MAN OF STEEL (2013)

* * 1/2

D: Zack Snyder (Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Diane Lane, Michael Shannon, Russell Crowe, Kevin Costner, Laurence Fishburne)
PG-13 / C-143m / USA | Canada | UK

Saw this last night in the VIP Room, which had a eerily blue-lit lounge leading into a cozy theatre with 3D, roomy seating and servers to bring food and drink before the show. Very nice for this kind of film, meaning best for epic action films like Iron Man and Star Trek.

I enjoyed this _immensely_. Henry Cavill as the Man of Steel is gorgeous and plays the part well. He's not Christopher Reeve, but he delivered the goods. It would too easy to compare the 1978 film with this one. It isn't a continuation of the original film series, nor is MoS trying to be. It's a reboot of the Superman mythos, like 2012's The Amazing Spiderman. It's about the same character, but not the same guy, if that makes sense.

No spoilers here, but if you ever want to see the film and discuss, let me know. I have nitpicks, but it would be churlish to do it here. In general, it lacked laughs and took itself very seriously. A little more comic book feel wouldn't hurt. More wonder and character development, less explosions and over the top CGI. There were subtle allusions to Christianity if you look for them. I didn't mind that, but it was kind of obvious and unnecessary. I liked the way Clark Kent/Superman is immensely uncomfortable in his own skin, and feels alone in a way that even his loving adoptive parents could never completely understand, although they try. I never thought there would be a down side to having superpowers (which I still would like to have, btw), but it's effectively demonstrated in the Smallville scenes. Young Clark doesn't enjoy his abilities as a child. It definitely isolates him, and he doesn't know how to interact people when, say, he isn't saving his classmates from a sinking school bus. He can never let anyone get too close.

Some characters I would recast, like Amy Adams as Lois Lane. Wonderful actress, but her Lois is a little too likable and soft-spoken. Lois Lane is supposed to be cynical and abrasive. She's supposed to be a brunette. But what I liked was that this LL was not a stupid damsel in distress. You know, Lois stuck her reporter's nose where it didn't belong and got kidnapped... it must be Thursday! One thing I like about Adams' LL is that she doesn't deliberately throw herself into Niagara Falls to flush out her mystery man, like Margo Kidder did in the 1980 sequel. She's smarter than that.

Most film goers just want to enjoy a fun night out, and they'll get it. Purists like me will want to dissect it and compare to the best interpretations of the Superman character. There are too many to list, but my personal favourites are the first two Superman movies directly by Richard Donner before they went to hell with Richard Pryor, and Superman: The Animated Series. I enjoyed Superman Returns (2006) with Brandon Routh, but a lot of people were disappointed by it. It was not bad, just different from the Christopher Reeve series. Yep, I'm a total girl geek.

If you go in without rigid expectations of what Superman is supposed to be, you'll be pleasantly surprised. Christopher Nolan (director of the The Dark Knight series) produced it and I suspect he acted as consultant. No doubt there will be a sequel, maybe even a trilogy. The Dark Knight trilogy is one of the best in recent memory, even if I didn't love everything part of it. For instance, I hated the Rachel Dawes character (played by Katie Holmes in the first movie, Maggie Gyllenhaal in the second). I understand that she was Bruce Wayne's first love and conscience, but to me she was a nag and a bore. Necessary to the plot, yes. But I couldn't stand her and waited impatiently for Catwoman to show up. Worth the wait.
 
Anyway, I was never bored. The story moves along at a brisk pace and it's great to see big name stars play the familiar characters. I would have loved to see more of Kevin Costner and Diane Lane as Clark Kent's adoptive parents Jonathon and Martha Kent. They are the heart of the movie, in my opinion. Michael Shannon is no Terence Stamp, but he chews up the scenery like a pitbull and brings the psychotic General Zod to terrifying life.

And that soundtrack kicked it -- just epic and heartstopping.

I look forward to seeing it again, although it'll be in a regular theatre. We VIPs have to save up for the right occasion.

IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT (1967)

* * * *

D: Norman Jewison (Sidney Poitier, Rod Steiger, Warren Oates, Lee Grant)

PG, C-109m, USA

Best Picture, Best Actor (Steiger)

Tagline: "They got a murder on their hands. They don't know what to do with it."


After being falsely accused of murder, a black detective (Poitier) reluctantly joins forces with a bigoted town sheriff (Steiger) to catch the real killer in small-town Mississippi. What transpires next is a clash of wills.

Yes, the Gillespie character is a bigot, but unlike most of his fellow rednecks, he had the capacity to change. He has a temper, but isn't cruel for the sake of being cruel. He's a product of his environment. I suspect he may have been a KKK member in his youth, but age and being surrounded by idiots might have made him go, "Hmmm..."

Virgil Tibbs (Poitier) is awesome, but even he isn't perfect. Like the other cops, he wants a person to be guilty, simply because he doesn't like them. He's as prejudiced as Gillespie, but more cool-headed, which is a very good thing. His feelings get in the way, which leads to a potentially deadly encounter during an interview with a witness. He can be arrogant, especially to the town residents, simply because his quiet confidence and calm gaze is so unsettling. Sidney Poitier is so perfect here -- dignified, with only a flicker of rage in his eyes. I can't imagine anyone else in the role (there was a brief TV series starring Carrol O'Connor (Archie Bunker) as Bill Gillespie, but I can't remember who played TV Tibbs. Denzel Washington could probably do his own interpretation, but it just wouldn't be the same.

Don't let the dated cars and clothes fool you. Some things have changed for the better, but human nature and bigotry has always been an uneasy partnership. This film works as a police thriller, character study and social commentary.

THE AMERICAN (2010)

* * * *
R for violence, sexual content and nudity, 105m, USA

D: Anton Corbijn (George Clooney, Irina Björklund, Johan Leysen, Paolo Bonacelli, Thekla Reuten)

This is a fantastic thriller in the spirit of Hitchcock and suspense films of the 1970's. George Clooney is Jack (notably without a surname), a lonely hitman hiding in Italy, waiting to carry out one last assignment before retirement. And everyone knows what a great retirement package the Mafia offers. This isn't the Mafia, but might as well be. In the beginning, Jack makes a casual, yet shocking decision that demonstrates his coldly pragmatic nature. And he's prepared to do it again, if with some regret. But there are no tears or railing against fate - he accepts the risks and deals with them. At one time, he had been at the top of his game, but time and weariness are taking their toll. He knows it's time to quit. After a disastrous incident in Sweden, Jack seeks out his boss/mentor, who advises him to stay low in a small Italian village and not to make any "new friends".

But this particular loner can't help himself. Despite his brusque manner, people sometimes seek him out, like the almost aggressively friendly Father Benedetto, who offers a companionship that's both comforting and unnerving. He appoints himself as Jack's conscience, even without knowing the details of his past. He also has a secret of his own, so he is not completely unsympathetic to a fellow human in conflict.

"You have done much sinning," he observes at one point.

"All men are sinners," Jack tells him, "Everything I've done I've had good cause to do."

"A man can be reached if he has God in his heart."

"I don't think God's very interested in me, Father," Jack replies.

"You cannot deny the existence of hell. You live in it. It is a place without love."

The two men respectfully disagree with one another, but there is a fragile bond between them as they share a meal and take walks together. Jack needs this connection, as well as the one he finds with Clara (Irina Björklund), a local woman he meets in a brothel, the only place he feels safe in meeting women. No demands, no questions.

This is not an action film so much as a character study with a sense of dread. But the tension is almost unbearable, with any sudden sound a "BOO!" moment. The stealthy, menacing way the camera follows our protagonist, it's like the viewer is an assassin as well, giving them a most uncomfortable point of view. What if he turns his head? Notice that I don't call Jack a hero - he's definitely too amoral to be heroic, but isn't evil in the sense that you'd expect. He doesn't seek out trouble or kill for pleasure. It's simply a job to him. One might suspect that he wouldn't be good at anything else, except tinkering in a garage. Not that he would spend all that time building cars. Maybe he'd build cool gadgets, like Q in the James Bond films.

For me, it was a very interesting look at a questionable profession. It's largely due to Clooney's no-frills performance that we see Jack for what he is. We do not need to see the path of bodies in his wake, or constant gore to know that he's very dangerous. We get a private tour of a hitman's existence and what it's like to constantly be on edge, trusting no one, let alone love. A gun in a woman's handbag - is it for protection or something more sinister?

Imagine even the most banal conversation -- it could be in code - or not. I thoroughly enjoyed the shorthand rat-a-tat rhythm of the dialogue between Jack and a beautiful female assassin (Thekla Reuten) as they negotiate terms for a customized weapon that is needed for a special job. They don't waste words. James Bond would have been all over this woman like blanket. How predictable. Jack treats her as a colleague -- polite, professional, and someone to respect as a potential enemy.

We get the feeling of Jack as an outsider - a not-completely detached observer - watching the human parade pass him by and know with some regret that he can never join them, or even visit for a while. Is redemption possible for him? Yes, but not quite in the way he expects.