It's an age-old story — a child with a destiny bigger than
he can comprehend grows up and has to fulfill that destiny. It's messianic,
it's historical retrospective, it's Greek mythology, and — as with “Man of
Steel” — it's the crux of many comic books.
Superman has been a part of the human zeitgeist for eight
decades and his origin is well known, the last living member of his home world,
sent to Earth so his race could live on. It's the emotional heft and how that
shapes this Man of Steel that sets Director Zach Snyder's film apart from all
the previous film incarnations, comic reboots, video games, and other media.
The film opens with a living, breathing Krypton complete
with its own values, norms and society. We see Superman's real dad Jor-El be a
real character (by Russell Crowe) instead of a plot device. Crowe does a
serviceable job, but he's never really given much to say other than platitudes
for his son. Even in death, he's a literal walking exposition, especially for
Kal-El.
Jor-El, knowing the disaster that awaits Krypton and unable
to convince anyone other than the pious military commander General Zod (Michael
Shannon), sends the planet's first naturally born being in ages to another
world. He promptly lands in Kansas where he is raised by Jonathan and Martha
Kent (Kevin Costner and Diane Lane) being told to hide who he really is.
Costner does a fantastic job being the cautious voice and level headed father
to a boy who could destroy the world if he wanted to. Costner brings his
down-to-earth nature and light emotional touch we saw in “Field of Dreams” to
Pa Kent. It makes sense that Clark grew up wanting to help Earth, not rule it.
Being instilled with a fear that the world would seek to
kill or exile him for his young life, Clark (Henry Cavill) fears his powers, at
best, and loses his mind over their realization, at worst. As a result of his
strange behavior, he is an outcast and has to endure taunts and intimidation,
knowing that fighting back would show his other half and make him a target.
Thus, this Clark is a weary outsider who is stuck in young adulthood, searching
for who he is and what he is meant to do in life. This dreary, serious Clark is a change of pace from the usual, but a laugh or two wouldn't have hurt the film.
But his random exploits in saving lives has left a trail.
Enter tough, enterprising reporter Lois Lane (Amy Adams). Not a damsel in
distress, this Lois is out to get her story and do whatever it takes to find
out who is behind all these strange happenings. When she finally meets Clark,
he shows her heroism and relates the sacrifice he's made to keep his presence
benign. Adams is a great choice for this Lane playing her normal tough girl
with a heart of gold routine. But it never really grows beyond that.
It's into this fray that Zod, who escapted Krypton's
destruction, tells the world about Supes and tells him to come forward. Of course,
it's not so they can start their own world somewhere else, it's so Kal can tell
him about the Codex, the key to reestablishing a genetically engineered
population of Krypton, and then Zod will use it to turn Earth into Krypton 2.0.
This leads Superman to decide if he's Kal or Clark, or both.
And he realizes the full burden of who he has to become to truly be what he is
destined to be.
Which leads us back to the messianic themes. It's been a
regular criticism of the film, but those have always been a part of Superman's
make up. It's just the first time we've seen it fully embraced. And while it's
a little heavy handed at times (the framing of Clark with Christ in a stained
glass and his crucifix pose), it's not dwelled upon. It's the embracing and
flashbacks to a young Clark that grounds Superman in the real world and makes
us care and believe in him.
The problem is, he's not really given much to say. Sure,
Cavill is handsome, ripped, and charismatic, but he rarely has anything of
gravity to tell or show us. As does anyone in all 143 minutes, really.
Zod is military to the bone, which is accurate, but we never
feel anything other than hate from him. He isn't threatening and is not given a
single iconic line (really? No “Kneel before Zod!”?) or a simple monologue,
which is what we've come to expect from writer David Goyer and producer
Christoper Nolan after the pair's stellar “Dark Knight” trilogy (say what you
will, but the villains' monologues in each of the films were arguably the most
quotable and enthralling scenes).
When we see Daily Planet Editor Perry White (Lawrence
Fishburne) and Reporter Jenny [(Olsen?) Rebecca Buller] facing certain death,
we're expected to care about them because of the Superman mythology, even
though they're static characters in Man of Steel.
I can't tell if the script was sacrificed for the frenetic,
thrill-a-minute fight scenes befitting superhumans and the superbly varying
breathtaking-intimate cinematography, or because Goyer thought the new concept
around Superman would get the audience through the film.
Snyder brings his vision of Clark struggling to understand
himself as Kal-El and realizing his potential as Superman well enough, and the
set pieces are what Superman fans hoped to see from updated CGI and effects,
but while Clark's shoulders are big enough to carry the world, he can't quite
carry the entire film by himself.
