Man of Steel (2013)

Produced By	Christopher Nolan
Directed By	Zack Snyder
Music	Hans Zimmer
Starring
Henry Cavill	Amy Adams
Michael Shanon	Diane Lane
Russell Crowe	Kevin Costner

 

In recent times, it's almost become customary for all superhero movies to portray the leading crusader of justice confused and struggling with a conflict within. 'Man of steel' too takes the much beaten path but falls a little short trying to build up to the plot. Let’s be honest, it is easier to visualize a mortal as fallible as in ‘The Dark Knight’ than to see an ‘advantaged alien’ finding it hard to cope with multiple sounds and X-Ray vision.



However, to give the film its credit, ‘Man of Steel’, is perhaps the best told story of Krypton and the stunning spectacle of the planet succumbing to its falling core is one of the best FX sequences in the recent times. The movie essentially mixes Superman I and Superman II for its plot but differs in the way that while in original Superman I (1978), Superman takes the job of a reporter at Daily Planet before he goes about saving the world, the ‘Man of Steel, doesn’t get to that until after General Zod is killed, which was essentially the end of Superman II. Personally I feel, ‘Man of Steel’ actually gets this right and it probably is the way the story of Kal-El should have been told in the first place.

As a kid, I remember reading about the technique used in making the Superman fly in a magazine called Target and when I watched Superman – I & II, I was in awe of the way they got those effects in place and though they may now seem silly, considering it was way before the digital age took over the process of film making, it was no wonder that the time the first two parts were released, they were lauded for their large scale visual effects sequences.

Effective use of FX still makes ‘Man of Steel’ the best Superman movie ever. Watch it ONLY in 3D for that is the only way it is going to look right. If you are planning to watch it only for your kids, you will have them yawning through most of the middle of the movie, but the grandiose scale of destruction in the climax more than makes up for it. However, one thing that I have never understood about Superman is how come just changing the way you comb your hair and wearing a pair of thick rimmed glasses makes you virtually indistinguishable and that too before your colleagues, who are into news reporting and journalism.

Overall, a 7 out of 10 for what it is worth. Kevin Costner, Diane Lane, Russel Crowe shine through with their seasoned performances. As a new age Superman, I guess I liked Brandon Routh better than Henry Cavill.

Go watch if you dig for cataclysmic scenes of buildings falling and cars crashing and planes exploding and love seeing the man faster than a speeding bullet and stronger than a locomotive defy gravity and fly across the cityscape and beyond.

By the way, this movie finally gets rid of Superman’s red briefs on top of blue tights and yes, please now remember the motif is not ‘S’ but a Kryptonian symbol for ‘hope’. Enjoy !!!