Movie Review: Man Of Steel

Director: Zack Snyder

Cast: Henry Cavill, Russel Crowe, Kevin Costner, Amy Adams and Michael Shannon

Man Of Steel lays out the importance of Superman’s existence in human history. It’s one of the several reasons why one would want to watch this film. As it goes with most big ticket movies, there are a dozen more reasons why the film doesn’t work. Any film does okay as long as the list of reasons to watch far exceeds the list of reasons to not watch. That is Man Of Steel’s saving grace.

This is an epic alright. And if you’ve been an ardent follower of the caped super being, you’d have a bounty of questions. Why is he here? Why does he have his powers? What can he do for Earth? Etc etc. The first half of Man Of Steel is like a parallel to the critically acclaimed TV series Smallville. It shows you how Clark Kent was sent to Earth and how the kid with freakish powers coped with growing on an alien world. The strongest part of this half and in fact the entire film is a young Clark’s constant effort to come to terms with his powers. And then be able to control them and not use them on mere impulse. Scenes between Kevin Costner, who plays Clark’s father Johnathan, and Cooper Timberline (kid Clark), Dylan Sprayberry (teen Clark) and Henry Cavill (adult Clark) are the soul of this film. A particular scene with a tornado setup has a haunting effect on your emotions.

But the film drops this emotional side in the second half and takes up an aggressive, Hollywood Studio mode. It literally transforms into Michael Bay’s Transformers: Dark Of The Moon or The Wachowskis’ Matrix Revolutions. A man (Superman) who’s spent 33 years controlling his impulses and his power then uses it as recklessly as Megatron, the bad guy from Transformers. He’s not a very responsible superhero if he’s leveling giant Metropolis buildings and obviously causing great collateral of human life. Yes he’s under the stress of General Zod (Michael Shannon) serving up an equal dose of Kryptonian power. But perhaps the battle could’ve have been taken to less populous regions. Especially since Superman has spent almost all his life learning that his powers unleashed may cause more harm than benefit to humans. And, in what seems like a total disregard for logic, Lois Lane (Amy Adams) is omnipresent in every shot of the epic finale. We’re talking to supermen capable of flight and godly strength leveling an entire city in their brute standoff. And here we have Superman’s girl surviving plane crashes, making it to every nook and corner of the city on foot etc.

Having said that, the larger-than-life cinematic punch of the finale is to be seen to be believed. It’s loud, it’s fast and it’s an assault on your senses. But it makes for a bloody good popcorn watch. If this were just any Zack Snyder film you could’ve turned a blind eye. But then this comes endorsed with Chris Nolan’s name too. Henry Cavill, Kevin Costner, Michael Shannon and Russell Crowe to an extent carry this mega film on their broad shoulders. Despite their best efforts, this film about the most captivating superheroes of all time lacks a sense of wonder. It’s gritty, it’s jaw dropping but it just doesn’t put that smile on your face. You know the one that Superman always had in the comics, when he put both his hands on the waist and looked like a glorious American icon. It’s just not there.