Man of Steel Review

A lot of negativity has surrounded Zack Snyder's Man of Steel, unsurprising considering how precious Superman is to many people, be they avid readers of the comics, or fans of the original movies. There have been many failed attempts to depict the hero on screen, from the later Christopher Reeve movies, the ever so 90s Lois and Clark (or as we know it in the UK, The Adventures of Superman), and let's not even start on the failure that was Superman Returns.

Yet, for some reason, around Man of Steel, there was a glimmer of hope. Maybe it was because of the faith the world seems to place in Zack Snyder. Maybe it's because Christopher Nolan, having done so well with the Dark Knight trilogy (we'll save the debate surrounding Rises for another day) was leading Snyder by the hand through the process. Maybe it was simply because, it had been so long, surely it couldn't go wrong again...

And it almost didn't. Not completely. Man of Steel is an excellent attempt at a Superman movie. In fact, as a stand-alone film, unattached to any mythology, it's an excellent watch. Five stars all the way. But that's the problem. It is attached to a mythology, possibly the biggest and most important mythology in any comic-book. And that's what makes it so precious. Superman should be simple. He's a hero. Genuinely trying to do good for the world. Then a big bad, with a big punch gets in the way and a massive fight occurs. And Superman will eventually triumph. That's it. It's a simple story, and so far, no Superman film has seemed to grasp this. Everything has to be complicated. In Man of Steel, it's wonderful to see Krypton it all it's glory, but it's over complicated and far too alien. General Zod is the perfect bad-guy for Superman, but once again, they complicate things with an over-enthusiastic plan to take over the world. Whatever happened to: 'I'm bigger and stronger than you, therefore I am king. Of the world. What's that Superman? You disagree? Very well, let us fight!'

And it's exactly that which makes Man of Steel an excellent movie, but a disappointing Superman film. Superman fans will be annoyed once again by the complexity of the story, and the moody tone of the film. It just doesn't feel like the Superman of the comic-book world. The relationship between Superman and Lois Lane is also an issue, not feeling as natural as it could have been. A little more screen-time for the two of them would have been great, but it was all occupied by things exploding.

And what explosions they are. Snyder demonstrated his aptitude for over-the-top action in Watchmen, 300 and Sucker Punch. Superman continues his trend of making visually spectacular but brutal movies. For the first time, we truly see the destruction and sheer power you would expect from Kryptonians fighting. At one point, they literally punch each other into space. I'll repeat that for emphasis. They PUNCH each other into SPACE. You can't help but smile.

So we're not quite there yet, but we're closer than before. The perfect Superman movie could one day be made, and given a couple more chances, Snyder might manage it. But until then, this is the best we've got. And it's worth seeing for the action alone.