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Man of Steel
A film that brings the best aspects of the Justice League type Superman
to the real live screen, but with just as much depth as the 2-D animated
series. Cavill and Adams bring all the best of "actor ability" to their
respective parts as Superman and Lois Lane, directed well enough by
Snyder to show us their earnest positions and motivations, but we fail
to receive much in the way of motivation to root for them. Much as we
want to believe that this is a "first contact" type film, Lois Lane
seems a bit too ready to accept that she's smack dab in the middle of
science fiction type realities that her character can't possibly piece
together while in the midst of facing certain death at every turn.
Cavill's Clark Kent does a bit better with a boy/man who like many of
the audience when they were a child, might often wonder if they are the
only one going through strange life moments that may or may not also
belong to the rest of the surrounding society. Kent comes out of his
bizarre childhood experiences simply befuddled, instead of deeply
psychologically scarred, and then somberly comes to grip with the self
revelation of his own history which would truly take a SUPER man to come
to grips with. We believe his understanding and commitment to his new
found life, but boy Kent just doesn't "fall apart" enough to make us
want to be glad to root for him once he becomes steady in his new found
role.
Michael Shannon's General Zod has an eclectic mix of good and bad points in his own motivation which leaves one actually considering his position as not necessarily wrong, just different from Russel Crowe's Jar-El. Zod is actually a hometown hero who is tragically attempting to maintain the status quo of his society's existence, an existence he is deeply committed to keeping alive. We can understand his position to a point, and even consider that perhaps the concept of genetic engineering, loathed by us Freedom loving Americans, is perhaps better nipped in the bud than allowed to flourish for centuries, before we condemn a man who is only attempting to preserve his way of life. We get his argument position, no matter how seemingly wrong it is, but we're held back once again from committing to him because of his wanton disregard for alien life, namely the Earth's alien life, at the expense of maintaining the dream lost by circumstances beyond his control.
Jar-El and his wife, Lara-Lor Van are tragically accepting of the end of their lives and their world, and this makes them unfortunately one dimensional in comparison to the motivation behind Zod and his people. We CAN root for them... of course.... and the actors bring a sense of grief and inevitability to their roles which sits wholly on one side of the issue. Despite this, they are still off the scale of human empathy to the point where we can commit to feel for them, and the glod-black-silver color motif of Krypton itself is so befret from color and visual relevance for the audience that one feels trapped in an 18th century french mausoleum.
The relief comes from the ordinary humans of Ma and Pa Kent, played with their own understandable somberness by Kevin Costner and Diane Lane. Superman is one lucky guy to have come from heroic, self sacrificing parents and then landed on a world where good and just farmers take him in and give him the stability he needs to deal with an encroaching reality that would turn most kids into psychopaths. Earth itself is damned lucky not to have an unstoppable monster that could have resulted from this scenario, just as easily as the global protector Superman does become. However, in the case of the overall film, only Ma and Pa Kent bring to us the soul and heart we're looking for when supporting the good guys. Costner is great at keeping his shirt on for his son in explaining his son's position and then committing to his own prime directive in dealing with Clark's otherworldly history. Diane Lane proves that beauty has a face at any age, and her Martha Kent is as open and supporting of her adoptive son as we would like to expect ANY mom of Earth to be when her child is set apart from the cumulative standard. These folks we know... we understand and we wish they were a larger part of the overall principle so that their heart and soul could leave us "wowed' when the movie is over.
This is simply not the case, however, as the principles already discussed seem less human in their all too ready acceptance of an incredibly bizarre plot which is understood to be something earth DOESN'T see everyday. In the end, after all the amazing fight scenes from the planet's floor and then out into space and back, we're left with the feeling we've been eating dessert for lunch. Don't get me wrong here, there are some amazing set pieces, and wonderful screen shots that would make classic art posters that few could imagine creating with just a pen and pencil, but is it enough to be able to knock out the audience visually? And you can believe it, it does indeed entertain in that aspect! But it's also hard to ignore the fact that all the explosions and falling buildings and disaster footage could not have gotten past the inevitable death toll that followed the destruction of Metropolis. Superman did have to break a few eggs to make an omelet, but the movie ignores the carnage that we're all becoming increasingly aware of in our own everyday reality, and that too is a bit of a cheat. Superman is as equally wrong in his disregard for the destruction and death that had to follow this movie's plot as Zod was in wanting to terraform Earth at the expense of it's inhabitants. But he's Superman, so we forgive him. .... and really, what choice does he have for most of the events that happen here? Snyder's movie is indeed a tour def force of movie making, I just wish I could have gotten my gut more involved in the proceedings.
Michael Shannon's General Zod has an eclectic mix of good and bad points in his own motivation which leaves one actually considering his position as not necessarily wrong, just different from Russel Crowe's Jar-El. Zod is actually a hometown hero who is tragically attempting to maintain the status quo of his society's existence, an existence he is deeply committed to keeping alive. We can understand his position to a point, and even consider that perhaps the concept of genetic engineering, loathed by us Freedom loving Americans, is perhaps better nipped in the bud than allowed to flourish for centuries, before we condemn a man who is only attempting to preserve his way of life. We get his argument position, no matter how seemingly wrong it is, but we're held back once again from committing to him because of his wanton disregard for alien life, namely the Earth's alien life, at the expense of maintaining the dream lost by circumstances beyond his control.
Jar-El and his wife, Lara-Lor Van are tragically accepting of the end of their lives and their world, and this makes them unfortunately one dimensional in comparison to the motivation behind Zod and his people. We CAN root for them... of course.... and the actors bring a sense of grief and inevitability to their roles which sits wholly on one side of the issue. Despite this, they are still off the scale of human empathy to the point where we can commit to feel for them, and the glod-black-silver color motif of Krypton itself is so befret from color and visual relevance for the audience that one feels trapped in an 18th century french mausoleum.
The relief comes from the ordinary humans of Ma and Pa Kent, played with their own understandable somberness by Kevin Costner and Diane Lane. Superman is one lucky guy to have come from heroic, self sacrificing parents and then landed on a world where good and just farmers take him in and give him the stability he needs to deal with an encroaching reality that would turn most kids into psychopaths. Earth itself is damned lucky not to have an unstoppable monster that could have resulted from this scenario, just as easily as the global protector Superman does become. However, in the case of the overall film, only Ma and Pa Kent bring to us the soul and heart we're looking for when supporting the good guys. Costner is great at keeping his shirt on for his son in explaining his son's position and then committing to his own prime directive in dealing with Clark's otherworldly history. Diane Lane proves that beauty has a face at any age, and her Martha Kent is as open and supporting of her adoptive son as we would like to expect ANY mom of Earth to be when her child is set apart from the cumulative standard. These folks we know... we understand and we wish they were a larger part of the overall principle so that their heart and soul could leave us "wowed' when the movie is over.
This is simply not the case, however, as the principles already discussed seem less human in their all too ready acceptance of an incredibly bizarre plot which is understood to be something earth DOESN'T see everyday. In the end, after all the amazing fight scenes from the planet's floor and then out into space and back, we're left with the feeling we've been eating dessert for lunch. Don't get me wrong here, there are some amazing set pieces, and wonderful screen shots that would make classic art posters that few could imagine creating with just a pen and pencil, but is it enough to be able to knock out the audience visually? And you can believe it, it does indeed entertain in that aspect! But it's also hard to ignore the fact that all the explosions and falling buildings and disaster footage could not have gotten past the inevitable death toll that followed the destruction of Metropolis. Superman did have to break a few eggs to make an omelet, but the movie ignores the carnage that we're all becoming increasingly aware of in our own everyday reality, and that too is a bit of a cheat. Superman is as equally wrong in his disregard for the destruction and death that had to follow this movie's plot as Zod was in wanting to terraform Earth at the expense of it's inhabitants. But he's Superman, so we forgive him. .... and really, what choice does he have for most of the events that happen here? Snyder's movie is indeed a tour def force of movie making, I just wish I could have gotten my gut more involved in the proceedings.
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