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Review Man of Steel (2013)

genre: action, adventure, science fiction, super hero




Learn from yesterday,live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not questioning - Albert Einstein
We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope - Martin Luther King, jr.

These are two of many well thought of quotes concerning hope. In Man of Steel we get a new addition: The S stands for Hope. 
" Is there more? No, this is it. Ok. that will work, I think. Let me get this straight. as long as this S is on your suit there is still hope. Hope for what? Without the S on your suit we are doomed? Or don't we really need this S, but just you. All I am saying is,what on Earth are you babbling about? "

This is not dialogue from Man of Steel, but it might as well have been. There is almost no logic to the scene where this gets discussed. How can the S be a symbol already if Superman is not really known in the world yet. Apart from the happy few the rest of the world is completely oblivious of this alien's existence. To honour the man who in fact is the indirect cause of all the chaos and destruction on Earth and make him out to be some kind of Messiah is beyond ridiculous. I would have understood if they would have shown Superman doing good in his suit throughout this movie so that he a god like creature did come across as their saviour. Only this is not the case. Just simple thought or logic will make you question of what is being done or said in Man of Steel. As quite a few things simply don't add up.

First off Man of Steel starts with showing us Krypton and the birth of our hero. And I must admit it was nice to see a little more of the planet. Then we get to see Jor El (played by Russel Crowe) into action in such a way that the overall tone was set. Huge, loud, bombastic action scenes with no dramatic context to speak of.  Sure they looked pretty but without making people invested in them these scenes aren't compelling at all. Which could be said of the whole movie. It lacks drama and suspense. The few supposedly dramatic scenes were so unbelievable and fake it almost became comedic. 

There is no story people. We go back and forth through Superman's past and present that does not build up to anything. Events just happen out of the blue because they have to to get the film going. The abundance of action scenes makes you forget about anything that resembles a plot. I could have handled the bad writing if the characters had meat to them. If they would not spell out the names you would not even be aware of who they were. Amy Adams as Lois Lane is a joke. Biggest miscast ever! Apart from her physical appearance (honestly people, a red headed Lois Lane) there was nothing that made me remind of the character I know. Lois Lane was always on top of things with not much regard of her own life. Sometimes bordering stupidity but at least she had a lot of spunk. Amy Adams was squealing her lines and was far too timid. Superman (Henry Cavill) himself barely says something. And what he says has no weight to it whatsoever. He looked the part definitely but he made me realize how phenomenal Christopher Reeve was as Superman. He did not need fancy cgi effects to show who was the man. Michael Shannon was hamming his role big time and for the first time I have seen him acting poorly. Up to this role he always managed to bring some sophistication when it came to his acting. Here he is clueless to bring depth to his General Zod. For the most part it's not his fault. The bad direction and what has to be the worst dialogue ever doomed a chance of coming on top as a villain.

Back to Supe in Man of Steel. In random scenes he is shown to have revealed his super powers without trying to hide is identity. In the one important scene where it would actually make sense to he does not do anything. Say what? Which brings me to the willingness of the parents to sacrifice their lives for absolutely no good reason at all. In one scene Kal El (Supe) asks his father Jor El why he did not come with him and remained on the dying planet. Then we get some ludicrous answer that I can't even repeat without getting sick. Just another lame attempt in being philosophical and profound with the exact opposite effect. There is no bigger meaning behind it. It is just an artificial ploy to evoke drama. Also why did Man of Steel take itself so seriously? Sure in a darker approach that is to be expected. Still would it really taken away from that if a little comic relief was put in. Are we really to believe that Supe in his teen years did not abuse his powers to pull pranks. Come on. (Ok it just hit me there was one scene that was funny. Although the way it was filmed it had a too much serious vibe attached to it.)

The action. Like I said earlier. The action scenes looked gorgeous. Although they did remind me of some scenes in The Matrix Revolutions. The big fight scene between Zod and Superman was almost a blatant copy of the fight between Neo and Mr. Smith. ( I am well aware that Neo himself was a cross between Superman and Jesus. Still that does not make it ok to steal from this). The tentacle like machines looked like they were straight pulled from Matrix Evolutions. (BTW back at the day Matrix Revolutions was getting bad press because of the overuse of CGI effects and focus on bombastic but spectacular action. Am I the only one seeing the irony how Man of Steel is getting revered for doing the exact same thing. Except that in my opinion The Matrix Revolutions is the superior film in every way.)  Is this a bad thing? If Zack Snyder did something new or original with it, then no. Only he did not even bother and then in my opinion it becomes unacceptable. Action scenes being pretty doesn't really cut it for me especially if they are devoid of emotion and thus made it a chore to watch them. Yes, there is such a thing as just too much. There is only so much the senses can handle.

These are just a few points that made me dislike this film. But I refuse to waste any more time to this title since it is not worth it. In case you have not guessed before. Man of Steel is terrible. Honestly the people who are praising this need their heads examined. I have not even mentioned the blatant disregard of what Superman of the comics, cartoon and previous movies stood for. Just looking at this as a random sci fi production and ignoring it is Superman can't make me overlook it lacks the primal basics of film making to call it remotely good. Have you lost your minds, people?  There is no heart in this production. No love, no passion. And what was with all the lens flares?  Have you been copying JJ Abrams, Zack? Bad move, very bad move. I can't believe you made 300. You let me down, bro! (He wished.) Don't watch this pathetic excuse of a movie!

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