In Review: "Man of Steel"

In Review: "Man of Steel"

I'm telling you Superman movies are cursed. Yes, cursed. They do not do well in the box office ever. And look at Christopher Reeves! Cursed!

In my personal opinion, it is because Superman is a hard character to sell because the human race cannot and never will relate to him. He is perfection personified. He is the god among men. He is the golden knight. He is Superman.

And we, as humans, can never ever be Superman. No matter how many red bed sheets we tie to our backs. No matter how many times we ride the roller coaster dedicated to him. I'm sorry, but we cannot be Superman. So how do you sell a movie that the audience cannot relate to?

You don't!

Here, in "Man of Steel", is the solution to the Superman movie problem. (It also shows by how much money this movie got in its first weekend open- $113 Million (a June record- it beat out Toy Story 3 in 2010 with its $110.3 Million)

The Plot

This is the pre-Superman. We find out that our hero's father, Jor-El (Russell Crowe), wants to save his dying planet Krypton. The core of the planet is exploding because they used all their natural resources *cough America cough*. Jor-El is begging the high council people to start inhabiting other planets. He thinks Earth is the best candidate to save their race.

In comes General Zod (Michael Shannon) who is all for saving their race but not cool with the whole living with humans thing. Jor-El tells him that his son, named Kal-El by his parents, is the first natural born child in centuries. He wants to encode his son with "the codex" which is like the DNA of all the Kryptonians. Kal-El is sent in a spaceship to Earth and Zod says he will find him one day. Of course he says this as he is captured and imprisoned in a black hole.

Then we meet Clark Kent- raised by a farmer and his wife, picked on a lot as a kid, and told by his stepfather not to reveal his powers because the world wasn't ready for him. The kid grows up and longs to find his true identity, which he knows is not of this world.

The story is about how Clark Kent/Kal-El becomes Superman, how he meets Lois Lane, how he gets a job at the Daily Planet, what happens with General Zod, and all that jazz.

The Cast

Henry Cavill... I don't know if I have words for you. Not only was I blown away by your incredible and unbelievably real physique, your acting gave me chills. The difference between this movie and any other Superman movie is the focus on Superman's humanity and vulnerability. But we all know, he still has to save the world. Cavill was able to give us both- the hero who could save the day without breaking a sweat and the alien who could never fit in to the place he called home. (As a side note, Cavill played the Count of Monte Cristo's son in the 2002 version. He was even good then!)

Amy Adams also played a different kind of Lois Lane. This reporter was ready to walk into danger and face challenges, not just for her career but for humanity. She was still a little bit of a damsel in distress, but who wouldn't be. These are aliens that are all like Superman. No one could battle that!

Kevin Costner shows up as Jonathan Kent and I really liked his portal. There were times I was mad at him for holding his son back from his true power, but there were also times he helped me to understand. There were times I saw his loving nature.

The Message

One of these things is not like the other. This Superman movie is nothing like the 2000s version, the 80s version, the TV show. I have never seen a Superman like this. And I love it. This Superman speaks to the generation of outcasts and underdogs. Try finding a movie in theaters not about the underdog overcoming all odds. This generation of people do not know what it is like to have everything. We have lived through depression-like economies, massive job losses. During this time in history, we don't need someone who can do it all. We need someone to tell us that we can make it through the hard times. We need someone to tell us that we are perfect just the way we are. This Superman does just that.

Kal-El is an alien and he is rejected his whole life from the human race for it. And he will never be human, but his humanity, his vulnerability, his rejection from society is always present. He is not perfect and he knows it. But even though the human race doesn't accept him for who he is, he loves them anyway and will fight to save Earth, the place he calls home.

Overall

The only negative thing about this movie for me was the ending. It went on for a really long time. The final battle between Zod and Kal-El took what felt like decades. I also didn't really like the combat between any of the characters. It was always cloudy and I couldn't see the action. The action was also not very creative. These are super beings who can stop a speeding bullet. You think they could have had some cool fight scenes.

But I liked the villain, General Zod, and I loved Kal-El's character and the movie's message. Just needed better action scenes.

Please go see this movie. If you are like me and have not felt attached to Superman at all (I've always liked Batman a whole lot better), then give him a chance to show you how awesome of a superhero he is by watching this movie.

3 Out of 4 "S"s aka Kryptonian Hope Symbols