Movie Review--Man Of Steel

"He'll be a god to them."

--Zor-El, Man of Steel

"You believe your son is safe?  I will find him.  I will reclaim what you have taken from us.  I will find him.  I will find him, Lara.  I will find him!"

--General Zod, Man of Steel


Man of Steel serves as a wonderful start to a cinematic universe that simply could not survive the constant mismanagement by Warner Bros. and the disconnected, random story threads after Justice League, though some of the following films were still great in their own right.  For the most part, it is as grand and well-executed as a philosophical action film and origin story for Superman could be.  Superman's "You're a monster, Zod.  And I'm going to stop you" line aside, much of the dialogue is very well-written, and it, along with other aspects like the visuals, does not shy away from the very metaphysical nature of characters like Superman, with a particular emphasis getting placed on Christological parallels and morally charged issues.  Man of Steel succeeds as a very competent action film, and, while it has its faults, its thematic vision and darker take on DC's most famous Kryptonian are not hindrances.

Photo credit: BagoGames on VisualHunt

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Production Values

From the effects to the music to the acting, action, and themes, Man of Steel is masterful film.  The scenes on Krypton look like the best of the Star Wars prequels but with a more grounded aesthetic.  Moreover, once Kal-El, Zod, Faora-Ul, and the other hostile Kryptonians that survive the annihilation of their planet are all on Earth, the effects do an excellent job of demonstrating how superhuman the Kryptonians truly are under the right star's light.  There is no other movie that better shows the true extent of the Kryptonians' power on Earth as contrasted with their more human-like abilities on Krypton.  Then there is the soundtrack--DCEU films have consistently eclipsed the MCU when it comes to soundtracks, and Man of Steel is no exception.  Tracks like I Will Find Him, Flight (which was evolved for Zack Snyder's Justice League!) and You Die or I Do stand far above the largely generic, wasted scores of many Marvel movies.  Amy Adams, Russel Crowe, Kevin Costner, Diane Lane, Henry Cavil, and Michael Shannon are perfectly cast for their roles, and even though this is an ensemble movie, all of the main characters besides Superman get at least a few scenes that either establish their characterization well or move it forward.  There is no weak link in the acting chain, and the way that Man of Steel very subtly sets the stage for later DCEU movies with things like "LEXCORP" vehicles and a Wayne Industries satellite mean that, like Iron Man before it, it allows its strengths to stand on their own without relying primarily on raising interest in sequels.

Story

Some spoilers are below.

Opening with the birth of Kal-El, Man of Steel shows the final days of Krypton as the militant General Zod, Faora-Ul, and their companions storm a council of leaders and stage an insurrection of the planet as it is a very short period away from destruction.  Years of exploiting Krypton's core and disallowing natural births among couples have left the planet with an unintentionally accelerated demise on the immediate horizon and no young Kryptonians eager to take action.  Sent on a ship to Earth, Kal-El is raised by a family of Christian farmers in the United States, a couple that encourages him to develop restraint as his powers blossom thanks to Earth's sun.  His new name Clark Kent helps protect him from being recognized as an extraterrestrial, but a handful of events in his youth force him to wrestle with hiding his identity even before Zod comes to Earth in search of him, freed from his banishment to a prison dimension called the Phantom Zone just before Krypton disintegrated.

Intellectual Content

Touching on issues like artificial population control, environmental exploitation, and the sanctity of individuality as it shows the last days of Krypton, Man of Steel explicitly presents Superman as a figure who can prevent humanity from destroying itself as Kryptonians did.  All sorts of philosophical issues centered on Kal-El's identity are referenced throughout the film, including the explicit Christ-figure status Superman has become more and more culturally associated with. Kal-El chooses to embrace his savior status after a conversation in a church with a fairly blatant visual comparison of Jesus and Kal-El: a stained glass depiction of Jesus is seen behind Clark Kent. Shortly after this, he hands himself over to the American military and says that he is 33 years old. When he says "Do what you have to do, general" when he is told that he is to be given to the ominous Kryptonians orbiting Earth, there are echoes of the words Jesus speaks to Judas before his betrayal.

In this and other ways, Man of Steel is not anywhere near as gloomy as some people pretend.  From the first scenes, the El lineage seems to be devoted to what they at least believe are genuinely good things.  No matter how much some people protest or believe otherwise, Man of Steel is ruthlessly moralistic, far from promoting the nihilistic worldview that some viewers assumed it had.  Something is not nihilistic because it is bleak, though nihilism is ultimately bleak whether someone finds the idea of it emotionally liberating or not.  Jor-El and Kal-El repeatedly talk and act as if they at least think it probable that some actions, intentions, and worldviews really are good or evil.  This version of Clark Kent struggles with decisions about how to use his powers and when to reveal or withhold them to the point that him saving classmates from drowning as a child marks a shift away from his human "father" Jonathan Kent's wishes, a shift that eventually is eclipsed by becoming the planet's very visible savior.

Conclusion

Some sort of DCU can survive or emerge from the present period of uncertainty, but it will take careful strategizing and a coherent vision on the part of Warner Bros.  While the standalone film Joker and the separate story of The Batman might have pressured DC to produce more movies that are not connected in any way, there is no need to forgo a unified DC cinematic narrative.  At least Zack Snyder's main story which began with Man of Steel had unique style, high philosophical ambitions, and an artistically, thematically consistent story.  His introduction to Superman showcases his directorial strengths and genuinely towers above most superhero movies from either DC and Marvel for its explicit philosophical foundations, appropriately destructive set pieces, and minimalistic but promising setup of a cinematic universe.  That Man of Steel is better than any DCEU movie that came out after Zack Snyder's formal departure from the franchise (other than his version of Justice League), despite Shazam!, Birds of Prey, and The Suicide Squad being good in their own ways, is far from a promising sign for the future of an overarching DCU that might not have the same strengths as Snyder's stories.

Content:

 1.  Violence:  Mostly bloodless but immensely violent otherwise, the action in Man of Steel is around as intense as it could be without gore or dismemberment.

 2.  Profanity:  Occasional profanity includes words like "damn."

 3.  Nudity:  Kal-El is briefly shown naked as a baby when Zor-El and Lara prepare for his launch.