When you get right down to it, Man of Steel is about two fathers and the son they share. It's about the legacy one father wants to leave behind and the lessons and responsibilities the other hopes his son will take to heart.
Man of Steel is a very entertaining and gargantuan movie. In some spots, its heart is as big as its superhero power, with endearing performances from Kevin Costner and Diane Lane as Superman's earthly foster parents and Russell Crowe and Ayelet Zurer as his biological Kryptonian folks. Henry Cavill is terrific as the flawed story allows him to be, both as Clark Kent and as the Man of Steel.
Superman, at his essence, is the hero who does the right thing even when it's personally painful to do so. As a kid, he saves a school bus full of his classmates though that reveals his power to those who shouldn't have seen it. As a wanderer trying to find his place in the world, Clark takes the buffets and spitting because he knows he's too powerful to retaliate. He is at heart a good human being, even though he's from far-off Krypton.
_poster.jpg)
This movie is best when it is telling the back-story of the baby Kal-El who becomes Clark Kent on Earth before ascending to the role of Superman. From the touching scenes in Smallville to the cosmic wonder of Krypton, when this movie plays it small and from the heart, it is a wonder to behold. Judeo-Christian implications abound, to the point that Superman nearly winds up in the confessional of a Catholic church.
Sadly, though, we live in the Age of Imax and 3D, and big action movies are so bloated we might as well be watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. The action scenes and the onscreen destruction are this movie's biggest flaws.
Don't get me wrong--- the effects are spectacular. It's just that the excessive action, mandated by Imax and 3D dollars, make this movie possibly a half-hour too long and way too violent. For every action, there's an equal and opposite reaction, as the law of physics goes. There's not much in the way of blood, but in a post-911 world, how can anyone watch this movie and NOT think about the untold lost lives of the people in those destroyed buildings in Metropolis and Smallville? For every time Superman and Zod throw each other through another building, what's forgotten is the lives of the innocent bystanders in those buildings. Collateral damage is still damage, after all. What good is it if Superman saves Lois Lane, but thousands of others die in the process? That's a hollow victory, nothing more. The Superman I was brought up with knows how to minimize the risk to innocents by taking the battle to uninhabited places--- like space, maybe?
Personally, I look forward to the day when movie studios, writers and directors can tell small stories about superhero characters. Sure, give us some exciting action, but leave out the kind of gratuitous fawning to 3D and Imax tech rendering The Man of Steel less effective and less entertaining than it could have been.
I know my Dad was both super and human, so it can be done.
No comments:
Post a Comment