Thoughts on the Rusting Man of Steel

Man of Steel was outrageously bad, an assault on your senses and an insult to one of the greatest DC Comics Superhero.



I know am late to the party, much has been said about how Zack Snyder got this one completely wrong ; Senseless treatment that relied on too much shock and awe - more shock than awe - as a result coming up with a completely soul-less movie if ever a superhero movie was made.

In spite of a stellar star-cast with heavy weights like Russell Crowe, Diane Lane, Kevin Kostner, Lawrence Fishbourne all pulling in their weights along with story from the incredibly talented mindstore of Christopher Nolan, the movie was awful. Period.

The ingredients were all right - Let us go one by one:

The actual story of birth - Krypton's destruction and the parents' ultimate sacrifice to let the baby escape in a sealed pod from the exploding ( or rather imploding) planet. Disconnect#1 - in spite of a nuanced acting performance by Russell Crowe, the gallant scientist who gives up his life to save the baby so the race may survive - I never was able to dig in and get to like this. Visually spectacular scenes of an entire planet mushrooming up into mulch is not enough to get the audience invested in the fate of that one super baby.

Tracing the origins of a superhero - flashbacks to his tormented childhood where he struggles to comprehend his powers and is a tortured soul who doesn't get to believe in himself or the world that ridicules and is afraid of the "freak" - Disconnect #2. I never felt my heart go out for that boy, I don't know what was wrong but I simply couldn't feel the connection with this one.

Young man's journey to find his roots: After a hurried sequence where a bearded Henry Cavill is searching for himself out in the middle of the pacific, saving lives by single-handedly catching an entire toppling oil-rig on fire, Clark hears about the strange UFO-like object in the mountains. An entirely unconvincing reunion of father-son happens. Disconnect #3. Oh well, maybe Kryptonians don't really bond that well with their sons, huh?

Damsel in distress: Louis Lane, the pulitzer-winning journalist is portrayed pretty well actually. Amy Adams is pretty charming alright, I did like her. but what was pathetic indeed, was the damsel in distress act inside the Kryptonian skycraft where Clark first meets her and the heavily-underplayed romance between the two. No sparks here for sure. It was just another day of work for our superhero and I never really was able to figure out when he fell for her. Enough to endanger the whole bloody planet. And hey, what interest did the General Zod have in taking her captive along with Superman? Takes the pleasure out of watching a superhero movie. While I don't want it to reach the soapy levels it took on in the last version [ Remember that line where Superman (played by Criminally good-looking Brendon Ruth who cannot act to save his life) drops out of the sky to catch Lois Lane unawares and mouths, "thinking about me?" I shot myself in the head three times to make sure I stay dead for the rest of the movie :D ] Romance is integral, my friend Zack. Put some more zing into that next time please? Maybe like a three-way triangle between Lane, Kent and Lex Luthor?

Antagonist: General Zod. Mean Loud mouthed military general who thinks only of his own planet. well, no faults there huh? I never really came to hate this guy. And that was disconnect#5. I mean, I want the antagonist to be so bleeding bad that ever pore of my body should be sweating hate-bullets (okay that was a little far fetched but you get the idea!) General Zod is actually lovable. He just wants to save his race. and in that bargain, gets beaten up by our Superhero who is pretty selfish and wants to save his girlfriend. Thumbs-down Superman. Get Kevin Spacey back please!! He gave me those shivers for sure.

The stretched-out never-ending climax that blew my ear-drums: I will not get into details here. the assault on the senses - visual and hearing - was immensely damaging. The excessive bludgeoning and crashing through glass-buildings was like the last nail on the coffin. I must have walked out of that theater deaf. Disconnect # 6.



Enough said. The movie was a valiant effort at reboot, re-introducing us to a well-known superhero. Sure enough, it wasn't cheesy at all, Zack and Chris trading that bit for a lot more grit and yes, if you are dying to know, the movie producers have done away with the red "undies". The suit is fantastic. and the action borders on near fantastic. but the cinematography is a little confusing. the ultra-close ups, shaky grainy effects ruins the near perfect special effects that is meant to awe.

This superman doesn't even come close to capturing the heart and that sense of heightened idealism or Herogiri, that Superman ultimately stands for. Two stars maybe?

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