Man of Steel

Superman has always seemed boring to me. What kind of character has every super power and one weakness? Batman was always my favorite because he is a normal human that becomes super because of what he believes in. Other super heroes can be great because of limitations in their powers that create interesting confrontations. But Superman seems like this bland guy with no personality and a lack of real competition. Man of Steel gives as much life to the character as it can, but his inert boring-ness is too much to overcome.

The film opens with Superman's father (Russell Crowe) trying to save his son from being destroyed by the impending doom of his planet, Krypton. Supposed freedom fighter Zod (Michael Shannon) desperately  wants to capture Kal-El (or Clark Kent as he's known on earth, played by Henry Cavill), as his DNA contains the genetic information to rebuild the entire race of Krypton. Zod swears that he will catch up to Kal-El and restore Krypton. After landing in Kansas, Kal-El is raised by two Kansas farmers (Kevin Costner and Diane Lane), knowing that he will one day be destined for greatness. Going by the name Clark Kent, he eventually is confronted by Zod, all the while being pursued by intrigued journalist Lois Lane (Amy Adams).

I wasn't planning on seeing Man of Steel, but my brothers wanted to go and I decided to go with them while on vacation at the beach. About a month ago I expressed that I was tired of the super hero film, but I honestly tried to go into Man of Steel with as much of an open mind as possible. After all, it does have some good pedigree, being directed by Zack Snyder (300, Watchmen), and produced by Batman guru Christopher Nolan. There are some impressive special effects and the acting is good for the most part, but true to Superman form, it's just kind of a boring affair. Henry Cavill is merely a muscled out good looking warm body, not offering much more than physical prowess to the character of Superman. The flashback scenes of Clark's childhood are nice, but once we move into the middle part of the film, it begins to drag. The final battle (spoilers ahead!) does an insane amount of damage to Metropolis, and it all seems very by the numbers. Shannon is a decent villain, and Adams is a big bright spot as the ambitious and strangely everywhere Lois Lane.

I tried my best to like Man of Steel, and to an extent I did, but there really isn't much more to it than some good action. My bias towards the character of Superman probably didn't help, but I wasn't really too keen on an Iron Man movie either, and the first one of that series is a classic. Man of Steel raked it in at the box office, so this is not the last of Clark Kent, but hopefully the sequels will have a little more life than this re-re-boot of the franchise.

2.5/5