“Man of Steel”
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How does one describe the origins story of Superman? A man, who has struggled with being different and fitting in his entire life, is suddenly forced to confront just how extra-ordinary these differences are when he discovers and is forced to confront the truth of his heritage.
I’m not going to address comic book versus big screen, aside from stating that this is a modernized retelling of one of the origins of one of the most iconic comic book stories ever written. It is visually stunning, nearly overwhelming at the beginning, which seems to be consistent with Zach Snyder’s direction style. The soundtrack, by Hans Zimmer, was amazingly well done.
The core characters are updated for the movie. Amy Adams’ Lois Lane is actually shown as a field hardened journalist who appears more often in the middle of the action than in the offices of the Daily Planet. Henry Cavill really owned the role, he had great chemistry with the entire cast and managed to remind the audience of that little darkness in Clark Kent/Kal-El’s utterly good guy character. I really enjoyed Michael Shannon as General Zod. He was able to emote fanatic conviction in Zod’s beliefs and made his presence felt in each scene. The final fight scene between Kal-El and Zod was not only thrilling, it was heart wrenching. It was a change to the Kal-El/Superman character that I can see upsetting to people who are hardcore Superman fans. Antje Traue, as Zod’s right hand, Faora-Ul, was another very charismatic addition to the cast. She successfully expressed the strength and lack of morality of a soldier. Kevin Costner and Diane Lane as John and Martha Kent, respectively, gave incredible performances. Costner portrayed gentle compassion even while trying to teach and encourage Clark to accept harsh realities.
I give this 4 1/2 cups of ice tea, one of the best things to come from DC Comics in a long time.
1/2
