Before you head out to watch this
summer’s blockbuster, ‘Man Of Steel”, you should read this review all the way
to the end. I just saw it in 3D and in full surround sound. You don’t need to
worry about ‘Spoilers’ I won’t give anything away that hasn’t already been
featured in trailers.
For starters the actors were
excellent. Harry Cavill is as good if not better than Christopher Reeve in the
part and Russell Crowe is top notch as Jor-el. I’m a fan of Amy Adams portrayal
of Lois Lane and as for Ma and Pa Kent, Diane Lane and Kevin Costner are believable
and realistic.
Although it’s basically a remake of the Christopher
Reeve Superman 2, the sci-fi aspect is far superior. And the reasons given for
Zod’s actions are understandable. He’s not some raging nut looking for world
dominance. None of that ‘Kneel before Zod’ nonsense.
Some reviewers have complained
about the number of flashbacks interwoven into the story to explain Clark’s journey
into becoming Superman. I found it a little unsettling at first it did help explain
how Clark became the man he is so I was fine with it.
On the Blowing Up Stuff scale,
this outdoes ‘The Avengers’. Special effects are amazing and seemless. Hans
Zimmer’s score is ‘Ride of the Valkyries’ on steroids.
Another good point about ‘Man of
Steel’ is that like other recent superhero movies, it’s realistic in the way
the people, the military and the government would likely react when they
discover a very powerful alien is living among them.
There is no kryptonite in this
movie. It doesn’t need it. It shoots itself in the foot mid-way in.
I’ll explain.
I’m a writer and I’ve written an
extensive tutorial on the craft called ‘How To Get Your Book Published’ http://amzn.to/119BY8A And in that tutorial I warn about plot contrivances. Plot contrivances are
stale, worn out plot devices used to move the story along or to get you to feel
for the character.
Some examples: Bad guy being chased by good guy. Bad guy
turns corner into blind alley. Good guy follows seconds later. Bad guy has mysteriously
disappeared.
Another example: Hero has
unsolvable problem, girlfriend tells him he’s working too hard and needs to
take break. He tells her he can’t, he MUST solve problem. She prattles on about
something completely unrelated until she says some word or phrase that shocks
the hero. He asks her to repeat it, she does and hero says “That’s it!” Then
explains how he will use her word or phrase in a different context to solve the
unsolvable problem. He then kisses her and tells her how wonderful she is.
Well, there is another one I call
the Popeye syndrome. In the Popeye cartoons, he has a nemesis named Bluto, who
is a big brute who is always hitting on Popeye’s girl Olive Oyl. Popeye tells
him to back off and Bluto wipes the floor with him. Then at the last second,
Popeye opens a can of spinach, gobbles it down and proceeds to kick the crap
out of Bluto.
These are plot contrivances, they
are stale, out of date and should never be used by any writer worth a damn.
In the first Tobey Maguire
Spider-man movie the Popeye syndrome is obvious. Goblin nearly beats Spidey to
death then mentions Mary Jane and magically, Spidey is somehow completely rejuvenated
and beats the crap out of the Goblin. Another example is the Rocky movies although not as obvious.
The Popeye Syndrome in Man of
Steel goes on for about a half an hour. And NOWHERE in this movie does the
Superman character come off as a force to be reckoned with. He’s a good guy,
yes and we like him, yes.
But at no point is he WINNING the fight. He is hit with almost every punch and kicked around
like a hacky-sack ball while Metropolis is being destroyed. The only thing he seems capable of, is taking a
beating which explains General Zod’s dismissive arrogance toward him. Tens of thousands of the people are being killed yet Superman
can’t seem to find a way to turn things around.
One last comment on this movie.
They updated the Superman legend as well as the extent of his powers yet for
some reason they decided to keep the eye glasses disguise after most of the
world has watched him fight Zod.
Really? In 2013 where most people
wear contacts, or eliminate the need with Lasik surgery, Clark still wears
glasses. I’m sure nobody will see through that.
So if you’re expecting an Avengers or an Iron Man entertaining epic, this isn’t it. Marvel Studios
understands how to make a superhero movie, just like JJ Abrams knows how to
make a Star Trek movie.
Man of Steel is more like Rocky 3
