A blitzkrieg tale of an adopted alien with utmost pure intentions until he helped decimated the populace implying it’s all for the glory of your salvation!
Warner Bros. Pictures in association with Legendary Pictures, Syncopy Films, Cruel and Unusual Films and DC Entertainment present…
After tireless years of researching, developing and brainstorming to energize the so-called epic that is Superman it has “sort of” come into fruition with the triumvirate efforts of Director Zack Snyder (Watchmen), produced and “questionably” mentored by Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight Rises) and “mediocrely” written by David Goyer (Dark City). They took this film as a reboot including all Superman stories’ and previous incarnations since the dawn of superhero films in the 1970’s even further was in the comic books more significantly synchronizing it with DC’s “New 52” where the “Man of Steel” has been given a different look, a pragmatic costume and a more youthful persona as a foothold and countermeasure in their never ending battle with his creators’ family in the court of law!
Modern filmmaking does give its time to actually see what can be the outcome when it’s used in its full capacity and Zack revved it as far as he can until it explodes destroying the whole fictional staging grounds! As the SFX and VFX were definitely coherent and superior while it was to amalgamate its intensity with “modified” storytelling combining with its melancholic aura that is still being captured from very talented people encompassing the mythic universe of Kal-El! With companies like Weta Digital (Prometheus), The Moving Company (Life of Pi) and Double Negative (Children of Men) at the forefront, their work never fails to impress especially with fictionalized characters as phenomenal as this! With an “almost assured” proper guidance by DC Comics, the actual powers inhibited by Big Blue was given emphasis straight to the dot, from feats of strength, super speed, invulnerability, heat vision and the most obvious the gift of flight!
Composer Hans Zimmer (Batman Begins) had said that is was a “daunting task” to follow through with the musical score applied by John Williams since the 1978 film which was absolutely moving and majestic! But his work was made less elaborate of his “repetitive” flow of tunes even more copying the type of aura from the score in the film “Gladiator”. Probably we have been harboring on his work for the last couple of years which makes it tip over the line already.
IF THE “S” FITS WEAR IT!
From all these considered heroes, comes Superman! The mere mention of his name can be recognized from all over the world and that’s how universal he can be! As Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster’s answer to their prayers, the alien infant from the planet Krypton was sent here for a reason and a purpose. With so many changes all these years since his debut in Action Comics No. 1 on April 18, 1938, the orphaned boy thrived and at best surrogated by a farmer and his wife known as Jonathan and Martha Kent.
In his highly anticipated and long overdued starring role, Henry Cavill (Immortals) after being set aside by Bryan Singer from his 2006 film “Superman Returns”, the actor comes back with a vengeance; faster, stronger and “smarter?” to legitimately redeem DC Comics and take the power back in the superhero blockbuster race! Running from his true nature, Joseph Clark Kent who was raised by simple townsfolk in Smallville has been trying to search himself all his life and find a way to fulfill his destiny since he was brought on Earth to be its savior!
He has this innate capacity to have a passive nature while not being hesitant to be hungry for humanity which is often underrated by his standards. The fascinating part was how they were able to compensate the true meaning of manifesting his inner strength growing up and knowing despite of being an alien, being an orphan and being alone in the universe even so with his ability to forcibly move mountains literally was not even conceived to be his way to compliment the love he had with his adopted parents and for this planet! To make things simpler, he is stronger than grief, pain, greed or even with lust for power and that what makes him a hero in everyone’s eyes!
This is what DC Comics have sired for humanity and being a primordial force that lived through the expectations of so many generations of children and fans, he had always instilled the meaning of hope and inspired others to follow as he leads by example. But not until he used his vented up anger all those years just to get the adrenaline running.
Seeing from the Donner films a flag was clothed as his memento, a remembrance of his origins and now an armor was handed down by his father seems poetic justice! The House of El secures its legacy not just from their Kryptonian race but also to forge a new kind of beginning that will take a ripple effect with their son.
“HOODS AND FATHERS” – FROM LEGENDS TO LEGACIES
While Russell Crowe (Gladiator) and Ayelet Zurer (Vantage Point) taking the initial spotlight from all this madness, the biological father Jor-El was trying to convince the council until they were interrupted. As he risk everything to save his kind, he informs his wife Lara Lor-Van to initiate the launching sequence. With a sub-plot of a highly advanced civilization especially in terms of space exploration and technology, he chose Earth as an intended trajectory to save their only son naturally born to forge his own destiny rather than be succumbed into their genetically engineered race of individuals.
Another set of talent walking down the line, Kevin Costner (The Guardian) and Diane Lane (A Walk in the Moon) portrays Kal-El’s surrogate parents as Jonathan and Martha Kent. Their involvement with Clark’s upbringing was the most fundamental aspect on how he came to be the person today. Their words and love inspire him to be better more so to be the best of what he can be and considering the sacrifices made in order for him to fully understand his intentions before diving head first and find the right time to introduce himself as this planet’s adopted alien…can you say I come in peace?
The main focus from a conversive standpoint was how the emotion is being captured and relayed to the audience it was very profound but in the essence of being human and the bond we form with other people especially with family and of course our parents. This is the main difference between Singer’s “Superman Returns” where the character was too sentimental centric through its screenplay which did not went very well with the critics and fans. While the conjecture on this premise was the feeling of being bounced around too much for too long literally affecting the already muddled “Nolanesque” non-linear treatment and it never gave any comfort whatsoever in all the smoke combined with the shaky camera tandem which makes the robots fighting in Michael Bay’s films look less spectacular (throwing up and all that nausea).
CODENAME: “SCULLY” – MORE THAN YOUR TYPICAL REPORTER
To be honest, I was hesitant with Amy Adams (The Fighter) to portray someone like Lois Lane seeing that she has the looks only made for romantic comedies she soon found a way to prove that she was worth it! Her role was refined seeing that she is capable by herself to accomplish her work without being dumbed down. Although, still a camera hog, she was so conveniently at the right place and at the right time whenever her personal savior is also on screen just to compliment their chemistry and to at least say that even super powered beings needs some assistance along the way.
While the other guy whom she sees now and then as well just to justify her actions is Daily Planet’s own Editor-in-Chief Perry White. Laurence Fishburne (The Matrix) does his fair share in the movie with not just verbal quips or cheesy dialogues while having a think tank with his employees. They converse, they relay the message clearly that a situation out there is happening or is just happenstance that the world is not ready to accept and contemplate on.
THE WAR MONGERING PATRIOT OR THE DESPERATE DESPOT
Finally, we have another villain that could at least belong in the highly regarded adaptation from comic books to film. Michael Shannon (Take Shelter) I have seen how he can resort to his impatience and temper in the film “Premium Rush” where he was racing after “Robin”. Michael defined his portrayal with absolute resonating force, he can really make you feel his betrayal and his vision for a new Krypton, not evil as many would imply but he was only doing his best (or worst) to save his people from extinction the only concern is he wants us all annihilated. This slight reference to the Justice League animated movie “Starcrossed” where Thanagarians invaded Earth just to construct a massive space jump machine that would help them destroy their enemies but in our demise.
MONTAGE OF A SHARED UNIVERSE
Speculations suggest that the arch-rivalry of Superman and Lex Luthor has been given instances through subliminal messages just like what they did to Norman Osborn in “The Amazing Spider-Man”. It would be farfetched but still while the villain resort hiding in the shadows developing his so-called A.I. technology that will gain him the upper hand against the last son of krypton. It could be merely just robots or Amazo that was developed by Dr. Irving Ivo, Metallo can be another option or by far the best anticipated scenario would be the super computer, information assimilating Braniac!
Enough said, Lex was always the main villain in all the Superman movies and it just gives a little to moot over on how can he be a benefactor after the catastrophic and decimated landscape that happened in Smallville and Metropolis. He will help to rebuild with his infinite resources and use it to campaign against the unwanted alien, it is justifiable to say that the devil is in the details and you know his name…
There are still plenty of easter eggs laying around to get the pieces together which could be enough to elaborate future stories and can be treated as prequels or sequels. An open pod in the explorer ship which Lois and a handful of government personnel was investigating, a prequel comic was made to explain this further and suggest that it belonged to Kara Zor-El the cousin of Superman and also known as Super Girl. Also related to the latter, a brief mention of a council member of Thanagar the homeworld of other Justice League members Hawkman and Hawkgirl was also iterated while saving the best for last…
One major player is also thrown in the pit as the two freaks of nature destroyed tons of military hardware on both ends, they still lambasted another expensive property and one billionaire is not going to be happy. Bruce Wayne’s orbiting satellite was pulverized as it heads back to the planet’s atmosphere. (I’ll send you the check Clark!)
THE AFTERMATH OF SNYDER’S WRATH
Zack, to be honest I would literally praise your efforts to bring this iconic super hero a new perspective from looks, available technology, the media, the marketing which makes it sound so easy but I’ll still if I can refund our money because it was not substantial to the movie going public.
A few more things that can be asked here, how or even better, why did you make Krypton so beautifully aesthetic even though it was on a brink of war so highly advanced in terms of technology have spaceships spew out so much smoke? Space travel for these people has surpassed the rocket fuel science and has made warp travel the very means of getting to another galaxy the quickest way possible. I could understand and seen even that their beasts were fashioned to their vessels and ships which was commendable while Earth based machinery like blue tooth and a computer’s external device resembles some of Krypton’s way of communicating and to launch someone into orbit.
In another angle, there was no more crystals that formed the Fortress of Solitude which was acceptable, setting in place the gargantuan ship that can suit Kal-El’s new home away from home. But how come there was already a tailor made suit that obviously came from his Father making it unclear how did it actually fit him perfectly? Speaking of the suit and the shield, was it just me or did you also copied Tim Burton’s “Batman” opening sequence while the camera was traversing the curves and lines of the emblem it was also the same technique used to commence the film…
On the side of religion, it was clearly manifested on how Clark was conceived to be like Jesus Christ, sent here to save the world he embodied the same type of mind set that separated him from others being godly at the same time humanistic as possible. Seen directly from the church scenes and to how he disembarks from the orbiting ship to save Lois from plummeting back to Earth.
It definitely had its moments but was suddenly washed away with the ever ricocheting of story panels which was like bringing your laptop to use a Power Point but when you were using your laser pen it was all over the place at once and we can’t keep up with what your trying to sell! (have your heard of pre-visualization?)
To make it short, it was over the top, too much destruction and what hurts more, there was no relatable story that was instilled to make it worthwhile. Fans were clamoring for a more action oriented super hero film but it does not permit you to deride the importance of the character especially with this guy who is very well known to be without content, it is just being able to focus on the main plot then work on and narrow down on your sub-topics plain and simple. It was convoluted with special effects which actually work but it really, more so literally gave us only headaches which is not what we’ve expected. We want to enjoy these types of films and make sure it’s worth are patronage. But hey, I’m still a fan and still hoping for a much better delivery on the next installments.
So lastly before parting, the Man of Steel gives his Mother a peace of mind that he has found a job that will enable him to help even further while he tries to hide his facade from everyone but not to the Investigative Reporter who gave him a smile or a smirk which she implies cautiously and welcomes him to the planet…please feel free to drop in any time!
THE SUBLIMINAL HERALD 