M A N O F S T E E L
Cast:
Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Michael Shannon, Russell Crowe, Kevin Costner
Director: Zack Snyder
Running Time: 144 mins
Director: Zack Snyder
Running Time: 144 mins
Many cinemagoers will have been hoping I’m sure, that "Man of Steel" would do for ‘Blue-Boy’ what "Batman Begins" did for the Dark Knight, making him more complex, more conflicted, more tortured. Unfortunately, however, it doesn't. Batman is hurt, and human. An emotionally scarred individual, he deals with his own pain by inflicting it on villains who are even more disturbed. Batman is about fear, shadows and obsessions.
On the other hand, Superman is Mr. Nice Guy Perfect, but he is clearly not of this world. He has lost his parents, but has been taken on by loving new ones and instilled with moral, ethical and dignified values. Batman is a result of where it can all go wrong, while Superman offers hope and salvation. "Man of Steel" treats our hero differently. There's no tormented soul here, and sadly as a result, a complete lack of humour to lighten the load. Instead, comic-book nut director Zack Snyder sets his film out to explain what we loved about this character to begin with.
The opening hour drags on interminably as we have a comprehensive rehashing of Superman's origins on the destroyed planet of Krypton. Most of you know this story inside out and backwards already, and unfortunately this new re-visit adds nothing new to whet our appetite for a second half, with the former youngster now 33 and raring to go. There are far too many flashbacks, with continuity and the whole narrative structure all over the place, before it almost gets to the point, when Clark Kent wanders around the USA, doing odd jobs, and here and there saving people. Finally and almost inexplicably, the baddie, General Zod, arrives and the entire fate of Earth is in the balance. Michael Shannon is no Terence Stamp (see “Superman”/Richard Donner) as a quieter, calmer Zod would be a much more terrifying prospect. Shannon's Zod isn't a monster, he's just some furrow-browed alien geezer doing his awful duty. And so to Henry Cavill. It has to be said he’s too bland as Superman — he doesn't have Christopher Reeve's wry confidence nor Brandon Routh’s naïve charm — but physically he’s fit for purpose I suppose. Amy Adams gives Lois Lane more of a maternal affection for this megahero and I can’t see the sparks exactly flying in the inevitable sequel.
There are several references to Superman's age (33), his wanderings and his doubts - with Daddy Russell Crowe incessantly appearing as a Holy Ghost, to offer his boy advice and courage. The biblical references (allegedly Jesus was 33 before he met his doom) continue as our tortured hero hovers in the air, arms outstretched like a crucified messiah. My main gripe however, lies with the relentless, incendiary explosions, as if some bampot OTT CGI techie nerd in the editing suite couldn’t give us enough bombs, crashes, demolitions, fireballs and crumbling buildings – he had to give us more, then more, and even more till the whole thing actually becomes mind-numbingly tedious. The speed, noise, pace and ferocity of these sequences dominate the entire film, and appear virtually every five minutes throughout the running time – and ruin what, beneath it all, might possibly have been an interesting piece of work.
