene and his aerial rescue of Lois are two examples. Some might complain that it is bit loud, but I nevertheless enjoy the soundtrack and think of it as a great companion piece to Williams.

 

I did find couple of loop holes in the plot:

• In Zack Snyder's Justice League, it is revealed that General Swanwick (Harry Lennix) is actually Martian Manhunter in disguise. The question is: why did Martian Manhunter not help Supes against the Kryptonian invasion? He could have helped and still maintained his secret identity. Related query: how come Supes did not see through Manhunter's disguise, considering that he would have some anatomical differences from regular human beings?
• Another thing to note is that probably half of Smallville know's Superman's secret identity. After being rescued by Supes, Lois arrives in a police car at Clark's home in Smallville and addresses Superman as “Clark” right within hearing distance of the cops. So what was the point of General Swanwick's 12 million dollar worth satellite to keep tabs on Supes. Plus, cannot Swanwick (as Martian Manhunter) just read Supes mind and know his true identity. 
  

All in all, MoS is a better Science Fiction movie than a Superhero movie featuring Supes. I think of it as an alternate universe take (similar to JL: Gods and Monsters). 

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Image Sources: Warner Bros., Legendary Pictures, Syncopy

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Movie Review: Man of Steel (2013)

The movie combines the plots of Superman: The Movie (1978) and Superman 2 (1980). The opening prologue of Man of Steel shows Krypton's destruction and Kal-El being sent to Earth. Similar to Superman 2, General Zod travels to Earth. Throw in some parts of Batman Begins and hey presto, you get Man of Steel.

I am not going to the plot details as there is not much to write about there. The plot has a number of holes though, which I will avoid to keep this review spoiler free.

The movie, if nothing else, shows the power of marketing. The marketing campaign for this movie has been nothing short of brilliant. The trailers and TV spots did an amazing job of presenting the movie as a must watch summer movie event. Unfortunately, the movie fails to live up to its hype. And I mean failure on an epic scale.

Kryptonians are supposed to be an advanced civilization but fly on dragon like flying beasts. There are flying spacecrafts too. The movie cannot decide whether it is belongs to the science fiction genre or the fantasy genre. Oh wait, it is a superhero movie, featuring Supes.

The acting is surprisingly weak, considering the star cast. Characterizations are either non-existent or just wrong.

Take the example of Martha Kent. Diane Lane's performance is limited to her wardrobe and her only effective scene is the one where she gets to counsel a very young Clark (Cooper Timberline) who is terrified after a manifestation of his x-ray vision.

Ditto for Amy Adams' Lois Lane. One of the main appeals of Clark-Lois dynamics is the fact that Lois is unaware of Supes' secret identity. 

As silly as Supes' secret identity is, it is still one of the benchmarks of the Supes mythology. Man of Steel gets rid of this aspect and this pretty much removes any scope for the classic Supes-Lois romance.

On the other end of the writing spectrum are the characters of Supes himself and Jor-El. Henry's version of Supes/Clark Kent is a dullard. Moping around like Christian Bale's Bruce Wayne does not a Clark Kent make. Neither does Henry Cavill's school of acting that alternates between 2 expressions: blank faced or constipated.

To put Henry's performance in perspective, I would say that both Dylan Sprayberry and Cooper Timberline make a better impression as younger versions of Clark, even though they have a fraction of the screen time compared to Cavill.

Henry is quite a handsome looking chap and looks brawny when he goes shirtless. In my humble opinion, his is the most boring version of Supes and possibly the worst as well. Without giving anything away, I will direct the readers to the movie climax to drive home this point.

Equally nonsensical is Jor-El's characterization. To the best of my knowledge, Jor-El has been a scientist on Krypton. Marlon Brando's version captured that aspect. Russell Crowe plays Jor-El as a scientist version of Maximus Decimus Meridius from Gladiator. Russell's Jor-El kicks, punches, shoots, dives and jumps on the back of flying dragons. Quite an all-rounder indeed. The less said about Jor-El's later appearances the better. Still, Russell delivers a watchable performance.

Michael Shannon is on auto-pilot mode and gives a one-note performance as General Zod. His is a glare-stare-shout performance and nothing else. The actors, especially Michael Shannon and Ayelet Zurer seem to be at line reading sessions. Perhaps, performing going against green screens did not inspire them to do anything beyond simple line reading exercises. Interestingly, Henry Cavill and even Amy Adams resort to such antics in their scenes together and it is quite a stretch to believe their romance subplot.

The best performances are by Kevin Costner as Jonathan Kent and Antje Traue as Faora Ul. Kevin gives a believable performance as Jonathan Kent, who wants the best for Clark. He consistently advises Clark to hide his powers (another red flag as far as the comics is concerned). Still, Kevin's performance is one of the best ones.

Click on the link below to buy your copy of the movie:

But the true scene stealer is Antje Traue. As Sub-Commander Faora-Ul, Zod's right hand, she exudes arrogance and pure evil. Hers is a fun performance and the movie comes alive when she is onscreen. The casting department definitely made the right choice (atleast) for this role.

The same cannot be said for the special effects department. It is painfully obvious that we are watching a computer generated special effect flying around, when it is supposed to be Henry Cavill as Supes. This happens a number of times in the movie and makes one wonder where did all the (supposedly) 200 million dollar plus budget went into.

I suppose a significant amount was spent on the Krypton sequence. For my money, I would have skipped that sequence and instead spent the budget on getting the Supes flight/fight scenes executed in a believable way. After all, this is the 21st century and Man of Steel should have more believable flight/fight sequences than the Chris Reeve movies. Between a Chris Reeve on wires scene vs weak CGI superman shots, I would gladly choose the former.

The special effects in Man of Steel are not always this good

Hans Zimmer's nonstop bombastic score is one of his least effective works in recent times. I could make out only one theme being repeated aloud or quietly, depending on the scene in question.

One way to get through the movie is to play the "Spot the Product placements" game. I spotted Nikon, IHOP, 7-Eleven and Sears. There are some more and I encourage the readers to look out for these.

This is lazy movie-making at its best. Warner Bros. must be desperate for a new franchise (now that The Dark Knight Trilogy and the Harry Potter series are over). Marvel's continuous success probably did not help either.

Marvel Studios did the right thing in getting directors who delivered adaptations with appropriate tone for each comic book character. For a fun character like Iron Man, they brought Jon Favreau on board. For a mythological character like Thor, they hired respected Shakespearean actor/director, Kenneth Branagh.

Christopher Nolan and Zack Snyder

Warner Bros does not seem to care about these basic but crucial points. The critical and commercial success of The Dark Knight Trilogy seems to have become the Kryptonite of Man of Steel. The similarities between Man of Steel and Batman Begins are quite obvious. The back and forth narrative structure that worked so well in Batman Begins, results in an uneven tone for Man of Steel. No surprise there, as Zack Snyder is no Chris Nolan. The movie is all about (unimaginative) visual spectacle and (badly executed) special effects.

The horror story is set to continue as Warner Bros. has already signed up Snyder and writer David S. Goyer for the sequel.

DC Comics has been the major player on the animated scene. Its dominance in Hollywood has been eclipsed in the recent past by Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). I am sure Warner Bros/DC Comics wanted to challenge Marvel Studios' lucrative MCU movies with a new franchise that was supposed to be kicked off by Man of Steel and presumably lead to a Justice League movie. MCU fans can relax. Man of Steel may be a commercial success, but is no match from a critical perspective. This is just a boring movie with no humor, weak script/characterizations and very poorly executed special effects.

I have been a lifelong fan of Supes and Bats. As surprised I am to write this, I will be lying if I put it in any other way: Skip Man of Steel and watch the classic Christopher Reeve movies or Smallville or Superman/Batman: Public Enemies or Superman vs. The Elite or All-Star Superman instead. One of these even features Bats. And of course, there is the always enjoyable and far superior The Dark Knight Trilogy. 

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Image Sources: Warner Bros., Legendary Pictures, Syncopy

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Man of Steel - Latest Trailer

Check out the Nokia exclusive trailer for Man of Steel:

Hans Zimmer's score seems to be better than the one he did for The Dark Knight Trilogy.

Henry Cavill is becoming more and more impressive as the Man of Steel. Chris Reeve is the definitive Supes to me, but looks like Henry is going to give a serious shot at taking away that title.

Russell Crowe looks to be in top form as Jor-El. His delivery of the lines: "You can save them. You can save all of them" is awe-inspiring.

This is quite possibly the best trailer so far, even better than the previous one.

The movie looks all set to be a blockbuster with epic scope, amazing action sequences, Zimmer's soundtrack and excellent casting. Full credit to David Goyer, Chris Nolan and Zack Snyder for their efforts in making this movie possible.

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Image Sources: Warner Bros Pictures, Legendary Pictures, Syncopy

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Official Trailer: Christopher Nolan's Man of Steel (2013)

Check out the official trailer for the upcoming Superman movie Man of Steel, starring Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Russell Crowe, Diane Lane, Kevin Costner, Laurence Fishburne and Michael Shannon.

Produced by Christopher Nolan (Inception, The Dark Knight trilogy) and directed by Zack Snyder (300, Watchmen), the movie has Hans Zimmer (The Dark Knight trilogy, Sherlock Holmes) scoring the music.

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Image Source: IMDB

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Happy Birthday Hans Zimmer

Hans Zimmer was born on this day in 1957. He is my favorite music composer working in Hollywood today and has done some amazing work in 2 of my all-time favorite movie franchises: Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes movies and Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy.

Check out this interview of Hans about creating music for Sherlock Holmes. Hans has been a longtime fan of the Sherlock Holmes canon and no wonder that he created absolutely mesmerizing soundtracks for the two movies.

Hans is equally at home, whether working on a fun soundtrack for Sherlock Holmes or a brooding one for the Batman movies.

Hats off to you Hans! Looking forward to your soundtrack for the upcoming Superman movie, Man of Steel and the next Sherlock Holmes movie. 

Here’s wishing You Many More Happy Returns of the Day and a Long and Healthy Life ahead. 

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Image Sources: Wikipedia

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