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"[FILM] Man of Steel"

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Sun 30/06/13 at 23:51
Regular
Posts: 261
Although I had never seen a Superman film before, I was looking forward to watching Man of Steel. My favourite superhero movies so far have been The Dark Knight and The Watchmen, which increased my hopes with Christopher Nolan and Zack Snyder respectively writing and directing Man of Steel. After watching the film, I thought that it wasn't as good as either but it had some highlights for me to consider it to be a decent film. Here are my thoughts with spoilers.

Man of Steel starts off with a bang, detailing the impending apocalypse of the planet Krypton due to an over-consumption of natural resources. This causes General Zod to lead an uprising against the Kryptonian council. Superman’s father flies a dragon like creature to a launch area to send his baby boy boy Kal-El, aka Superman, off to planet Earth so he can keep the Krypton race alive. His father also infuses Supermans genes with a genetic codex of the Kryptonian race. Here it is detailed that Kryptonians are given a field to train in and are forced to spend their lives dedicated to that cause. This means that Kal-El is the first free Kryptonian. General Zod and his followers are imprisoned in “The Phantom Zone” for attempting to overthrow the council. The Planet Krypton looks advanced and sci-fi which makes their planet memorable.

At this point the film writers thought about how the world would react if a super powered alien revealed itself to the world.

Superman finds himself in the care of a couple from Kansas who give him the name Clark. His Kryptonian and Earth fathers both express concern that if he were to show his powers then the world will fear him and possibly turn on him. His earth father raises him not to use his powers for this reason, but Superman struggles to be a witness to something he could easily stop. He manages to abide by his father’s rules until an event occurs that makes him believe that he is right and that he should use his powers for good. This conflict of ideals creates the stronger part of the film for me.

Not long after he decides to use his powers for good, the apocalypse occurs at planet Krypton which wipes out all of the Kryptonians except those who were imprisoned in the Phantom Zone, meaning General Zod and his followers. They find that other Kryptonians had attempted and failed to inhabit many other planets and then they hear a signal from the pod that Superman came to Earth in. They quickly learn that that Earth is possible for them to inhabit and they manage to use the World’s communication devices to ask for Superman to be handed over in 24 hours or they destroy the world. They need Superman because the genetic codex he was given at birth is needed to breed new Kryptonians. Eventually General Zod and his followers are going to take over the Earth and change its atmosphere to conditions that are more optimal to Kryptonians, wiping out all humans.

At this point in the film we get almost 40 minutes of fighting and explosions. These scenes are an impressive spectacle but they offer nothing plot wise because we know the inevitability that Superman will save everyone, even though many scenes are devoted to Zod’s followers destroying US military forces. What is annoying is that soldiers fire bullets and missiles, watch the feeble impact of their actions and then they keep on doing it as if no one communicates with each other to let them know it is pointless and that they should come up with a backup plan. Also when Zod sends the message asking for Superman, it is translated into many languages and we see many different nations of the world. However, when Zod arrives and the destruction begins, it is exclusively a US force with no other nations attempting to help out.

The film then builds up to the climax confrontation between Superman and General Zod. This is where mass city wide destruction occurs like it’s a fight between Godzilla and King Kong. Zod’s motivations are a lot stronger than typical comic book villains as he is programmed and trained to keep the Kryptonian race going at any cost which is why he sees that he is right to take over Earth.

In the end Superman kills Zod and mourns for him. This shows that Superman is willing to kill if human lives are threatened. Although I wasn't aware when I watched it, there are some comics of superman where he has an oath not to kill anyone regardless of how threatening they are. This wasn't mentioned in this film and his mourning is the only possible hint about it. I’m saying that this point isn't emphasized much at all and I think it may have improved the impact of the finale of this battle.

What is confusing is that the main question of this film was how people would react when the world found out about Superman’s powers. When he does finally come to Earth in his costume and shows off his fighting prowess, flight, lasers and X-ray abilities you don’t see any reaction from anyone. You never find out whether the general public are in awe or fear him. No news or Social media covers him. You see no reaction from a resident on the street. You would think that after Zod managed to interfere with all communications channels that they would have thought to include this.

In conclusion, I find Man of Steel most enjoyable when it is about his personal life and his struggles to appear normal in the world, but the action isn't very interesting when it is a near immortal being versus feeble humans or immortals punching each other for long periods of time. I do like the Sci-fi elements with the Kryptonian technology and Mike Shannon’s performance as General Zod was impressive, although he does shout a lot. I like Man of Steel but I don’t love it. It is good enough to bring me back to see the sequel and I’m sure it is a film that divides opinion so it’s worth a watch.
There have been no replies to this thread yet.
Sun 30/06/13 at 23:51
Regular
Posts: 261
Although I had never seen a Superman film before, I was looking forward to watching Man of Steel. My favourite superhero movies so far have been The Dark Knight and The Watchmen, which increased my hopes with Christopher Nolan and Zack Snyder respectively writing and directing Man of Steel. After watching the film, I thought that it wasn't as good as either but it had some highlights for me to consider it to be a decent film. Here are my thoughts with spoilers.

Man of Steel starts off with a bang, detailing the impending apocalypse of the planet Krypton due to an over-consumption of natural resources. This causes General Zod to lead an uprising against the Kryptonian council. Superman’s father flies a dragon like creature to a launch area to send his baby boy boy Kal-El, aka Superman, off to planet Earth so he can keep the Krypton race alive. His father also infuses Supermans genes with a genetic codex of the Kryptonian race. Here it is detailed that Kryptonians are given a field to train in and are forced to spend their lives dedicated to that cause. This means that Kal-El is the first free Kryptonian. General Zod and his followers are imprisoned in “The Phantom Zone” for attempting to overthrow the council. The Planet Krypton looks advanced and sci-fi which makes their planet memorable.

At this point the film writers thought about how the world would react if a super powered alien revealed itself to the world.

Superman finds himself in the care of a couple from Kansas who give him the name Clark. His Kryptonian and Earth fathers both express concern that if he were to show his powers then the world will fear him and possibly turn on him. His earth father raises him not to use his powers for this reason, but Superman struggles to be a witness to something he could easily stop. He manages to abide by his father’s rules until an event occurs that makes him believe that he is right and that he should use his powers for good. This conflict of ideals creates the stronger part of the film for me.

Not long after he decides to use his powers for good, the apocalypse occurs at planet Krypton which wipes out all of the Kryptonians except those who were imprisoned in the Phantom Zone, meaning General Zod and his followers. They find that other Kryptonians had attempted and failed to inhabit many other planets and then they hear a signal from the pod that Superman came to Earth in. They quickly learn that that Earth is possible for them to inhabit and they manage to use the World’s communication devices to ask for Superman to be handed over in 24 hours or they destroy the world. They need Superman because the genetic codex he was given at birth is needed to breed new Kryptonians. Eventually General Zod and his followers are going to take over the Earth and change its atmosphere to conditions that are more optimal to Kryptonians, wiping out all humans.

At this point in the film we get almost 40 minutes of fighting and explosions. These scenes are an impressive spectacle but they offer nothing plot wise because we know the inevitability that Superman will save everyone, even though many scenes are devoted to Zod’s followers destroying US military forces. What is annoying is that soldiers fire bullets and missiles, watch the feeble impact of their actions and then they keep on doing it as if no one communicates with each other to let them know it is pointless and that they should come up with a backup plan. Also when Zod sends the message asking for Superman, it is translated into many languages and we see many different nations of the world. However, when Zod arrives and the destruction begins, it is exclusively a US force with no other nations attempting to help out.

The film then builds up to the climax confrontation between Superman and General Zod. This is where mass city wide destruction occurs like it’s a fight between Godzilla and King Kong. Zod’s motivations are a lot stronger than typical comic book villains as he is programmed and trained to keep the Kryptonian race going at any cost which is why he sees that he is right to take over Earth.

In the end Superman kills Zod and mourns for him. This shows that Superman is willing to kill if human lives are threatened. Although I wasn't aware when I watched it, there are some comics of superman where he has an oath not to kill anyone regardless of how threatening they are. This wasn't mentioned in this film and his mourning is the only possible hint about it. I’m saying that this point isn't emphasized much at all and I think it may have improved the impact of the finale of this battle.

What is confusing is that the main question of this film was how people would react when the world found out about Superman’s powers. When he does finally come to Earth in his costume and shows off his fighting prowess, flight, lasers and X-ray abilities you don’t see any reaction from anyone. You never find out whether the general public are in awe or fear him. No news or Social media covers him. You see no reaction from a resident on the street. You would think that after Zod managed to interfere with all communications channels that they would have thought to include this.

In conclusion, I find Man of Steel most enjoyable when it is about his personal life and his struggles to appear normal in the world, but the action isn't very interesting when it is a near immortal being versus feeble humans or immortals punching each other for long periods of time. I do like the Sci-fi elements with the Kryptonian technology and Mike Shannon’s performance as General Zod was impressive, although he does shout a lot. I like Man of Steel but I don’t love it. It is good enough to bring me back to see the sequel and I’m sure it is a film that divides opinion so it’s worth a watch.

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