WARNING: SPOILERS!
I was, or perhaps still am, a massive comic book nerd, so I
always eagerly await the release of movies from DC and Marvel. Man of Steel was
particularly exciting, because the stormy colour scheme and involvement of
Christoper Nolan, director of The Dark Knight trilogy, in a production capacity
promised an edgier superman than previous films.
Unfortunately, Man of Steel is a disappointment overall.
Superman is a remarkably difficult character to work with.
His power level is ridiculous, which makes it hard to conceive plausible villains
to face him down and plots that are interesting on a cerebral level.
The Hulk suffers from
the same problem, but with the Hulk all anyone wants is for the Green Man to go
on a rampage and throw tanks at helicopters. We expect Superman to be a bit
more complex.
One way comic book writers have overcome this challenge in
the past is to make Superman a ‘big blue boy scout’—an exceedingly American
superhero, with all the associated problems. He is too righteous, assumes that
his first impressions are always infallibly good and just, and has a tendency
to miss key details. Batman as the cold, dark, brooding detective is his
antithesis in the Justice league.
As a result of Superman’s dispositions, he can be easily
fooled and manipulated by villains, and used as a plot device for getting the
justice league into uncomfortable situations when goes blundering into an
intergalactic conflict on ‘the side of righteousness!’.
Man of Steel makes
allusions to this with lines like: ‘I grew up on a farm in Kansas; I’m about as
American as it gets’, but ultimately avoids developing Superman along these
lines. In fact, the film is less focussed on Superman in general as it is with
whether humans can tolerate aliens.
This is a nice allegory in the context of American
immigration reform, but is a bit out of place in an action film and remains
underdeveloped. It is also a shame given that this movie promised to be a
reboot of the Superman franchise, which would presuppose greater character
development.
Some of the character development that does happen is curious
in its refutation of comic book cannon. For example, when Clark starts working
for the Daily Planet it seems Lois Lane recognises him, which precludes all the
famous falling out of window scenes.
Another example, and a very jarring one at that, is that
Superman kills someone and it doesn’t seem like a big deal. This could be an
excellent introduction to a dubiously righteous Superman. It could also have
been an interesting ironic reversal of Batman, who is dark but refuses to kill.
Unfortunately, the scene is left hanging and is overshadowed by a funny
conclusion involving references to Henry Cavill’s hawtness.
Besides lacking a well explored central theme, Man of Steel’s
plot is also quite turbulent and riddled with holes. For example, why is Lois
Lane invited onto the spaceship? No reason is ever given despite it being very
odd, and the incident is crucial to the plot.
To be fair, most of the action scenes are very well directed,
the cinematographic style is a delight, and the CGI is masterful. If you’re
looking for The Fast and The Furious featuring Superman, you’re onto a winner.
But Man of Steel will underwhelm those looking for something of the style of
Dark Knight or Avengers.
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