Man of Steel

Is it a man? Is it a plane? It’s... Big, it’s big, it’ big. It’s hopeless, it’s hopeless, it’s hopeless. Massively effective, but at other times unfortunately just effective. Self-centered, pretentious pathos, interspersed with incredibly opulent action following the maxim “any one second of action when a skyscraper doesn’t collapse or nobody throws a locomotive at anybody else and where there aren’t at least seven cuts and fifteen reflections is a god-forsaken, wasted second of action". Tons of pathos, but no levity or tongue-in-cheek. Just the falling skyscrapers, deathly serious faces, falling skyscrapers, character “psychology" reduced to moralizing two-word sentences, only sounding right from the mouth of charisma-oozing Crowe, falling skyscrapers, falling fighter planes, falling people, flying extraterrestrials and a couple of falling skyscrapers for good measure. If, same as the skyscrapers, you can’t take all of this (and that could easily be the case), this turns into a good movie to laugh at in ridicule, more than anything else. I could take it, but for me to like it, the ratio of the almost non existent down-to-earth storyline to the cold, action (and, purely subjectively, endless and therefore numbing) part would have to be more than 1:5(00); and it really wouldn’t hurt if the creators could lighten up a little. (06/19/2013)

All pleasant memories of this film in the future will only be connected with the first half, when Clark is finding his place in the world, discovering his abilities and some emotions are thrown in. The rest of the runtime can be described in two words: Digital mess. Nevertheless, Henry Cavill is a likeable guy and the real Superman, I wouldn't be opposed to a more sober sequel with him. The potential is there. (06/22/2013)

Subjectively: the last time I left the movie theatre this numb was after Sucker Punch, and I must add that Man of Steel is a much better directed film. If I keep my distance from the purely debilitating digital whirlwind of falling skyscrapers and exploding molecules of nothingness, then I must highlight the following: Goyer's attempt to elaborate the Krypton storyline and Superman's mythology. Russell Crowe and Michael Shannon have a huge share in the certain impact that the film has, whose characters are played and written much better than the rest of the film (Shannon's casting was far-sighted). The character of Clark Kent, played by Cavill with the pensiveness of a model whose shirts were all stolen, did not receive similar care and sophistication. The attempt to move Superman / Kent to the plane of one inseparable being, a closed-off and lonely alien, is fragmented by his performance and the fact that, unlike Batman's reboot, there is a lack of character development or some obvious internal transformation / dilemma. Man of Steel and his childhood flashbacks are purely generic, and in terms of content / meaning they don't really deviate too much from the Donner storyline (they just lack exaggeration), Cavill frowns through the stormy sea and finds himself in the inevitable situation where, as God, he overcomes the speed of sound and destroys cities with villains. The duel with Zod forms a surprisingly large part of the film, and if you don't buy into this trick extravaganza right at the beginning, you will literally be beaten by locomotives and tons of reinforced concrete. The hint of perspective comes late, and Superman's seriousness is monotonously persistent, but without feeling in any way dark and problematic. Simply a monolithic and well-produced blockbuster, with which I had only a minimum of fun. (06/14/2013)

If there were more skyscrapers in Manhattan, this film would’ve taken three hours. Man of Steel is megalomaniacal, overwhelming movie that arouses wonder and enthusiasm while masking all of its flaws. It is a poetic and epic, sometimes intensely sensitive, sometimes fetishistically destructive colossus that undermines itself when it kills the fragile realistic feeling of a fatal clash of the two worlds it has managed to build up so far with an over-digitized skyscraper climax. But how can you not like a movie in which the father of the main character is Russell Crowe and his stepfather is Kevin Costner? Add in the likable Henry Cavill and powerful villains headed by Michael Shannon who feel strongly superior towards the human race, their perfect costumes, H.R. Giger’s vagina-like spaceship interiors, and the explosive music by Hans Zimmer, after which you will feel like you’ve drunk five cans of Red Bull in quick succession. Personally, I was also delighted with the elaborate Krypton mythology, and the disappointment over the improperly cast Lois Lane (Amy Adams) was mitigated by newcomer Antje Traue in a sexy helmet. (06/20/2013)

Man of Steel doesn’t follow the path of Whedon’s Avengers or Nolan’s Batman, it goes its own way with a tone that is very different from other major comic book films in recent years. I can’t express in words how much I liked it. It has an incredible pace, spectacular action scenes, perfect casting and even pretty interesting storytelling. The only thing that disappointed me is that it’s not at least an hour longer so there wouldn’t be so many plot jumps, which would slow down the intergalactic pace, but also would allow time to get deeper under the characters’ skin. Regardless, Man of Steel is hands down the best blockbuster of the year (proof of which are also the mixed responses – exceptional films never satisfy everyone), it’s far better than the third Iron Man and the second Star Trek… and though this afternoon I was still convinced that the “biggest” film of the year would be Pacific Rim, now I’m not so sure. Nothing will prepare you for this level of >super< action. Zack Snyder has my admiration and with this movie, he’s probably the best action director alive. 10/10, I hadn’t left the cinema so happy in a very long time. PS: Hans Zimmer also hits all the spots with his soundtrack. (06/19/2013)