Man of Steel

Man of Steel is Warner Bros.’ $225 million dark and morose take on Superman. This follows the same studio’s flashy and upbeat reimagining of Superman just seven years ago. Bryan Singer’s film, Superman Returns, nearly doubled its profit in worldwide earnings, but Warner Bros. is having another go at it. The result? A brooding reinterpretation of one of the most cinematically lucrative superheroes in history. Arguing if Man of Steel is good is one thing (I believe it is), arguing if it’s necessary is another.

Man of Steel begins with a dizzying and overly caffeinated sequence on the planet Krypton. Jor-El (Russell Crowe) assists his wife, Lara, as she gives birth to their son, Kal-El. Moments later, General Zod (Michael Shannon) stages a military coup with plans to take Krypton over and salvage what appears to be a dying planet. As this introductory sequence comes to a close, Zod and Jor-El have it out, in which Jor-El rather pointlessly tells Zod that he has just beamed Kal-El to a new planet. (Seriously, the fact that Jor-El willingly offers up this very important piece of information is rather baffling.)

So, right off the bat, Man of Steel is heavy in exposition, setting up the elaborate cat-and-mouse revenge plot that will consume the third act of the film.

We meet Kal-El/Superman/Clark Kent (Henry Cavill) years later as a loner who constantly switches identities to keep himself hidden. In one scene, he’s a fisherman who saves a dozen workers from a burning oil rig. Then he’s a bus boy defending a waitress’ honor. Then he’s an errand boy for scientists on an Arctic island. And then… oh hell, forget it. Look, Man of Steel makes painstaking efforts to laboriously establish its title character. Through heroic deeds both past and present, we get to know who Superman is. His sense of commitment, honor, loyalty, and so on. After 30 minutes or so of this, we basically learn that Superman is a nice guy who doesn’t want to do the world any harm. But you already knew that.

General Zod comes back in the mix and demands that Earth give Superman up. If they don’t, Zod will destroy the planet. (Zod communes this point by taking over every radio, television and cell phone frequency on the entire planet, something many villains in movies of this kind seem to be able to do.)

Superman turns himself in, Zod broods endlessly, fight, action sequence, fight. The genuinely splendid supporting cast (Amy Adams as Lois Lane, Laurence Fishburne as Lane’s editor, Kevin Costner and Diane Lane as Mr. and Mrs. Kent) help move things along, and Man of Steel ends with an appropriately lengthy action sequence that should appease most any genre fan.

The film’s director, Zack Snyder, likes to capture the dark sides of human nature. Or at least he likes to shoot them that way. Man of Steel feels like it was shot during a ceaselessly overcast day. Despite the sun forcing many a lens flare onto the camera, the characters are painted in a thick gray palette that makes the viewer feel the atmosphere. Or… something. I’m not going to use this space to bash the lot of Snyder’s filmography; it’s best to say that I’m simply not a fan of his work. (I enjoyed his remake of Dawn of the Dead, but that’s it.) Thankfully, with Man of Steel, Snyder has taken a note or two from his producer, Christopher Nolan, and toned down the pulpiness of Superman and delivered something more sinister.

But as much as I’d like to report something new, Man of Steel amounts to a product of the formula we all know too well. Yes, Man of Steel has a moody hero who says little; yes, there is a fiery damsel in distress for our hero to care for; yes, there is a villain who pointlessly reveals too much; yes, there is a minute challenge that nearly hinders the big concluding victory; yes, there is a final showdown between hero and villain long after the action should be done. I could go on.

Man of Steel is recycled, but is that the film’s fault? Do I fault the by-product of the formula, or take issue with the formula itself? Perhaps it’s about time I accept that mechanical superhero action movies are going to outlive me. They’ll be around forever, hoping to profit off the cookie cutter mold. Fine. But is the idea of a little variety out of the realm of possibility? B-