Superman has always been one of the most quintessential superheroes of comic-book lore. It's hard to top a man who can fly, zap things with his eyeballs, see through walls, move faster than a speeding bullet, jump over buildings, survive just about everything, and live for centuries. On film, the Man of Steel has been treated with varying degrees of class and cheese; Richard Donner's films are iconic in themselves, and Bryan Singer's film had its moments. Given the success of The Dark Knight trilogy, it was only inevitable that filmmakers would try to put a more earnest, serious, heavy-weight spin on the saga of Superman.
Unfortunately, this is still not a perfect adaptation. Many critics and film-goers have written this film off as stylistically gaudy, crammed-full of gargantuan action scenes laden with one too many camera zooms and shakes, and with a narrative that's wonky. It has become the biggest love-it-or-hate-it film of 2013.
I, for one, love the film, despite all its excesses and problems. The action continuously blows me away; the film is loaded with huge-scale action, the likes of which blows most other superhero films out of the water. It gets relentless as superpowered characters slam into each other at rocketing speeds, blasting entire city blocks in their wake. In some of the most frightening and intense scenes, alien machines pummel huge parts of Metropolis to a flattened ruin. Even when the mass destruction isn't on full display, the film still moves fast and fluidly.
A lot of the film's momentum can be attributed to its narrative, which is purposefully mixed-up so that the film doesn't waste that much time covering old ground. The relevant parts of Superman's origins are covered in flashbacks inserted at key moments. This does create a jarring shift that may throw viewers off, but I felt the pacing was perfect. Everything else plays out in a pretty straightforward manner. What really matters, however, are the characters, which are at their strongest. The film intimately explores the title character, not only through the snippets of the origin story, but also in exploring him as an outcast full of emotional vulnerabilities. The film shows what he learns from living among humans, and underscores strong themes of morality. There are also some deviations that I think benefit the story (primarily, Lois Lane is no longer a total ditz).
There are still a few nitpicks, however. I never did get used to the notion that Superman could be seen as a threat to humanity (perhaps because I've been spoiled by the older films, where Superman saves people and is cheered; here, he saves people and gets into trouble). The fate of Jonathan Kent is a rather manipulative scene. The most critical viewers would also make the same complaints as with Zack Snyder's other films: too cold, not enough depth.
As mentioned before, the photography can be rather gaudy, with frequent use of zooms, some camera shaking, and some scenes with bright flashing lights. Personally, I never found it all that problematic; most of the film is still pretty solid, and I think the drama scenes boast some of the best shots, with frequently intimate close-ups of specific characters and objects. Editing is pretty interesting, for better or for worse. Acting is a surprising treat: I think Henry Cavill is superb as the title character, and everybody else is pretty decent. Writing gets the job done. This production has fine-looking sets, props, costumes, and locales. Special effects are plentiful, some looking great and others looking a little underdeveloped. Hans Zimmer's score, much like the film itself, has been criticized for being too much shallow noise, but I personally love the music for its simple themes and powerful spirit.
In fact, that pretty much sums up my stance on Man of Steel: it's noisy, but I still find it moving. It may not be a perfect or beautiful film, but it has the perfect pacing, and it is a film with power. Not only power in the action scenes (of which it does have plenty), but also power in the characters, and their struggles in finding strength and a place in the world.
5/5 (Experience: Perfect | Story: Very Good | Film: Very Good)
At the time of the film's release, I posted this review, which I don't think was particularly good, and an article where I rambled on about how cool the film is.
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