Cast:
Amy Adams,
Christopher Meloni,
Diane
Lane,
Henry Cavill,
Kevin Costner,
Laurence Fishburne,
Russell
Crowe
Man of Steel
Production year: 2013
Countries: Rest of the world, USA
Cert (UK): 12A
Runtime: 143 mins
Directors: Zack Snyder
It
must be the last act of superhero revisionism: abolishing the word
"super". In this new movie directed by Zack Snyder, and produced and
co-written by Christopher Nolan, the letter on our hero's chest doesn't mean what we
all thought it meant. This is no English S, but a Krypton symbol denoting hope.
The word "Superman" is stutteringly or
suspiciously pronounced, like "the bat man" in the Dark Knight
movies. He is referred to by his earthling name, Clark, or his Krypton name,
Kal-El, or even as the "alien", by the frowning Pentagon brass. This
is a 21st-century superhero who must steel himself against the agonies of being
misunderstood by the people he is trying to help
The origin myth is perhaps the most interesting part of
any superhero story; for some, the only interesting part. Snyder has created a
colossal, grandiose genesis for the Man of Steel, a titanic Moses-out-of-Nietzsche tale, a
planet-clashing spectacle that is seen perpetually through a glowing,
lens-flaring light: the opposite of the twilight of the gods – the
daybreak of the titans. We go way, way back, substantially before Clark Kent
coolly makes his career leap into journalism, joining the Daily Planet as a
"stringer", a move that incidentally shows that CV-faking must
be one of his superpowers.
There are some striking ideas and images, and interesting
casting for the chief role. To go with his gym-built, digitally assisted pecs,
abs and thighs, Britain's Henry Cavill has a thin, intriguingly pale and
sensitive face, with a buttock-cleft on his nose, like George Osborne, a nose
that will surely make him very identifiable up close in the Planet newsroom,
chunky glasses or no chunky glasses. Cavill's Clark has an fraught relationship
with his tough foster-mom and troubled foster-dad: nice performances from Diane
Lane and Kevin Costner. He faces off satisfyingly with his terrifying Krypton
enemy, General Zod, of whom more in a moment. But this story doesn't quite have
the wit of Joss Whedon's assembly of Avengers, nor the gothic seriousness of Nolan's
Dark Knight, and the all-important romantic spark with Lois Lane, played
by Amy Adams, sadly isn't there. There's naturally a lot of swooping
and flying: compulsory for 3D films.
Snyder and Nolan have modified the beginning of the story
so that a primal clash has been designed into the narrative from the get-go.
(There is, as yet, no sign of the famous adversary Lex Luthor, although
keen-eyed observers will later note trucks on the streets of the Metropolis
belonging to "Lexcorp".) The planet Krypton is dying, because of
environmental issues. Dignified soldier-statesman Jor-El rails against
mismanagement of the planet's resources; he is played by Russell Crowewith a posh British accent, presumably hailing from a
part of the planet far distant from that of General Zod, played by Michael
Shannon with an American accent. Zod uses the crisis to launch a failed mutiny
against the planet's revered leaders.
