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.