Man of Steel

"You just have to decide what kind of man you want to grow up to be, Clark. Whoever that man is, he's going to change the world. "

 

It's a bird, it's a plane, no it's.......One of the most anticipated movies of the summer......Man of Steel. I can't lie. I was one of those people who was definitely excited to see this film. The trailers looked amazing and when I heard that Christopher Nolan had a hand in the making of the movie, I was sold. I mean...everything Nolan touches is gold. After sitting through the almost three hour reboot of the Superman franchise, I have to say that I was less then entertained. Don't get me wrong. The movie was OK, but the WOW factor that DC comics appeared to be looking for was just not there. Something, somewhere in the movie fell flat.
The film starts us out on Clark's home planet, we get a glimpse of the collapse of his people and what created the villain. There is this idea of hope that Clark's parents continue to speak out, and just like with every Nolan film there is that underlying human ideal that he likes to focus on. I felt that for this particular film it was that idea of hope. That idea and the representation of the idea didn't quite come across the way that I think it was initially intended too. I think it was supposed to have to do with hope in the human race, and that they would in the end choose the right thing, but there was not much a of a development of this idea. It was just thrown at you randomly through the movie and you just where expected to go along with it.

I also would have liked to have seen a bit more of Clark growing up and dealing with the changes that he was experiencing. It was these experiences and the teachings of his parents that shaped him into the man that he had become and I think that it would have been a much more interesting film if we would have been able to have been given a more in depth glimpse at his childhood and teen years. I went into the movie with the idea that I was going to be watching Superman become Superman, and he does in a way, but it was very much thrown together.
I thought that he found the hidden spaceship pretty quickly and easily. I thought that he just accepted what the alien ship had to tell him easily and without any real questions. I thought that he wasn't superman one minute and then all of a sudden he was. It was such a quick progression that I would have liked to see more a development with rather than the random flashbacks. I did appreciate that when he was fighting he really didn't know what he was doing yet, and didn't dominate every fight because he still was learning what to do, but I felt that it was just to rushed. For a film that was supposed to be about the origin of Superman, it skipped over that part pretty quickly.
The acting was ok at best as well. Henry Cavill did a decent job as Clark Kent. He maintained to poise that Superman always held very well, and I thought defiantly did a pretty good job with the calm and patient manner in which he addressed everyone. I did really enjoy Amy Adams as Lois Lane. I thought she brought the character to life a little when the rest of the movie seemed to be falling a bit. Michael Shannon did a great job as the villain Zod. I thought he had the most life in the entire movie. Laurence Fishburne will just never be anything of than Morphious to me. lol
You can tell that this is a Zack Snyder movie from a mile away. The fight scenes are epic. Nothing is spared. There is much you can do and create in a fight scene when the two people fighting are almost invincible. He seemed to be pretty excited about the idea of the movie being in 3D. You could tell that many of the fight scenes seemed to be geared toward the 3D gimmick. Which we all know I cannot stand.
All in all I would say that the movie was ok. Nothing that I would be telling you to run to theaters tomorrow about. If you happen to miss this one, there is no great loss in watching it on DVD. If you must see it in theatres, I don't think I would spend the extra money on the 3D. If anything, at least he was nice to look at for 3 hours.