Dollar Tree Cinema: Man of Steel

“Man of Steel” (2013)
Starring Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Michael Shannon, Russell Crowe, Diane Lane, Kevin Costner
Directed by Zack Snyder
Screenplay by David S. Goyer, story by Goyer and Christopher Nolan
Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi violence, action and destruction; and for some language

With the Marvel Cinematic Universe firing on all cylinders following the release of 2012's “Avengers,” there was great anticipation the following year for Warner Bros.' new take on Superman. Although it wasn't going to be a shared universe with Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy, he was involved with the story and as a producer.

Ten years later, the DC Expanded Universe of films is sputtering to a halt with “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom,” although, hey, two Aquaman movies? Not sure that seemed any more likely than a “Guardians of the Galaxy” trilogy a decade ago

The highly publicized DC reboot with Guardians maestro James Gunn at the helm has given the last few DC movies a lame duck kind of feel. That's a bit unfair, since no movie is guaranteed a sequel and should be judged on its own merits. And yet, I still haven't gotten around to seeing “Blue Beetle,” which looks fun. I didn't exactly tap into the Speed Force to watch “The Flash” either.

For better or worse, “Man of Steel” set the tone for these movies. There have been highs and lows and a whole lot of in between. But I never went back and watched the one that started it all. It was, however, one of the first Dollar Tree movie purchases I made.

What I thought before: A very good movie but not a very good Superman movie. Cavill's Clark/Kal-El is not the problem so much as his adoptive Earth parents. Lane and Costner's Martha and Jonathan Kent, while believable and relatable, just aren't the moral and ethical foundation we find in other iterations, and that makes this Man of Steel less sturdy.

What I think now: I have to revise that first statement a bit, as this Superman is more like the icon than I remembered but the movie doesn't feel as strong.

I'm not going to do much of a summary here, assuming if you're reading this you've probably seen the movie. But in case you haven't, I will post a SPOILER WARNING as I'm going to delve into some specific scenes and themes.

We get the most immersive look at Krypton that I've seen in live action (I missed the SyFy show focusing on the planet's history), with Crowe as scientist/action hero Jor-El. The movie then shifts to young adult Clark on Earth, trying to find his place in it while flashing back to his childhood raised by the loving but much more wary Kents.

In most cases, Jonathan Kent's admonitions to Clark to keep his powers a secret aren't all that different from the portrayal on “Smallville,” which I only watched initially because of the casting of John (“Bo Duke”) Schneider and Annette (Lana Lang from “Superman III”) O'Toole as the Kents. Part of me still wants to see those Kents in this movie.*

But then there's the moment when Clark saves his fellow students after their school bus goes off a bridge. Jonathan tells him what a risk it was, and Clark says: “What was I supposed to do?Just let them die?” And Pa Kent says, “Maybe.”

WHAT?!?

Then Jonathan forbids Clark to risk exposing his powers by saving him from a tornado... It's a powerful scene, and I get it thematically, but come on. Comics and the stories in other media they beget have been explaining away secret identity risks for years. This seems like it could have been handled differently.

The movie clocks in at over two hours and 20 minutes, yet a lot of things feel rushed. When Zod reappears (a terrifically creepy scene), he demands that Kal-El be turned over to him. This is because Jor-El downloaded the codex containing all the genetic potential (or something) for the genetically engineered Kryptonians into his son's DNA. I'm still not sure why he did this. Was someone supposed to unlock it and bring back the Kryptonians, but in a less destructive way than Zod tried? If so, who? Or was Kal just supposed to go forth and multiply? A lot?

A big gripe I had when I watched the movie in the theater was the destruction unleashed by Zod and his rebellious Kryptonians. As he starts to get powers like Clark's, the two of them battle through Metropolis in such a way that there had to be a lot of casualties. That made sense but, until the showdown in the train station, Clark didn't really seem to care. I wanted a scene or two of him in the midst of the fight saving people, to show he and the filmmakers remembered they were there.

But I had forgotten there are moments like that as he fights Zod's soldiers earlier and tries to protect soldiers at the same time. That was enough to convince Col. Nathan “Guardian**” Hardy (Christopher Meloni) that he's on their side.

And then there's Lois. I have expressed my admiration for Amy Adams before, so I won't rehash it. I was excited to have her playing an iconic role in a comic-based movie, but I don't feel like she and Lois reached their potential. We're more told than shown that Lois is a determined reporter. As a journalist who has sometimes had trouble getting non-secret information from non-government sources, I'm a bit skeptical of the access Lois gets when the military is investigating the discovery of a Kryptonian ship or, you know, going to war against powerful alien beings. I get that she needed to be there for the story, but I wish they had worked a little harder to make me believe it made sense.

After rewatching “Man of Steel,” I still have mixed but overall positive feelings. I also said back then that despite its issues, it was a setup for an even better Superman movie that... we just never got. Of course, I probably need to go back and rewatch “Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice” too, but I feel like Warner Bros. was trying to fast forward to catch up with the Avengers and skipped the part where Marvel put out five solid solo movies before the big team-up.

Cavill was a great Superman, and it's a shame he was in limbo for so long and never really got to shine as the character.

* - This was originally a “Release the Schneider Cut” joke, but given some recent X, fka Twitter, activity, probably best to just move on.

** - Somebody get this man a shield.