Man of Steel (2013) review

Man of Steel was a movie that I hyped more than anything else in my life. I was one of the hundreds of thousands of people who believed this to be the Dark Knight for Superman films. The trailers hinted such depth and exploration into the fascinating character of Kal-El and we were exposed to some of Synder’s killer action sequences. The music was something I was worried and the more I was exposed to Zack Snyder’s films- “300”, “Watchmen”, “Legend of the Guardians” and “Dawn of the Dead”, the more I was worried about the quality of the film. However, Nolan’s touch in the film kept my hopes high.

As everyone knows, ‘Man of Steel’ tells us the story of Kal-El, the last son of Krypton, and his coming to Earth and him becoming a godlike protector for humans. General Zod and his men, the few other Kryptonians to have escaped, are in search for Kal-El as they attempt to retrieve something that was taken from them. Something which would lead Earth to a terrible fate and something which would lead Krypton to a glorious fate.

The first hour of this film is pure brilliance, even if flawed. Some questions are still left unanswered such as why the council sentenced Zod and his men to the Phantom Zone if they were in anyway aware of their ability to escape following the destruction of Krypton. However, the first hour generally displays Nolan’s touch into the film, providing some emotionally powerful sequences of Kal-El being an outcast, throughout his early days of high school to his adulthood. Generally kept very quiet, this hour truly helped us get a better understanding of the character especially as he wanders off into the North Arctic, where he confronts a spiritual creation of his biological father, Jor-El, played by Russel Crowe. Here, he becomes Superman and here he comes to learn of his whereabouts and the reasons behind being sent here. Thankfully, we are emotionally invested in various characters. Others such as Perry White and Lois Lane are also presented nicely, though we yet to know much about them asides from Lois attempting to track down Kal-El. The point is, this hour is quiet, emotional and a very realistic take on Kal-El, unlike previous Superman films.

The next hour is generally, action packed. This is where much of the critics have argued about the film, stating that there is simply too much action sequences to comprehend. Whilst it is action packed, it generally does have a story behind it except for one elongated sequence with Kal-El fighting part of the World Machine, unleashed by Zod, as he plans to terraform Earth into Krypton. This sequence proved tensionless, dull and an attempt to visually engage its audience. The idea of Zod and his men terraforming Earth is an incredibly clever plot and the best thing here is, Zod’s motivation. He is presented as a genetically bred and engineered man, assigned with the duty of keeping his people safe. Christopher Reeve as Superman was patriotic to America as Zod is to Krypton. His motivations are made clear, not by dialogue, but by facial expressions and actions committed. However, despite having a motivation behind him, he proves to be a rather underwhelming villain for the film, seeing as how he doesn’t pose much of a threat but rather, his right hand man, Faora does. She was more intimidating than Zod simply was and Antje Traue portrayed her perfectly.

Most of the performances in the film are great. Crowe, Costner, Cavill and Fishburne are fantastic in their roles. Costner and Crowe give such great advice throughout the course of the film and are portrayed as such loving parents as is Diane Lane, who portrays Martha Kent. This was one of the film’s strongest aspects and that is the loving relationship between a mother and a son. When Zod finally threatens her in search for the Codex (which would revive Krypton), it was such a delight to see Superman attack Zod in anger. The scene featuring a young Kal-El unable to control his overwhelming power is now related here as Zod is temporarily weakened by his inability to control his senses. This is the brilliance of telling the flashbacks in a non-linear structure as they each provide emotionally impact to what is happening to Kal-El in the present day. 

However, there were a few performances that could have been better, most notably Michael Shannon (who was surprisingly underwhelming) and Amy Adams, who despite doing a decent job, often shows no chemistry around Cavill. It was revealed in an interview that she hardly acted with Cavill, and green screen was instead used.

The first hour was perfectly paced, keeping things nice and quiet as well as relatively slow. However, the last hour feels a bit too rushed in the process of creating larger than life action sequences, which was a delight to finally see in a Superman film. The final confrontation between Zod and Kal-El was proving incredibly exciting but was over too quick in the most controversial way. I personally loved it.

John Williams’ iconic Superman theme is one that I listen to everyday, regardless of where I am. I just love it so much. Whilst I do understand how such a theme would not fit in this universe created, I personally had a bit of trouble with Zimmer’s score, which was somewhat distracting at times. It generally proved to overpower scenes, especially one where Kal-El is launched into Earth.

Whilst I had numerous issues with the film, there was so much to enjoy about the film and is a unique and exciting take on Superman that unfortunately does lose most of the charm of the previous. The action, visuals, storytelling and performances are generally fantastic making ‘Man of Steel’ an enjoyable summer blockbuster, even if its overall a disappointment. 

Grade- 7.5/10

Superman/Doomsday (2007) review

My preparation for Man of Steel has been mostly torturing with me hating the last three Superman films with a passion. I wasn’t sure whether or not this film is where I should go next but only decided to watch this simply because I enjoyed the ‘The Dark Knight Returns’ films from 2012 and this year. I can happily say that Superman vs Doomsday is a surprisingly entertaining film that shows us the characters of Kal-El, Lois Lane and Lex Luthor far better than they were shown in Superman Returns and in some ways, brings back old memories.

Superman/Doomsday tells the story of Superman, on a quest to bring peace to Metropolis, realizes that he has found a new enemy called Doomsday, a genetically engineered warrior. During a fight, Superman manages to defeat Doomsday but succumbs to his injuries. Following his death, whilst the residents of Metropolis mourn his death, Lex Luthor has begun an all new and terrifying plot against Metropolis.

Whilst the introduction involving the title was disappointing as it didn’t contain the traditional John Williams score, I was surprised that the theme composed for this film was surprisingly good and showed an extremely emotional side to it. The film begins with a sequence where Lex Luthor talks about god and compares him to Superman and states that even God must die sometimes. I thought that this was a truly fantastic way and intriguing way to open up the film. It immediately brought our attention on the story and made us loathe Lex a bit more than we had done in the past. It was a rather powerful beginning.

The story in this film is generally fantastic, giving us many great sequences and full of surprises. I had always viewed Lex Luthor as a rather bland character but here, he seems a little more energetic and seems clever. His plot in this film is an extremely unique one and though it may sound cheesy, comes off rather well in the film. Lex, after Superman’s supposed death, creates clones of Superman as he makes his army of ‘Supermen’ to rule Metropolis. I thought that this was a completely awesome idea and worked a lot better than the plots to Superman III, IV and Superman Returns.

The action sequences in this film are generally exciting though some action sequences do go on for quite sometime, to the extent where you wonder how it could possibly stuff. The best action scene is quite possibly the scene involving Doomsday and Superman who fight, as Lois and Jimmy are on the plane. This scene had the most surprises and was rather short, quick and extremely effective. The most drawn out scene was the fight scene right at the end with clone Superman and Superman.

The voice acting in the film was done extremely well. Adam Baldwin was fantastic as Superman and his voice for even Dark Superman was good. Anne Heche did a good job as Lois Lane, providing a much stronger and courageous Superman than Kate Bosworth’s terrible performance the year earlier. James Marsters did a great job voicing Lex Luthor, giving a powerful voice.

However, this movie is far from perfect even though it is the best Superman film since Superman II, that I’ve seen. The vision of Metropolis didn’t necessarily meet my expectations and I was disappointed. I’m not sure how loyal this film is to its comic book and I’m not sure how the Daily Planet looks in the comics, but here it seems too spacious and seems like an important place. I wasn’t pleased by this aspect of the film but it makes up by several other great aspects such as voic acting, action scenes and some great character moments such as Superman explaining to Lois that he cannot give away his secret identity because of her own safety which links back to Superman II.

Though I was definitely pleased with the story and Lex’s plot, I was truly disappointed at how quickly Doomsday was finished in this film. He made for a great villain and I thought that if he could’ve returned and still being Lex’s puppet it would’ve been great, considering he is one of the toughest enemies Superman has faced thus far- Hopefully, Michael Shannon’s Zod continues Terrence Stamp’s Zod.

Overall, on my quest to experience different Superman films I was truly happy to stumble upon this one. It gives us a new take on the character of Superman and thus so, in a great and entertaining way. Even if a few action sequences go on a bit too long, an interesting story and some great characters make up for a great comic book film. 

Grade- 7/10

Superman Returns (2006) review

Everyone hates the last two Superman films, there is not one person who views them as good films. However, prior to the release of Superman Returns, many would’ve been highly anticipated and hyped for this film, saying that how could Superman go wrong under the director of The Usual Suspects when he’s got a massive $250 million to work with. Well, to keep this review short…everything went wrong with this film. Very little good aspects can be picked off this ridiculously long and slow running film which has little to offer in terms of character development and moments, exciting action, amazing visuals or even in terms of acting and writing.

‘Superman Returns’ tells us the story of Superman following the events of Superman II, where has returned to his home planet of Krypton in hopes of finding any survivors after an astronaut discovery of Krypton. He returns to Earth only to learn that the evil Lex Luthor has been released, following Superman’s failure to show up in court. Now Lex Luthor is at it again, attempting to once more destroy the world as Superman must “return” to defeat him.

In terms of story, this is a straightforward premise and could easily be an engaging one. This was very similar in Superman: The Movie and the Lex Luthor storyline completely works there but here, it simply doesn’t. Bryan Singer definitely did not demonstrate his love for film and his passion to resurrect a franchise that died out 19 years earlier. The way that the entire story was told was in a dull manner, never providing the true character moments that even the atrocity, Superman IV remembered and provided. Lex’s plot to take over the world for a while seems interesting, especially a scene involving Jor-El. It was actually great to see them re-use Brando’s legendary performance back in 1978 into this film and surprisingly worked, I must say. However, the whole aspect of Kal-El leaving Earth to Krypton betrayed his character and his constant frustration and jealousy throughout the film resembles more of the Clark from Smallville than previous Superman films!

Something that was horrendous about Superman IV was the laughable visual effects which looked like they had been horribly Photoshop-ed thanks to an extremely low budget of under $20 million. Thankfully, the effects in Superman Returns are good but still, in terms of its age don’t look incredible. Much of the visuals do not seem engaging especially considering most other elements of the film are horrendous. Bland visuals generally don’t mean much but here it does, considering that everything is pretty terrible, especially the characters.

Something that was amazing about the first two instalments were the endearing characters and how they were played out. Kal-El was always charming and possessed all the traits that Superman should have whether it be witty humor, intensity, eagerness, boldness or even the clumsiness and awkwardness of Clark Kent which were all brilliantly portrayed by Christopher Reeve. The same cannot be said about Brandon Routh who simply doesn’t bring much charm and excitement to the film despite some good Superman moments. When he delivers the line, “flying is still statistically speaking, the safest means of transport!” which was a complete take from Superman IV, not much is felt. He wasn’t terrible but he definitely was miscast and definitely does not bring the memories of Reeves’ Superman. Whilst Kevin Spacey is great as Lex Luthor, yet still remains a boring character, there was a huge issue I had with this film and that was Lois Lane who was such a lovable character in the old films. Kate Bosworth was rather terrible in this film for many reasons. She looked and certainly did not act anything like Lois Lane from the previous films but she looks far too young which becomes extremely distracting. However, the core of this issue lies with her acting abilities which are extremely limited. Considering a large proportion of the story is devoted to her story, it becomes rather hard to watch and care for her portrayal of a beloved character. Her chemistry with Brandon Routh was terrible with the two never demonstrating their charming and bold personalities that their previous actors displayed. Eva Saint Marie is great as Martha and it is a surprise that she and Brando were in a film together, despite not playing a couple or anything, since On The Waterfront in 1954.  

There is one decent action sequence in the film and that is entirely it. To not spoil much of the ending, the film ends in the most anticlimactic and rushed way that it becomes utterly frustrating. To think that a new Superman film with the budget and even the time did not add as much action as even Superman III did is just shocking. It’s actually an insult and would make this film feel worse and worse when re-watching. One decent action sequence doesn’t give justice and respect to previous Superman films even if the source material was somewhat loyal to the original films. Since there is almost no action and no final confrontation between Kal-El and Lex, but ends abruptly, most of the emotion and conflict cannot truly be felt. Possibly one of the greatest scenes in the film is when Superman is hospitalized and people support him and wait eagerly, much like us the audience did. But…nothing really happens! 

Another frustrating aspect of Superman Returns was the vision of Metropolis by Singer. This certainly didn't seem to resemble that of the old films and especially sequences inside the Daily Planet seemed to show no recognition of what the old films were life. It now seems like a huge part of life on Metropolis with constant interviews and rooms full of people. Compare this with that of the old films and it certainly doesn't work well especially as a sequel to the first two Superman films.

 

Overall, Superman Returns is quite possibly the fourth worst film in the Superman film franchise and suffers much from poor character development and lack of emotion and conflict. Many performances aren’t that great and many characters and themes feel betrayed by this film. Even the effects do not look dazzling with such a big budget.

Grade- 3.5/10

Superman IV (1987) review

Superman III is not considered to be the worst of the Superman films but now that I’ve seen Superman III and the abomination that is Superman IV, I can happily say that Superman III is simply far worse than Superman IV which is by no means a good film apart from the fact that it has a few good factors to it such as the returning cast, the character of Superman and the Superman like moments and the overall short duration of the film that ensures us that this film isn’t as horrid and stinky as Superman III

Superman agrees to stop the launch and use of nuclear weapons and begins to put an end to it but by a complete accident, he creates a man of nuclear referred to as NuclearMan whose one task is to kill Superman, under orders from a returned Lex Luthor.

Superman is an iconic movie character, respected and even worshipped by some and often labelled the greatest superhero ever made and one of the all time great movie characters. Thanks to Christopher Reeve and Richard Donner, Superman is a worshipped character from the magic of the first two Superman films which portrayed him as an honest, courageous, courteous, brave and determined fighter whereas Superman III didn’t really take the character anywhere and explore his sudden evil side. Whilst potential, terrible overuse of slapstick humor and a horrendous story destroyed the film to a point beyond repair. Thankfully, Superman IV got two things perfectly right about the film and that is the character of Superman and how is loyalty to Metropolis as well as Reeves’ portrayal who absolutely nails it once more! It was almost a joy to see everything about Superman recovering since Superman III and this is quite simply, the only good aspect of the film

I’ve never criticized special effects in films and normally, I don’t intend to. When you consider how great the effects in the first three Superman films are and how Superman II had a budget of over 50 million and that the latest instalment, which was produced seven years later, has less than $25 million, it is so definitely clear that this film was not to ever be made considering the box office and critical failure of Superman III. The effects in this film look beyond horrendous, even unwatchable especially sequences involving Superman or Nuclearman flying through space or Metropolis. It looks like a terribly edited version on Photoshop where nothing looks realistic enough to take seriously.

Sequences involving flying around in Metropolis, especially a scene that ruins Superman in two ways involving Superman taking Lois for yet another fly around Metropolis is not only hard to take seriously, it completely destroys the magical moment from the first film and makes Superman a rather hard character to understand. I guess it’s time to get used to him in Superman Returns but thankfully, this is the only instance where Superman is portrayed as a douche. Having taken her for a tour, he gives her a mind erasing kiss (which still makes no sense) in order for her to forget that he is Superman. Simply, the special effects looked horrendous. Even Monty Python and the Holy Grail, being a 1975 picture, had better effects of God!

Whilst Christopher Reeve is outstanding as Superman and Gene Hackman is as usual, good as Lex Luthor, the rest of the cast simply aren’t interesting even Marc Maclure as Lois Lane, who simply doesn’t show the same enthusiasm and passion as she did in the first two. Clearly a bad sign! The acting comes off rather horrendous especially the voice of Nuclearman done by Hackman, who completely makes it truly ridiculous to take seriously.

The new characters in this film aren’t interesting. The entire story evolving around the Daily Planet is simply stupid and how the story unfolds there is completely ridiculous and to top it off, more and more annoying and one dimensional Superman characters are introduced. Even Lux Luthor himself is uninteresting throughout the film and Nuclearman is a complete waste of some potential.

The story, whilst having potential, simply doesn’t turn out to be anything special or even remotely, interesting. Much of the film is simply boring and thankfully, clichéd slapstick is not thrown into the film to make it worse! It definitely has a Superman feel to it and in some ways, had some great sequences such as the scene involving Kal-El’s Kryptonian ancestors where they warn him to stay away from human affairs. However, this scene is completely betrayed later in the film and much of the individual scenes taking place in the film are completely unnecessary and are rip offs from the first two films.

Overall, in some ways I cannot understand how loathed this film is yet Superman III is allowed a free pass. It just shocks me to see how this film is the most hated of them all but honestly, whilst a terrible film is made to be a great film when watching immediately after Superman III. A lack of stupid slapstick and a computer villain make this a better film than its predecessor but still not a good film by any means.

Grade- 3/10 

Still not a remotely good film, has stupid effects, poor plot, bad villain and is a complete rip off from Superman II.