MAN OF STEEL (2013) MOVIE NEWS & REVIEW

man of steel (2013) movie

Genre              |   Science Fiction

Classification   |   M

Running time   |   143 minutes

Released         |   27 June 2013

cast

Henry Cavill ... Clark Kent / Kal-El
Amy Adams ... Lois Lane
Michael Shannon ... General Zod
Diane Lane ... Martha Kent
Russell Crowe ... Jor-El
Antje Traue ... Faora-Ul
Harry Lennix ... General Swanwick
Richard Schiff ... Dr. Emil Hamilton
Christopher Meloni ... Colonel Nathan Hardy
Kevin Costner ... Jonathan Kent
​Laurence Fishburne ... Perry White

director

Zack Snyder

writer

David S. Goyer ... (screenplay)
 
David S. Goyer ... (story) &
Christopher Nolan ... (story)
 
Jerry Siegel ... (Superman created by) &
Joe Shuster ... (Superman created by)

cinematographer

​Amir Mokri ... director of photography

music

Hans Zimmer ​

film editor

David Brenner ​

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box office result

Worldwide             $​​​​​668,045,518

Australia                 $​​​​​​​22,342,258

North America       $​​​​​​291,045,518

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movie minutiae

Gal Gadot was originally cast as Faora, but had to drop out due to her pregnancy, and Antje Traue was cast in her place. Gadot would later be chosen play Diana Prince a.k.a. Wonder Woman in BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE (2016) and in the subsequenT WONDER WOMAN (2017) and JUSTICE LEAGUE (2017) films.

​To completely distinguish this film as a new film separate from previous ones, the iconic "Superman Theme" by John Williams wasn't heard. This is the first Warner Brothers Superman film to not incorporate Williams' score.

​Clark Kent is only referred to as "Superman" once in the entire film. In the comics, government agents (known classically as "G-Men") would refer to him in code over transmissions as "the S-Man."

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related movies

BATMAN V SUPERMAN:
DAWN OF JUSTICE
(2016)

MAN OF STEEL (2013) MOVIE IMAGES

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MAN OF STEEL (2013) STORY SYNOPSIS

A young boy learns that he has extraordinary powers and is not of this Earth. As a young man, he journeys to discover where he came from and what he was sent here to do. But the hero in him must emerge if he is to save the world from annihilation and become the symbol of hope for all mankind.

MAN OF STEEL (2013) MOVIE REVIEW

Reviewed by Mark Geraghty   |   Review date 14 June 2013

​​Pop Movee Rating

MAN OF STEEL is a film of missed opportunities and is a one of the more overt examples of money being lavished on a movie to create spectacle as opposed to good story telling...

Nowhere is this more apparent than the film's opening scenes set on Superman's home planet of Krypton. The movie goes out of its way in the opening scenes to show that style is more important that substance as the battle for Krypton's future is played out between Russell Crowe as Jor-El and Michael Shannon as Zod.The film’s Director, Zack Snyder, could be blamed for this, but, given the film’s production hierarchy, it’s more than Snyder who has to take some responsibility for the film’s overall failure to deliver the audience something more satisfying. 

The problems with MAN OF STEEL are largely to do with story.

David S. Goyer, the Go-To man for DC comic characters, is credited with the story, along with one film’s Producer Christopher Nolan. There’s no doubt that there was every confidence that they would deliver a story worthy of telling, given how successful the combination had been in making the Batman franchise more successful with each successive entry from BATMAN BEGINS (2005) to THE DARK KNIGHT RISES (2012).

Like the 2005 BATMAN BEGINS reboot, MAN OF STEELl is an origin story. It deals with the trial faced by Kal-El, played by Henry Cavill, whose home planet of Krypton has been destroyed. In the planet’s dying moments, he is sent by his parents, played by Russel Crowe & Aeylet Zurer, on an interplanetary voyage where his final destination will be Earth. Kal-El we learn, through a series of flashbacks, was rescued by Jonathan & Martha Kent, played by Kevin Costner and Diane Lane.

After the extended opening sequence showing the events just before the destruction of Krypton, the story picks up with a twenty-something Kal-El, having being given the human name of Clark by his adoptive parents, wandering from town-to-town, job-to-job trying to keep as low a profile as possible. Here the story plays as a series of vignettes with an opposing flashback that show how the young Clark’s need to keep his powers concealed ultimately set him on a path in the present-day to revealing his true capability. This part of the film is reminiscent of BATMAN BEGINS, where Christian Bale’s Bruce Wayne takes a leave of absence from the world in an effort to come to terms with himself. 

MAN OF STEEL version is not quite as successful as BATMAN BEGINS in achieving this, as the audience knows that Kal has no knowledge of his real parents, Jor-El and Lara Lor-Van, and they are yet to learn what has become of his adoptive parents. The BATMAN BEGINS origin story works so much better because the death of Bruce Wayne’s parents has played out before him and the audience has been there with him to see it happen. 

As Kal moves closer to uncovering his true identity, The Daily Planet newspaper’s top reporter, Lois Lane, is also on the case. Lane, played by Amy Adams, discovers Kal’s secret at almost the same times he does, which creates a very different relationship to the one depicted in the 1970s and 1980s Superman films, where Clark went to great lengths to conceal his true identity.

The early reveal to Lois allows Zack Snyder move the story forward with the knowledge that Kal has something personal at stake when danger arrives in the persona of General Zod, a genetically-engineered soldier who is responsible for the murder of Jor-El. Just prior to Krypton’s destruction, Zod and his forces have been sentenced to the Phantom Zone for an attempted insurrection against the planet’s ruling Council for trying to save Kryptonians from extinction. Escaping their prison after the planet’s destruction, Zod’s genetically-engineered purpose kicks in, sending him on a mission to find the son of Jor-El, who has the key to Krypton in his possession.

Despite some logic gaps in the story, right up until the point where Zod and his forces arrive on Earth, MAN OF STEEL is an engaging piece of entertainment.

The cast, with the exception of Henry Cavill, are all good without being great. Cavill may have a great physique, but he’s not quite the "Man of Steel", although the self-doubt that he displays for the first half of the film doesn’t do him any favours, as audiences just don’t associate Superman with self-doubt. He’s stronger and faster than any human; why would he be worried? The two fathers in Crowe as Jor-El and Costner as Jonathan are really strong, although the premise of Jor-El as an interactive hologram must have seemed like a good idea, but came off seeming rather silly and made both Kal-El and Lois look completely incompetent at times.

However, getting back to Zod’s arrival...

From the point at which Zod and his forces arrive in search of Kal-El, MAN OF STEEL degenerates into a mess of excess.

Kal and Lois surrender themselves to Zod; for what reason is never really clear, as it is obvious that Zod is going to destroy Earth anyway. From there, a major battle ensues in and around Smallville, which serves absolutely no narrative purpose. It’s simply a show of computer-generated gratuity that could have been left out of the film and moved the story to its Metropolis-based finale.

Like l2012's THE AVENGERS  film, the last 40 minutes of MAN OF STEEL is dedicated to wreaking as much carnage and destruction upon a city environment as can be done by a computer animator!

Unfortunately, there is nothing that has gone in the first 100 minutes that can redeem the last 40, which is truly disappointing.

It’s clear that a lot of thought went into trying to exceed audience expectations with the origin story to make sure that this film was viewed as a different version compared to the Christopher Reeve versus Brandon Routh films. However, it is let down by an extended battle sequence that is over-the-top and far too long. The scenes of Metropolis covered in ash, resulting from the collapse of multiple buildings, seems insensitive to the people of New York. Audience members under the age of 15 may find the whole sequence exciting, but the sheer scale of destruction wears thin after the first couple of exchanges between Kal-El and Zod.

If there is one bright spot in the final act, it is the final minute of the film. Opinion will be divided as to whether or not one line of dialogue can overcome Man of Steel’s third act, but, if ever there was a line, Lois Lane’s last comment to Kal-El may be the one!

The question will now turn to the inevitable sequel to MAN OF STEEL.

Does it deserve one?

Probably not.

It’s not a good enough film to warrant a follow-up.

Will it get one?

Certainly.

The action-packed nature of the film’s marketing campaign has been enough to get audiences all around the planet to see it already. The real question is where can MAN OF STEEL 2 go after the first movie? For a start, the story needs to be less about destruction for destruction’s sake and the visual impact that can create on a movie screen. David S. Goyer and Christopher Nolan have shown with their BATMAN films that a restrained, focussed story can create a comic-book film that is both spectacular, but also mature and grounded. MAN OF STEEL is neither mature nor grounded. It has moments of potential, especially in the flash back sequences, but ultimately reverts to standard blockbuster fare where Zack Syder's efforts seem more like Michael Bay than Christopher Nolan.

MAN OF STEEL (2013) USEFUL LINKS

Man of Steel (film) - Wikipedia
​Man of Steel (2013) - IMDb
​Man of Steel (2013) - Rotten Tomatoes​

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