Isn't Fathers' Day weekend the perfect time for a new
Superman movie?
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.
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.
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