Man of Steel

So I’m not a huge Superman fan but I actually love this rendition of the Man of Steel (haha pun). I’m always more inclined to Darker representations or darker characters but for the first go around, I didn’t necessarily see this as a darker take but in a lot of ways a more human take on Superman.

So we get a pretty detailed, 15-20 minute prologue about the destruction of Krypton. Jor-El discovers his world is going to die, tries to tell the super wise elders and they ignore him because a rogue military leader named General Zod tried playing a coup against there government. In a last ditch effort, Jor-El placed the genetic codex of there world inside his newborn son Ka-El and he and his wife sent him off to Earth, where the sun was still young and strong. Zod murdered Jor-El and was captured, banished with his men to the Phantom Zone. Krypton died soon after. Kal landed in Kansas on the Kent farm in Smallville and yep. Well Clark Kent figured out he wasn’t normal, but he wanted to help people and hated that helping may out him to the world so after Pa Kent died, he searched for his own answers. While this goes on, reporter Lois Lane goes through hell tracking down this mysterious savior. Just when Clark begins to understand his true self, a ghost from his parent’s homeworld tracks him down with his army and a desire to rebuild Krypton anyway possible…

If you’re a Superman purist, you will probably fucking hate this movie. Henry Cavill is not Christopher Reeves, and isn’t the warm smiling, super goodie goodie he always seemed to be. He has understandable darker, human moments. He’s scared shitless as a kid when his senses begin tuning up, he’s pissed because he sees a group of guys try getting fresh with a waitress just trying to do her job, and at the end of the day he sat on his couch in a sweat shirt and jeans with a beer and watched the baseball game. For once, Superman was a regular guy to me. He still had a good heart but he was a regular guy, and I think Cavill did that well. I love Michael Shannon as a actor, I think he was great as Zod and he is my favorite DCEU villain to date. Amy Adams was a good Lois Lane but I didn’t buy some of the romantic stuff. I like the anime influences in the cinematography, like the DBZ feel of the fights and that moment before Superman takes flight; essentially Zod’s plan was the same as Lord Slug’s from DBZ The score is fine but can get annoying after awhile. Ok, so the ending really divides people, but I was fine with it.

Overall I really like the movie as a Superman movie. As for it being a universe movie, it does jack shit to establish a universe at play, adding to why the sequel Batman Vs. Superman was such a clusterfuck. If you enjoyed Man of Steel, I seriously recommend checking out Superman: Earth One volume 1, a lot of the movie came from there and it’s a cool book. May the gaming gods bring you glory and best wishes. It’s good to be back.