Man of Steel (2013) Review

MAN OF STEEL (2013) REVIEW
Director: Zack Snyder

Writers: David S. Goyer (screenplay and story) and Christopher Nolan (story only)

Producers: Christopher Nolan, Jon Peters, Lloyd Phillips, and Thomas Tull

Editor: David Brenner

Cinematography: Amir Mokri

Music: Hans Zimmer

Starring: Henry Calvill, Amy Adams, Michael Shannon, Diane Lane, and Russell Crowe

Best Credit: Malcolm Scott as "Tractor Repair Shop Owner"

Runtime: 2 hours 23 minutes

Rating: PG-13 (sci-fi violence, some language)

Genre: Superhero, Action, Sci-Fi

Release Date: June 14, 2013

Intro: This is a movie I was intrigued to see, if nothing else because Christopher Nolan had a hand in it, and I thought he'd bring an interesting side to Superman into the franchise. Well, I was half-right. Man of Steel is a very inconsistent movie. The effects, music, and character development are very good, while other qualities lack. The biggest problem it has is keeping what's good and original going throughout the whole movie, as the story and action are both fresh and original, and formulaic.

Plot: During the final days of the planet Krypton, General Zod (Shannon) led a coup on the leaders and caused a civil war. In a society where people are born like test tube babies and born for specific tasks, Jor-El (Crowe) and his wife have had the first natural-born child on Krypton in years. Jor-El sends his newborn son to Earth to escape Zod and the end of Krypton, and Zod and his team are imprisoned. On Earth, Clark Kent (Calvill) has to adjust to being different from the other humans and try to control his extraordinary powers so the people of earth don't freak out. Soon, old enemies of his parents return and it is up to Clark, along with Lois Lane (Adams) to save the human race.

Things people may find “objectionable”: The main thing, as with any superhero and/or action movie, is violence, and there is a lot of it. Otherwise, there's nothing much.

What was Good:

     -Music/Score: This was probably my favorite thing about the movie. The score was really interesting and powerful and added a lot to the movie. Composer Hans Zimmer is one of my favorite movie composers, and this score is as good as you'd expect from him.

     -Special Effects: Very, very good. The effects were really great and were probably the strongest part of the movie. This was obviously emphasized by the filmmakers. Then again, it's hard to have a good superhero movie without good special effects.

     -Characters: This is kind of funny because the filmmakers do a really good job with the characters  but they shy away from it big time in favor of action. It seemed to me that there just wasn't enough character development, especially since this is one thing the screenwriters really had going for them. At times, I almost wanted to see some character development instead of action. It was well done, there just wasn't enough of it.

     -Acting: The cast all did a pretty good job. The filmmakers definitely did a good job at casting. Henry Calivill was, I thought, a great choice to play Superman. This, I felt, was a strength of the movie.

Superman-related and funny. I recommend
checking out the tumblr blog it's from too.
There's some funny stuff on there.

Good and Not so Good at the Same Time:

     -Originality: It was original for a while, but got trapped in the superhero formula once the bad guys showed up. The first part of the movie, where Clark grows up and hides his identity and so forth is a new take that was kind of refreshing and interesting, but unfortunately they were not able to keep it up and they eventually resorted to formula.

     -Story: The story was interesting, but it definitely had some holes. A lot of stuff seemed to happen just because the filmmakers needed it to and a lot of stuff about how something comes to be is just kind of glossed over without any real explanation. Still, the story was interesting and engaging, despite its holes.

     -Action/Suspense: It's a superhero movie, so this is kind of a necessary element. The action is all pretty good and exciting, though you know it's almost impossible to kill Superman, so you're not incredibly worried for his safety, which decreases some of the suspense. The action was inconsistent though. There were some very exciting moments and some action sequences that seemed new and fresh, and there were others where it felt like I'd seen something similar before. Also, some of the action moved so fast, it was a bit hard to figure out what was going on. Overall, it was exciting though.

     -Script: Inconsistent. There were some good lines but there were also some cheesier ones. Not bad though. Everything worked, so I guess it succeeded in that regard.

What Could Have Been Better:

     -Directing/Cinematography: I wouldn't say it was bad, but the directing could've been better. I am no fan of the shaky cam (unless it's a found footage film) and I like to know what is going on for the most part in the action sequences. Director Zack Snider is guilty of both. Not all the time, but for several scenes there seemed to be shaky cam or movements that caused confusion where it was really unnecessary. Also, as I mentioned before, sometimes the camera moved so much it made it hard to figure out what was going on in some of the action sequences.

     -Intelligence: Not really a thinking person's movie, but this doesn't detract much from it. Don't expect to see this and have to think too hard.

Final Score: Man of Steel, where it's good is very good, but it has a hard time staying consistent. Still, for superhero fans, this is definitely one to see. It's far from a perfect movie, but nonetheless it's still pretty entertaining as long as you don't go see it expecting another Dark Knight or Avengers. I recommend seeing it if you're into superhero movies or just want to watch a fun summer blockbuster.

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