Man of Steel in Kyle's Eyes

In a follow up to last week's Superman Podcast, Kyle saw Zack Snyder's new Man of Steel. Check out his thoughts below and make sure to give the podcast a listen. If you haven't seen it yet beware of SPOILERS:

I don’t know if I can truthfully call myself a Superman super-fan. I mean, I probably know more about the character than most people reading this, but I also probably know more about Dirty Rotten Scoundrels than them too. Or The Color Purple. Or Die Hard (unless you’re Brandon). So while I’ve read up on the movies, caught a few episodes of the late 90’s cartoon, and have flipped through a handful of comics, I’m far from the authority on the subject of Krypton’s last son.

I say that to say this: I saw Man of Steel yesterday, and for reasons that I’m having trouble putting into words, I didn’t enjoy it. This isn’t to say that it’s a terrible movie. To me, Zack Snyder’s latest incarnation of the granddaddy of all superheroes was a perfectly serviceable big budget sci-fi movie. It had all the marks of this new, Michael Bay-inspired genre--destructive alien invasions, stern military officers shouting commands, and entire cities lain to waste. The only thing missing, unfortunately, was Superman.

Before I get too deep into this, I need to step back and organize my thoughts a little. I have no intention of turning this article into a sampler from the comments section of a Youtube video. Everything about this movie wasn’t bad and I didn’t hate it, so I’ll try my best to weigh the good with the aspects that didn’t work for me, others, and humanity in general. See there I go…focus Kyle. There’s plenty in Man of Steel for the casual viewer and Superman aficionado to leave the theater smiling about. Take for example…

The Score

I’d say the biggest highlight of the 2006 Bryan Singer movie, Superman Returns, was the reliance on John William’s original Superman theme. As a piece of music it starts out epic and expertly builds to inspiring (there may be a tad bit of bias here), but when coupled with the visuals of Christopher Reeve saving humanity it perfectly frames the scale and grandeur of Superman. For the latest incarnation on screen, they wisely chose to not recycle this 34-year-old piece of music again. If it’s time for a rebirth of the character, we need to stop relying on the old franchise tent poles and begin creating a new zeitgeist for the modern Superman.

As long as we keep the time he seduced female Spider-man.

I think Hans Zimmer effectively did that with his new theme. While it’s not something I found myself humming in the car on the ride home, it does serve to build a heroic background and lend emphasis to inspiring moments in the film. Aside from the times when Man of Steel allows itself to take a breath and quietly focus on the character, the main theme (that you’ve heard in the trailers) is the only time I felt Superman on screen. But let’s talk a little more about…

The Rare Moments of Calm

Zack Snyder, David Goyer, and Christopher Nolan have created a believable, inspiring version of Ma and Pa Kent and solely placed the movie's heart on their shoulders. In what can be described as a pretty cold preceding, the scenes where Clark and especially Jonathan Kent ponder what it is to be an outsider and burdened with the powers of a god feel like moments where the writer understood what it is that makes Superman so interesting. It’s a terrific performance by Kevin Costner that makes you wonder how a hero should act and what his real responsibilities are. It's a shame the rest of the movie doesn't lead up to these notions of heroics.

It’s not only Costner than stands out, though. I enjoyed the entire cast, from Henry Cavill to Michael Shannon to Amy Adams. The script gives motivation to Lois Lane (other than plucky reporter) and that's I’ve felt past installments have been lacking. Shannon’s General Zod is also surprisingly effective as a villain who has more layers than just deciding whether he should spit or snarl.

Can't I do both?

With the things I enjoyed, though, what was the worry that began tugging at my authentic red cape 30 minutes into the proceedings and, by the end, was repeatedly violently yanking me to the ground? I said earlier that Man of Steel felt like more like an alien invasion spectacle than legitimate Superman film, but what exactly does that even mean? It’s something that I’ve spent the last 24 hours trying to put into words with little effect, but I’ll give it a run here. I guess I should start with my general distaste for…

Giant Alien Destruction Action Porn

Listen folks, I’m not saying that a cherub-faced 14-year-old Kyle didn’t cream his Dungarees over the wanton destruction in Independence Day or that the carnage of Twister: The Ride at Universal Studios isn’t a great way to spend the afternoon, but the level of chaos in MoS was a little much for me to take. I don’t mean that large scale action should be absent from a movie about a flying Hercules who can shoot lasers from his eyes, but even with the use of action you have to stay true to a character and real-world parameters you have established in your movie--whatever they may be. What I mean by that is this: if you’ve created a cartoon world where larger than life characters lay waste to entire zip codes, that’s one thing, but if a director has firmly established his movie is set in as close to a real world as possible, there need to be appropriate reactions and consequences to what’s happening on screen.

Answer me this, at any point during the multiple, large-scale fight sequences (other than the VERY end) did you feel like Superman cared about human beings? If you’re answer was, “yes, he betrayed his species for them, dummy,” then sit down, David Goyer. That’s not what I’m talking about. What I mean is, by the end of the film half of Metropolis is a giant crater in the ground with the dust of what can only be assumed are millions of people floating in the air around Superman as he goes in for a victory kiss from Lois. These are the people Supes decided to betray his home world for and act as their savior but he seems to have no interest in actually helping them. During the entire fight I kept thinking, wow, they are just plowing through occupied buildings. Sure, the giant ship created a lot of damage to the city, but the amount of destruction during the fist fight with Zod was enough to send at least another couple thousand souls to their maker.

Thanks for saving us, Superman!

The initial fight in Smallville is no different. Superman opts to throw down in the middle of Main Street, telling a few passersby to “get inside” and “lock their doors”. You know a good way to ensure these people’s safety? Fly to one of the many corn fields outside of town where the only collateral damage would be a few scarecrows and farmer Johnson’s spring crop. For all of the script’s belaboring the fact that Kal El was sent to Earth to save its people, he seems to have little concern for their well-being.

If you think I’m being overly critical here and want me to blow it off as just a movie, that’s my problem. In the effort to create a feast for the eyes of fire, falling buildings, and IHOP product placement they took the character traits of Superman out of the film. I was one of this first to complain that Superman Returns lacked a formidable villain or actual convincing action to pit the MoS against, but it wasn’t until walking out of the theater unfulfilled yesterday that I realized what they HAD gotten right. Superman helps people, above all else. This is a character that, when Metropolis is falling apart in Superman Returns, spends his time fighting fires, rescuing citizen from falling glass and concrete, and making sure individual people are safe—not just humanity as a whole. Any hero can save humanity, that’s what makes them a hero. Superman has the power and responsibility to do more than that. The final battle should have seen an exhausted Kal pushed to his limits as he struggled to rescue every last citizen of Metropolis while doing everything he could to thwart the attack from above. Instead, Superman spends half of the climax “somewhere in the Indian Ocean” battling ball bearings and blue light while Metropolis fends for itself. Speaking of the attack from above…

Maybe the Villains were TOO Formidable

I know that beggars can’t be choosers and we should all just shut up and be happy Superman was fighting more than Lex Luthor, Kryptonite, and real estate schemes, but as our hero is pitted against multiple baddies from his home planet, I wondered if maybe this wasn’t a better plot for a second or third outing. Trust me, there’s more to this than me just wanting to whine and I’ll try and refrain from any more bitching about too much action but hear me out.

To really make my point of why the Kryptonians robbed me of the Superman movie I wanted, let’s dig into the general conceit of the film. Clark Kent has spent the majority of his adult life wandering the Canadian wild saving villagers and learning important life lessons in 44 minutes (edited for commercials), like a modern day Michael Landon in a Highway to Heaven remake. Clark does this because, and the movie spends at least a third of its screen time beating the audience over the head with this point, his Earth father has convinced him that humanity is not ready to accept a visitor from another planet. BOOM. There’s Nolan’s idea of Superman in a nutshell.

My first problem with this is that it turns out to be completely untrue. By the end of the movie we’ve discovered that Clark wasted the first half of his life and that, yes, Jonathan Kent died in vain. I’m not saying that humanity wasn’t crapping its collective pants over the giant alien spaceship hovering over the earth. I’m saying that humanity was crapping its collective pants over the giant alien spaceship hovering over the earth while threatening them. For all of Jonathan and Clark and Lois and Perry’s talk about how the general public isn’t ready for this kind of news we don’t get a single frame of film showing the world freaking out because HOLY CRAP ALIENS EXIST!!! Maybe this is something happening in the background or in the room next to the one they’re filming but I didn’t see a single person in a tinfoil hat ranting on the end times.

It turns out the human race seems actually kind of cool with alien visitors. Hell, they’re just happy one of them is our side.

Jonathan’s needless death and Kal El frittering half the movie away worrying for no reason aside, the Kryptonians created a problem more personal to me. Maybe it’s something stupid that no one else missed, but about three quarters of the way through I realized that we were never getting what I call the “hero’s reveal”. It’s that point in every superhero movie where our hero finally makes his presence known to the public in some awe-inspiring display of courage. I’m talking about a scene that ends in extras standing mouths agape, unsure of what to say as our hero takes a moment to bask in his moment of glory before flying off/disappearing into the darkness/dancing on stage with Vanilla Ice.

An appropriate "hero's reveal".

Man of Steel robs the audience of this moment by introducing the Kryptonian villains first. The closest thing we’re treated to is a bewildered military unit meeting Superman in the desert for a meeting that he’s inexplicably called. Maybe he already has Lois on speed dial. Even then, the military already knew an alien was among us and is part of the race hovering above the Ionosphere. The general public doesn’t even get something as unceremonious as that. The first time anyone else sees Kal El it’s the “battle of Smallville” where he’s presented as just another alien, albeit in slightly different colored fetish-wear. We don’t even get a dramatic display of power. His powers are exactly like every other bad guy zipping around.

This was so large, booming, and all-encompassing, where do we even go from here? Superman has already leveled most of the nation’s largest city while fighting off an army of extra-terrestrial beings. The Avengers took 6 movies to lead up to that point. How does this possibly fit into a world where a man dressing like a bat and fighting domestic terrorists is labeled as exciting and high-stakes? Or a world where Ryan Reynolds is continually allowed to be in superhero movies?

Above all, Man of Steel just made me sad for the movie that could have been. I admired the attempt to flesh out Kal El’s Kryptonian backstory, ridiculous “codex” aside. I liked the weight given to Clark’s upbringing and morality as taught by the Kent’s because it felt like it was building to something more substantial than CGI fists punching CGI explosions. It’s complicated, I guess. I guess I just wanted a movie about Clark Kent and not Kal El. I wanted to feel like I understood the character a little more, but I didn’t get that. I got a sci-fi blockbuster about an alien landing on our world. It wasn’t a bad movie, just not the one that our hero or his fans deserved.

Let me know what a nerd I am in the comments section below.