“One day, you’re going to have to make a choice. You have to decide what kind of man you want to grow up to be. Whoever that man is, good character or bad, it’s going to change the world.”
At last, the most anticipated blockbuster film of the year has come. After saying goodbye to The Dark Knight Rises (2012), everybody was waiting for Nolan’s latest superhero reboot, Man of Steel (2013). When I went to watch it, some people in the cinema already used their Superman topper and its souvenirs were lined up to be sold. Yeah, it’s Man of Steel fever one-three months now. But does the movie lived up for the expectation?
I never really watched Christoper Reeve’s Superman, but I did watch some episodes of Lois & Clark in the ‘90s. I also watched Superman Returns (2006). And, I was not really keeping up with Smallville. Overall, I was never too impressed with Superman before. Lois & Clark annoyed me because the leading man was too conscious of his good looks, and Teri Hatcher was too flirty to be a journalist. Smallville’s version of Superman was too perfect to my opinion. Maybe it’s because I never really know the story behind the man. Good thing Christopher Nolan produced this superhero reboot, because now I can really get to know the man without any sugar coating or family-market angle. This would be my second movie by Zack Snyder after Watchmen (2009).
The story starts when Krypton planet is on a crisis, and General Zod (Michael Shannon) in his own will wants to destroy the planet to start over the population. Krypton’s scientist, Jor-El (Russell Crowe) disagrees, he tries to save his own baby, Kal-El and send him to the Earth. Zod and his team is punished because of his crime, they are thrown away from the planet. But lucky for them, Krypton collapses, killing Jor-El and his wife. And then the story goes to 30 years later, when Kal-El (Henry Cavill) has grown up. His name now is Clark Kent. Clark keep getting flashbacks of his childhood, including his father who kept his power a secret to keep him save. His father said wisely that he needs to keep his ‘specialness’ unseen until the world is ready. Growing up, Clark keep moving around and help people. Ultimately, the one he saved was Lois Lane (Amy Adams), right when Lois investigates a weird ship kept under an ice ruins for 20.000 years. The ship that assumed to be a Russian ship is actually the ship where Zod and his team live. After the ship disappeared, Lois wonders who was the guy that save her. She searched for him and found his mother’s home. That’s also when she meets Clark again, but Clark made her agree to never say a word about him, because the world isn’t ready. But just after that, Zod send a message to the people on Eartg that he wants one of his own handed to him and threatens to destroy the Earth if no one won’t do it.
I won’t discuss much about Man of Steel’s CGI and visual effects, because it’s obviously passed with flying colors. I also not really into action and explosions, though I must say the movie offers an exquisite show on that. I would however, talk about the humanity side of this recent Superman reboot. Though Nolan’s work sometimes isn’t enjoyable to me, he never really failed on combining actions and humanity side. And that’s what Man of Steel have, a great story behind Kal-El or Clark Kent. It showed how this kind but powerful man grew his character, out of misery and how he never really fit in.
Like father, like son. Jor-El is a man who has experienced a lot that made him very wise and kind. His values stick to Kal-El. And thankfully, Kal-El’s step parents on Earth have the same nurturing spirit as his real parents. They were wise enough to keep his power a secret, while still raised him like a normal person. I must compliment Kevin Costner’s performance as Jonathan Kent, Clark Kent’s father. Both him and Diane Lane as Martha Kent was perfect as a modest but very wise parents for Clark. I think both of them are rare ideal parents that we should copy in real life. They surely raised him right, to never fight bullies with anger. Because it will never end.
Of course, there’s sense of power greed in General Zod character, in which he claim to save Krypton but ultimately he was making his own world. This is actually a regular revenge action in superhero movies. But Michael Shannon was very convincing as Zod (shaped up pretty good too). One of his strong member team, Faora (Antje Traue) was pretty convincing and cold threatening soldier. But, through Zod’s rebel act that made Jor-El looked kind and wise.
Thanks to the drama side that successfully describe how Superman be Superman, I can no longer think that he’s a too-perfect superhero. In fact, it showed that he looked perfect because he’s been through a lot and it build his character. And, I also loved Amy Adams as Lois Lane, she managed to be cute and also be a serious journalist. Of course, Henry Cavill was almost perfect as well. Sometimes I did think that his good looks covers his acting.
As for the things I did not like from this movie, I’m not into action too much so I felt the flow in the last 30 minutes felt too long. Perhaps it’s a treat for the fans, but I actually think that when it reached one hour in a half, it would end. But there’s more to it. It’s a food for action lovers, I think. But I always felt this in Nolan’s recent work, I do think that Memento was perfect. Overall, this is a great reboot to me, great in action and also the story behind Superman.
Movie Score :
