Review Man of Steel

Superman or Super-Meh?

Do you remember when The Avengers came out?

Property of Marvel Entertainment/Walt Disney Studios

The ridiculous amount of buzz? People who you’d swear would never watch a comic book film in their lives asking you if you had seen it yet? The smashing of box office records seemingly every other day?

Well DC’s answer to The Avengers, Justice League, is coming this November, and…

Property of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon

…it doesn’t look like it’s going to do nearly as well.

It’s not surprising the amount of buzz for Justice League isn’t as high as Avengers. Not only has the whole cinematic universe thing been around for a while at this point, but if you’ve been following DC’s track record with their own answer to the MCU, the DCEU (DC Cinematic Extended Universe, but no one wants to say that every time), you know it’s been spotty at best to many.

But even films that have problems are interesting to look at, and who knows? There may be a lot to like despite what other people think. So until Justice League finally hits theaters, we’re going to look at each of the recent DC films culminating in a Justice League review.

Without further ado, let’s begin with:

Property of Warner Bros./DC Entertainment

Man of Steel was the 2013 Superman reboot that kick-started DC’s turn at the cinematic universe game. And boy, did DC make this film look fantastic. The third trailer in particular was amazing, probably one of the best trailers I’ve ever seen.

It promised a deep film that defined once and for all what makes Superman the hero he is. It promised a hero to look up to, a hero that would give us hope.

So what in the world happened?!

Property of Warner Bros./DC Entertainment

Let’s get one thing straight. This movie is not horrible or unwatchable. It is, however, very disappointing.

On the surface, the film has a lot of good points. Every character talks in grand trailer-worthy speeches, the action is earth-shattering (honestly the closest thing we’ve ever had to a Dragon Ball Z film), and the film constantly brings up questions like the nature of man and whether the human race is trustworthy. On your first watch, the epic scale of what you’ve just witnessed may very well blow you away.

But then you turn your brain back on and the movie falls apart, because all of those positive points I just mentioned are actually the movie’s biggest problems.

Every character talks in grand speeches, and I do mean EVERY character. Perry White could be lecturing Lois Lane about not putting out a story when all of a sudden he’ll start speechifying about how we’re no longer alone in the universe and is God even real and so on. It’s either that or exposition about the Krpytonians and this magic skull they have called the Codex.The first half of the movie is filled to the brim with very flat, very long speeches that may be good for a trailer, but when you sit through five of them in a row, they’re exhausting. And the film is so dang serious about itself that it makes the speeches ten times more boring.

“But Nick,” you might say, “it’s set-up! The movie has to introduce these ideas so we get it when they come back later!”

And sure, that’s a pretty reasonable thought. And if you’re excited about that, oh boy! Just wait until you see what all the speeches lead to later on in the film:

That’s right! Absolutely. Nothing.

Despite all the chatter and flowery words, at the end of the movie Superman stops the bad guys because that’s what Superman does. Barely any of what the speeches are talking about figures into it, and absolutely none of it actually matters.

Well, what about Superman? He’s the guy we’re all here for! Surely, this movie will convince even the most jaded fan that Superman is the best superhero ever!

Property of Warner Bros./DC Entertainment

Well, here’s the thing. It feels like Zack Snyder and company set out to make a Superman documentary rather than a Superman film.

Don’t get me wrong, people in the film certainly love to talk ABOUT him. But when it comes time for us to get to know the man himself, he’s…really just there. He’s afraid to save people because his parents tell him not to. Later on he decides to save people…even though he’s been saving people the entire movie anyway. The only real difference between the beginning of the movie and the end of it is that he has a costume now and people actually know he’s saving people.

What does he like? What does he dislike? What are his hobbies? Why does he feel the need to save people even though humanity has done nothing except treat him terribly? Who knows?

No joke, the biggest hint towards his personality we see during the entire film is this:

Photo from Pinterest

The rest of the characters aren’t much to write home about either. Lois Lane has more to her than Superman, but not that much more, and the romance between them is one of the worst in a superhero movie. The big moment between them is jaw-dropping in how out of place it is. Pa Kent is a jerk, Ma Kent is better but not all that interesting, and everyone else is just sort of there.

Actually, the big standout is Zod played by Michael Shannon. He may stray into cartoon villainy a bit with his screaming, but the movie actually gives him a reason for doing what he does, and as a result he’s the most sympathetic character. Yep, a Superman movie where you’re more invested in the villain. Bet you didn’t see that coming.

So the story falls pretty flat and the characters are pretty wooden, but what about the action? Surely, a modern Superman film has the most amazing slam-bang action in a superhero film!

And you know what? Yeah. This film’s got action.

Property of Warner Bros./DC Entertainment

And plenty of it.

Property of Warner Bros./DC Entertainment

So if that’s all you care about, you’ll be well satisfied. Maybe a little too satisfied actually, because the last hour of the film is one big action sequence. There’s nothing wrong with action in a superhero film of all things, but this action scene just goes on forever, and since none of the people fighting can actually be hurt and we know Superman isn’t dying in his origin story, it just turns into white noise upon a rewatch.

So why, after all this, do I say this movie isn’t outright terrible? Well, there are a few bright spots.

First off, the visuals are flat out awesome. This movie can look very dang pretty when it wants to.

Property of Warner Bros./DC Entertainment

And secondly, there are a few moments in this film that just flat out work. The scene where Ma Kent is comforting a terrified young Clark is pitch perfect, and Pa Kent reassuring Clark that he is his son is precious. Despite all the pretentiousness and droning on and on about Philosophy 101, moments like these show a heart buried underneath all the cynicism that makes you appreciate what could’ve been. The scale of the whole thing can draw you in at points, and if you turn your brain off during the action and just soak it in, it can actually be very thrilling for a while. It’s the closest we’ve been to a live-action Dragon Ball Z film. Action junkies still need to make it through all the meaningless speeches to get there though, and the film’s tone is so dour and drab that it sucks the fun out of the whole thing.

Man of Steel isn’t an outright disaster of a film, but it has too many problems for me to call it good. It’s somewhere in the middle. There are plenty of better options out there to get your Superman fix or superhero fix in general, but if you find yourself curious enough on a Friday night, it’s something you can sit through and enjoy bits and pieces of.

You can certainly do worse.

Property of Paramount Pictures/Nickelodeon Movies

No doubt about that.