Man of Steel (2013)

Over-criticized. Man of Steel is a very circumspect way to make a movie about a dynamic character like Superman. It has been victim to loads of criticism over the years because of it’s unrealistic and implausible story. Which is wrong on the part of every person who criticized the movie. I liked the movie, I didn’t like it as much as The Dark Knight or maybe even The Avengers, but it definitely deserved a better reception from the masses.

The movie starts with the origin of Kal-El AKA Clark Kent AKA Superman (Played by Henry Cavill). His father Jor-EL (Played by Russell Crowe) is addressing the Kryptonian council, talking about the deteriorating core of Krypton and how they had very little time to evacuate. General Zod (Played by Michael Shannon) enters the council room and takes the council men hostage and Jor-El manages to escape. He steals the codex, the gene pool of the entire Kryptonian race. He infuses the codex with his infant son’s cells before sending him off to another planet called, Earth. Zod fails to stop the spaceship carrying Kal-El and goes on to kill Jor-El. Zod is then captured and presented to the council who sentence him and his allies to the phantom zone. But when Krypton explodes, they are indirectly freed from the zone.

Kal-El’s ship lands in an exurb called Smallville. He’s adopted by a caring a couple, Jonathan Kent (Played by Kevin Costner) and Martha Kent (Played by Diane Lane) who had no children of their own. The name Kal-El, Clark. They help Clark through various phases of his life, his body adjusting to the atmosphere of Earth, helping him keep an equanimous mind throughout his childhood. When Jonathan dies in a cyclone, Clark cannot bear the loss and runs away from Smallville, looking for something even he didn’t know, his purpose. Clark manages to get his way through the US military program in the Canadian Arctic where he comes across a ship, which ends up being a Kryptonian ship which introduces him to his father’s hologram and also gives him his suit. Louis Lane (Played by Amy Adams) an enthusiastic and perspicacious journalist, follows Clark up the ship and barely had Clark put on the suit, he has to fulfil his duty as a guardian of the human race.

Clark is extremely gauche throughout the movie, still adapting to his powers. From him learning to fly to fighting Zod. Clark wasn’t the omnipotent Superman we are all used to. Zack Snyder, the director of the movie has blended the concept of realism extremely well with the story, giving a very humane effect to the characters. The viewers can relate to the character and honestly, this part was a huge hit in my books. Considering the Superman movie that preceded this, Superman Returns, was a huge disappointment. There was hardly any action in the movie and the movie was rather depressing and we got to see Superman like we never wanted to see him. Apart from a few very cool scenes, that movie held nothing worth watching, even though Kevin Spacey is an excellent Lex Luthor. Man of Steel on the other had managed to give us so much action, we got to see Superman discover his powers and the animation is top-notch.

The viewers got to witness an exhilarating fight sequence between Zod and Superman. The film received loads of negative criticism because how Metropolis got ‘pancaked’ because of the fight between Zod and Superman. And how Smallville got destroyed because of the military, Superman and Zod’s commanders. But viewers should keep an open mind, because the first fight that took place in Smallville, Superman did not know the extent of his powers and that lead to complete destruction of the town, and well the commanders couldn’t care less about the city. The fight sequence in Metropolis, which led to the destruction of the city, contrary to popular did not happen because of Superman. The World Engine that Zod had deployed on Metropolis and over the Indian Ocean is the reason why Metropolis was flattened. When everything in Metropolis was being turned into gravel, Superman was busy over the Indian Ocean fighting the World Engine. By the time, he returns to Metropolis, there is nothing worth destroying. People tend to complain so much about this fight sequence but adulate the Avenger’s New York fight sequence, which might I remind you, had S.H.I.E.L.D. launching a nuclear strike on the city. So much for realism. 

The movie has so many numerous easter eggs like, the Wayne enterprise satellite and Lexcorp truck and hoarding. Man of Steel, yes could have been better, but you have to consider that this is a movie based up on the most famous character in the world. And there will always be ‘room for improvement’. Maybe the acting was little off and the dialogues were placid and definitely not memorable. But I’d like to remind you that, Man of Steel has set us up for Batman v Superman, which by the way is going to be far more awesome than any superhero movie ever made. Overall, Man of Steel is one of those movies I’d be interested in watching if it’s showing on the tube.

My rating for Man of Steel: 7.7/10

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