The Plot
As a reboot the plot is a retelling of Superman's origin story. However the movie takes enough liberties with the story that even I was surprised when certain events happened. Basically the movie starts with the destruction of Krypton, like every Superman origin should, but as soon as the rocket lands on Earth the movie fast forwards to an adult Clark, something I was OK with, but I did want some interactions with his parents. Eventually we did, in the form of flashbacks, that were out of order. The flashbacks were good, but I would have preferred if they were simply together as his childhood, then jumped to him as an adult. The villain in this was General Zod and his army of Kryptonians, who in this movie had an actual reason behind their actions. While the movie had a strong focus on Kal-El, Clark Kent took a backseat in this story. The entire movie was about Clark trying to find a place in the world, and stumbling upon his heritage, eventually deciding to become Earth's protector. Meanwhile reporter Lois Lane is hot on his trail investigating miracles that have been happening since Clark's childhood, and an alien ship discovered in Canada's frozen tundra. Eventually She finds him and becomes the sort of middleman between the humans and Kryptonians. The movie's climax is an all out battle between Earth and Zod's armies. There is incredible collateral damage and quite possibly the greatest superhero battle seen on screen. The ending sees Clark adopt his duel personality and step up as the public defender of Earth.
Honestly I can't find much wrong with the story. I felt it was a great Sci-Fi story and a very unique take on the most iconic hero ever. The only problem I could say is that Nolan's hand is far too noticeable and Goyer's writing can be hit and miss, creating plot holes bad characters, and bad dialogue. But this can be overlooked for the most part, however in some spots it becomes unforgivable.
The Characters
The weakest part of this movie in my opinion were the characters, two in particular were unforgivable in how they were done. The first was Lois Lane portrayed by the fantastic Amy Adams, however when it comes to Superman Amy Adams is more suited to another character, Lana Lang, Her Lois however was a little too sweet. Lois is meant to be a bull headed, sarcastic, and almost masculine in her personality. Amy Adams is simply playing the same part she usually does here, making Lois more of a damsel in distress than she should be.
Next is Kevin Costner's Pa Kent, I'm all for making changes, but Pa Kent is the one that convinces Clark to use his gift to help people in every iteration of the character, and in some stories it is his death that gives him the push to become Superman. Here Kevin Costner gives a boring performance and spends Clark's whole childhood convincing him to hide his powers, even at the cost of human lives...even his own. That's right, Pa Kent dies in order to teach Clark a lesson to not show his powers.
On the opposite end of the spectrum is Faora. I was skeptical at first when I heard Faora would be replacing Ursa, and that she was to be played by a scream queen (female horror movie actor), but I was blown away by her in the film, she was Zod's number 2, and even got a rival in the army Colonel in charge of the attack on the Kryptonians.
Another character done really well was Perry White. In the movie he is played by Lawrence Fishburne. I never really got Perry, he was Clark and Lois' boss, but he never really did much for the story. In Man of Steel however he proves that he is capable of much more than I imagined, he protects Lois when she is getting to close to a government cover-up, and even risks his own life attempting to save one of his employees, making peace with the fact he will die with her until Superman saves them both at the last second.
Then there was Jor-El played by Russel Crowe. I didn't expect much here because Jor-El is dead for most of the movie, and Russel Crowe is known for giving unenthusiastic performances, but here it really worked. He was playing an emotionless alien in the beginning, who returned later as an artificial intelligence.
The other characters were nothing really special in wither direction, they were simply what you would expect from a Nolan movie, so I'll leave it at that.
What I'd Change
Like with every movie, there are things that I would prefer were different. In Man of Steel many of my changes are already addressed in my review, rather than Amy Adams as Lois, I'd save her for Lana in a later movie, and instead use an actress known for being more sarcastic and headstrong; like Dexter's Jennifer Carpenter, in fact, she's perfect for it, I'd go with her. Next I would move all the flashbacks to the beginning, in order, to make a more linear story and distance the comparisons with Batman Begins. While on the topic of the flashbacks, Kevin Costner's Pa Kent shouldn't have happened, it was just wrong. I know this isn't the comic version of Superman, but the Kent's shouldn't hold Clark back, they should be pushing him to be the man he is destined to be. The last thing I would change is the inconsistency with Zod. In the movie the Kryptonians are all genetically engineered to fill a specific role. Zod is to be the ultimate warrior who will to anything for the good of Krypton, even start a revolution to remove the incompetent leaders from power. The problem is that Zod is beaten up...a lot, first by a scientist (Let that sink in), and later by the first naturally born Kryptonian in centuries who never got in a fight in his life.
Sequel Ideas
If I was to make the sequel I would give Superman a little more personality. the movie makes
him the Boy Scout that everyone says he is, but I feel superman should
be more confident, and even borderline arrogant. In the first movie I'm
okay with a more broody Clark, but now that he is more comfortable in his role he needs to be more confident as well. This is alluded to at the end of the movie, but I want them to do more with it.
As for the villain, I want Lex, I know all the Superman movies have only had 2 villains, and Lex was in all 5 of them, but Lex is Superman's arch enemy. They can add another villain as well, but Lex is even set up perfectly; an army of unstoppable aliens almost destroyed his planet, now one is left and we are all supposed to accept him? Honestly I want to see Lex working with the military to create a protector that can take down Superman if needed, but the superhuman they make turns on them. They could use someone like say Metallo, or Parasite, then we get a big Snyder style battle, and end it with Lex in his exo suit fighting Superman in a massive showdown. Lex can be played by someone with a commanding presence like say Jon Hamm, or Michael Fassbender, and for Metallo use Mark Pelligrino.
Another character I want to see, that was alluded to in the movie, as well as the prequel comic, is Supergirl. In the prequel it is revealed Supergirl crash landed on Earth years ago, and in Man of Steel her there is an empty pod on the ship that was meant to be her. The movie could use her to fuel Lex's paranoia because she doesn't understand how the Earth works, or her own strength so she is bound to cause some problems. Find a competent younger actress, like Chloë Grace Moretz, to play her and there you go, I just came up with an outline that would work really well.
The biggest thing for a sequel however is not to follow in Marvel's mistake with Iron Man 2, and don't simply make a build up for the future Justice League movie, make it self contained, but with references to the other characters. Though honestly I feel a Justice League movie that recasts everyone except Superman is a bad idea, especially since Green Lantern and Dark Knight Rises are still so fresh in our memories.
Final Verdict
All in all Man of Steel is my favorite Superman movie to date, but it still isn't the one I've been waiting for, maybe the next one could be however. Comparing it to other Superhero movies I have to say, it was better than Batman Begins, so a solid origin story that has the potential to be one of the best superhero franchises of our time if handled right, and definitely not deserving of all the hate the critics are giving it. A grade this movie at an A-.
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