Man of Steel

"Excellent"

Man of Steel Review


Superman gets the Dark Knight treatment, as Christopher Nolan offers a much grittier, more intensely personal look at the biggest superhero of them all. It's a flawed film that feels far too violent for its own good, but the pungent story holds us in its grip all the way through, cleverly weaving the character's back-story into a series of emotive flashbacks along with massively thrilling action sequences. And along the way there are resonant ethical dilemmas, family issues and pointed political drama.

Some 30 years ago, scientist Jor-El (Crowe) packed his infant son Kal-El into a pod and sent him to Earth to escape certain doom as the planet Krypton imploded after centuries of ecological abuse. This enrages the viciously tenacious General Zod (Shannon) who spends three decades searching for the child. Meanwhile, Kal-El (Cavill) was raised as Clark in Smallville, Kansas, by the Kents (Lane and Costner), who taught him to keep his powers in check. But when he activates a downed Kryptonian ship, he alerts Zod to his whereabouts. And just as nosey journalist Lois Lane (Adams) learns Clark's secret, Zod arrives to launch a full-on attack.

This is a film about internal conflicts, and everyone has to face up to their own desires and responsibilities. Even Zod, whose dedication to his people means that he is willing to wipe out humanity in order to recreate Krypton on Earth. So Kal-El is caught between protecting his adopted planet and being loyal to his birth species. Lois is struggling with keeping a big secret or reporting the news. All of this provides plenty of gristle for the actors to chew on, even if the dilemmas aren't actually that difficult. And even though they sometimes seem consumed by the elaborate sets and costumes.

Still, the emotional layers make the film much more involving than we expect, and they help us overlook some nagging logical problems like how they can possibly rebuild after all this mind-boggling destruction. Or why Kal-El's suit is red and blue when everyone and everything on Krypton is mud-coloured. Meanwhile, director Snyder keeps the extensive effects work in the background where it belongs, integrating it nicely into hand-held camerawork that feels visceral and exciting. And this human approach, combined with sparky chemistry between the characters, makes the film unusually involving for a comic-book movie. But honestly, the action scenes are so enormous that we wonder how they can possibly top it. But they will.

 

Rich Cline



Man of Steel

Facts and Figures

Genre: Action/Adventure

Run time: 143 mins

In Theaters: Friday 14th June 2013

Box Office USA: $291.0M

Box Office Worldwide: $662.8M

Budget: $225M

Distributed by: Warner Bros. Pictures

Production compaines: Legendary Pictures, Warner Bros Pictures, DC Entertainment, Third Act Productions, Cruel & Unusual Films, Syncopy

Reviews

Contactmusic.com: 4 / 5

Rotten Tomatoes: 55%
Fresh: 159 Rotten: 128

IMDB: 7.3 / 10

Cast & Crew

Director:

Producer: , , , Deborah Snyder

Starring: as Clark Kent / Kal-El, as Lois Lane, as General Zod, as Martha Kent, as Jor-El, as Faora-Ul, as Jonathan Kent, as Colonel Hardy, as Perry White, as Lana Lang, as Emerson, as Lara Lor-Van, as Dr. Emil Hamilton, as Clark Kent at 13, as Steve Lombard, as Kelor (voice), as Tor-An, Mackenzie Gray as Jax-Ur, as Lor-Em, Mary Black as Ro-Zar, Samantha Jo as Car-Vex, as Jenny, Christina Wren as Major Carrie Farris, as Major Laramore, as Heraldson, Brad Kelly as Byrne, Alessandro Juliani as Officer Sekowsky, Jack Foley as Teenage Pete Ross, Robert Gerdisch as Whitney Fordman

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