Your Daddy is brilliant! It is important for you to know and understand this as you go through life with him teaching you all of the very important things that you will need to know as a man in this world and as a human being in general. You'll need to trust him when he is talking you through your first encounter with a jerk at school, explaining why your first heart break will someday heal, and giving you hard-earned advice on how to be a good husband. Your Daddy is brilliant. I have never doubted him when it came to the important moments we have had together, I have depended on him for most of the vital things in my life, and he has been my constant rock through some of the worst moments I have lived through. In fact, he is the only reason I made it through many of those moments. Again, your Daddy is brilliant...which is why you should listen to him when he tells you something is good.
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Hello readers! Sorry for the lapse in blogs but I was out with the worst stomach flu of all time (in case you haven't noticed, I tend toward the dramatic). My wonderful husband was nice enough to step in and do a movie review for me while I got back on my feet. I promise I will be up and functioning soon but until that time I give you my brilliant husband and one of his movie reviews. Let me tell you, there are a few things in this world the Sean may not be 100% at all the time but when he sees a good movie that rocks him to his core and he recommends it to you, you should probably see the darn movie. As was the case for SUPERMAN: MAN OF STEEL. If you don't like Superman, you don't like superhero movies, or if you just don't like this movie in particular, go ahead and read the review...you may want to take a second look. I have my own issues with this movie but my husband's conviction made me a believer! Without further ado, SUPERMAN: MAN OF STEEL (as reviewed by Sean H.F):
Man of Steel.
50% of the nerds in the world reading this just threw something through a window, and the other 50% will be lost for a bit in thoughts of sights and sounds unexpected. Even within my circle of friends and family, who often agree on most things nerdy, there is division. Myself, I find the film surprising, emotional, complex, beautiful, and many other words that could go on and on, but let me be a little more precise and break it down. Maybe I can get through to some, and maybe others who may still dislike the movie might dislike it just a little less.
First, let us start where most things do, at the beginning. Superman is born. More to the point, Kal is born. This is no pain-free, clap-your-hands-and-fairies-appear magical birth. This is a sweaty, painful, screaming birth like billions of moms have gone through in mankind’s existence. Mom is going through hell. Dad is worried about his wife and son. Monitors are tracking the health of both, but it is a constant fine line between happiness and horror. Hand-held cameras track the faces and motions of everything in the room, placing you front row to what is happening. This is how “Man of Steel” opens and it defines what this movie is. Right away, I can see people not knowing what they are seeing. We grew up with Richard Donner’s fantastic, I will repeat, fantastic first Superman movies. Those deserve write-ups all their own, a couple of which I have already done myself, but in their shadow, a real, in-the-moment picture of Superman being born feels maybe awesome, but still weird at first.
As Kal sits crying in Jor-El’s hands, we then move outside and see a Krypton like never before. Gone is the Crystal Hoth look and in it’s place is an old and beautiful planet full of worn but astounding technology. It paints a picture of a place we would want to visit in a heartbeat if it was not about to explode. Jor-El is the smartest man in the room as he tries to explain to politicians that politicians are stupid (universal and poetic, really) and the planet is doomed beyond repair. For the first time in a motion medium, Krypton feels older than anything we can even consider to exist in a civilized state.
We have passed through step two of a different kind of Superman. As Krypton falls, you are either in or out. Lara El is clutching her son tight, knowing she will never see him again. These parents are having to say goodbye to their only son forever and the audience feels it. We may be looking at a different planet, but the emotions before us are real and human.
The second part of “Man of Steel” that makes the movie what it is but may have hit people unexpectedly is the non-linear storytelling used. Other than the beginning and the final act, the rest of “Man of Steel” jumps around Superman’s life to some of the points that, in no better terms, made him Superman. Each point touched upon shows some facet of why Superman is better than the rest of us, why he is the hero and leader that everyone should try to be.
A couple of these moments have been points of contention with a friend or two of mine. They feel that the big reveals of Superman and his powers were not grand enough, but I believe that it is not the point in this movie to make such grand gestures as gestures can end up feeling empty and emotionless. For my dollar, (because I would buy that for a dollar, screw you Robocop remake), the power moments in the movie that show what the Big Blue Boyscout can do are there to build character and not just to be big moments. He saves workers on an oil rig because they are going to die without him. He could have stayed on the crab boat and let them die but he did not. He, being Superman and all, had to save their lives because his powers allowed him to and his morals pressed him to. Later, or earlier, when he saves his classmates on a bus, he could have swam out, saved himself, and called it a freak accident that they all died and he survived, but he could not. Again, his morals stepped in and their lives had to be spared.
In these moments, the script writes us along, getting to know Superman in a logical way. We see him trying to do good and trying to connect to a humanity that he may never fit into. We see him as a confused child one moment and then as a powerful but still confused adult a scene later. There is connection, and it takes us beyond what a linear story could do. Told in order, he would be a kid with a childhood full of love from his adoptive parents but terrible because of the amazing things his body can do that he has to learn to deal with. Then he would be an adult trying to hide from everyone. In the order presented, we connect more just like we do when we think of our own lives. Every day, it is possible to have a smell or a song or a movie hit you in a perfect way that sends you back to some long-gone time with an ex-girlfriend, a passed relative, or just a great day with an old best friend. What we see and experience through Superman is just like memories of our own lives. It draws us in and connects us to this new Superman in a way that we have not seen before, but again, I think many were ill-prepared for the jumping around.
Third on my list would be the main characters themselves and how they exist in this new world, as well as the performances that bring them to life.
Starting with Zod, we see a man bred for one purpose: to lead Krypton’s military and ensure the survival of their people. Everything he does is for this purpose, which would logically seem to mean a lack of depth, but Michael Shannon brings more to the screen. He brings a respect for the brilliance and purpose of Superman’s dad and a desire to work together with Superman himself to bring Krypton back to life. Superman choosing Earth over Krypton is impossible to Zod, so they are instantly at odds with each other. He is a personality to be both feared and respected and all of that is on screen.
Amy Adams as Lois Lane is brilliant in every sense. She pulls no punches, is just as plucky as she should be, and connects the dots like no other incarnation has before. She’s beautiful, yes, and vulnerable to, you know, falling from high heights, but she really only falls and needs saving after kicking major ass. I would find it difficult for anyone to hate this Lois.
Superman’s parents are all perfect, which I did not expect to the level achieved. Ayelet Zurer, who apparently by name was actually born on Krypton, plays Lara El as the strong wife and mother that she deserves to be shown as, having given birth to Superman. Russell Crowe plays Jor El with the power and wisdom that even Brando did not get the chance to show. He is brilliant but able to kick ass at the exact same time. Diane Lane is the loving and wise Earth-mom Martha Kent, and Kevin Costner is her husband Jonathan. These last two are possibly the most important of the side characters and performances because they present the loving parent relationship and the fear of losing the son they love perfectly, to the point of tears in the viewer’s eyes. Costner, whom I rarely like outside of westerns and baseball movies, has two of my favorite scenes in the entire movie and reminds me of my amazing step-dad.
Let us finally get to Superman. Henry Cavill is tortured, though somehow less so than Brandon Routh, but he has life behind those eyes and, most importantly, a desire to help people. He feels for the lives lost (more on this later) and wants humans to trust him. He doesn’t take up the same physical space as, say, Wolverine and all his muscles, but that doesn’t have to be the point with Superman. He is not strong because of muscle size, he is strong because of what our yellow sun does to his cells. His body should look fit, and he does just fine with a little bulk to back it up, but he is not the biggest guy out there. Still, when he walks through a fiery door or fights a duo of Kryptonians, you believe that he is strong and capable. Personally, I do not feel it necessary for The Rock to play Superman, though I do wish he would leave some muscles for the rest of us. Go ahead and watch the last couple Fast and Furious films. The man is massive.
Characters out of the way, the big Kryptonian in the room is the fights that make up the third act of the movie. Starting in Smallville, things start exploding very fast, but we will walk through what we see on screen and what I think it should mean to us beyond the shock.
In Clark’s hometown, he steps in just as things are getting rough with Ma Kent. Being the good son that he is, no one is going to mess with his mom. His temper is a little high and he has no idea what his powers are capable of in an unbridled fist fight, so destroying most of his small town is sad, but things happen. He tries to fly away several times, but gets thrown back into the fight, usually quite literally.
In Metropolis, the Kryptonians start the fight again. No question about that. The destruction from the gravity machine is massive and terrible. It is supposed to be. When it comes down to it, the entire story of Superman being revealed is Close Encounters, First Contact, ET, it is Earth not being alone in the universe. These aliens are supposed to be exposed as powerful and destructive to show what Superman could be. If he wanted, he could wipe out anyone that disagrees with him and rule with glowing eyes and an iron fist. But he does not. He fights along side us and helps us. He tries to stop Metropolis from being completely flattened. The audience is supposed to be awestruck as buildings are smashed to the ground. This is what the power of Krypton can do.
As Superman and humans fight to win the battle, Zod and Big Blue are finally left to finish what was started. They are thrown through buildings, buildings collapse, destruction is terrible, but watch again and you’ll see most of the fighting happening in an already-evacuated city. The buildings are mostly already beginning to fall from destruction out of Superman’s control. Some of the fight happens in population, but minimal since most were already trying to get out and those seen are most likely coming out because they see the worst is over. In the final scene with Zod, the people there appear to have been hiding and not expecting supers to crash through the ceiling.
More on the last Zod scene and the ramifications of all the destruction: I refuse to spoil everything, but I see it all as Superman learning hard and early the lessons that will make him a better hero. In “Man of Steel,” not only is Superman learning his powers, he is learning to connect to a people he has never actually belonged to. He does not share our weaknesses and fears and is far more powerful than he or anyone else really knows. The entire third act is Superman learning what he can do and what he can feel. He finds someone to connect with outside of his parents with Lois as he realizes that he does not want to see humans die by anyone’s hand. She gives him a hope to connect with and shines a light in the darkness that maybe, just maybe, he could use his powers to help humanity, that Earth could learn to accept and trust him. This will carry over, but at the same time I feel it is still contained. This movie does not have the “to be continued” tag at the end because it does not need it, but the story here is built to carry Superman forward with the lessons he learned.
Those are the main points, but then there are the other touches that make “Man of Steel” a beautiful movie apart from performances and writing. There are shots that mean more, like Clark sitting in the church talking to a priest with stained glass of the Garden of Gethsemane behind him (thank you Catholic school). There are shots that kick unholy nerd ass, like Superman slowly descending in front of a load of army guys, tanks and all. There is Zod’s announcement transmission, shot like a world-affecting horror movie. There’s Hans Zimmer’s score that, though completely unlike John William’s best score in Richard Donner’s set of Supes, fits the action perfectly and translates emotion beautifully. All this without mentioning the skill behind the handheld look of the film and the polish given to every shot to make Superman real.
This movie makes me emotional. Every note is different than what we’ve seen, but every note, to me, is perfect. Superman wants to be good but lacks connection. When he finally finds that connection, I feel it in every part of me. Earth has been invaded, but because of Superman, there is hope. The last shot of Clark and Lois cuts to credits and I want to watch it again. In fact, I have done that a couple times since it came out on bluray. I would have watched it again today during my writing, but we just watched it yesterday and my wife doesn’t have the same nerd-repeat tolerance that I do (my record is watching the most recent “Rambo” three times in a row while my wife was at work).
If you watched “Man of Steel” once and did not quite feel it, I beg you to try again with a fresh set of eyes. Greatness is there. For my money, it’s up there with the superhero bests, and with those I mean, by name, “Superman,” “X-Men 2,” “Spider-Man 2,” “Watchmen,” “Avengers,” “Dark Knight.” Give it another watch. Maybe you will feel the same thing I feel. Now I will go try to hold back the urge to watch it again.
