Man of Steel represents a complete reboot of the Superman story. Superman is one of the oldest comic book heroes, and has had his story told and retold in comic books, cartoons, on television, and in Big Screen feature films. This is now the third iteration of major motion pictures featuring the Kryptonian superhero.The first was the Christopher Reeve Superman, which I was always a little disappointed in. Next came the Brandon Routh version, which was a sort of a continuation of the Reeve story arc.
This movie starts at the beginning, on the planet Krypton, while the world is ending. Jor El, who is the biological father of Superman, is played by Russell Crowe. Crowe did a pretty good Robin Hood not too long ago. He is preparing to send his infant son from a dying world to Earth, where he will have a new life, unaware of his origins. At the time of his launch, Krypton is in the throes of political upheaval, due to the ambitious General Zod, played by Michael Shannon, trying to take control of the situation. There is some backstory where the destruction of Krypton is due to the actions of Kryptonians themselves, somewhat more elaborate than the old comic book explanation which was that it just happened.There is actually quite a bit of action at the start of the movie, before Kal El, Superman's Kryptonian name, is launched into space. General Zod and his followers are exerting their force and trying to gain control ofver the DNA of all future Kryptonians. Kal El is launched into space, and Zod and his followers are captured and imprisoned.
The scene shifts to Earth, as a fully-grown Clark Kent, played by Henry Cavill, wanders around the frozen North, working as a fisherman on a Deadly Catch fishing boat, or working as a bartender in a truck stop. While he is on the fishing boat, we see some of his awesome powers being used. Cavill is quite a good choice as Superman, being actually pretty muscular and all buff-looking, which some previous Superman actors actually were noticeably not. Cavill played The Hunter in Red Riding Hood a few years back, and is slated to play The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
Along the way, we get to see some flashbacks of the childhood of Clark Kent, and his parents, Jonathan and Martha. Jonathan Kent is played by Kevin Kostner, and Martha Kent is played by Diane Lane. Jonathan teaches Clark to handle his powers, and to keep them secret, but Clark has some trouble with his being different. There was a lot of potential to make the movie a big sad cryfest over Clark's being different and tormented, but they didn't do that, much to my relief.
This is where Lois Lane enters the picture, played by Amy Adams. She is trying to learn of the significance of a very large object of great age, along with the U.S. Military. The object was found under the ice in way northern Canada. Clark Kent is also interested, and he shows up there as well. Lois Lane, always the inquisitive reporterette, goes out on her own to take pictures, while Clark is sneaking in on his own. The object is apparently a space vessel of extra-terrestrial origin, and is actually Kryptonian.
Clark wakes up the ship, and it tries to kill Lois, so he has to reveal himself to her in order to save her. Not surprisingly, General Zod comes to Earth, and he is looking for Kal El, and the DNA of all future Kryptonians. He has help, as he and his minions have all escaped from the Kryptonian prison which they were locked up in right before the planet blew up. It seems that when Clark woke up the Kryptonian ship, Zod got a signal that told him soething was up.
There is a lot of story here, much more than I want to go into. We see Perry White, who is played by Lawrence Fishburne, from the Matrix movies. We never see Jimmy Olsen, nor do we meet Lex Luthor. General Zod and his minions wreak maximum havoc and destruction on Metropolis, trying to capture Superman, and actually attempt to convert Earth to a new Krypton. The Kryptonian atmosphere neutralizes Kryptonian super-powers, and so Zod doesn't discover right away that he has powers just like Superman. This makes for some really awesome fight scenes, as Superman has to fight Zod's minions, then Zod, then Zod with powers.
All in all, it is a very good story, even though quite a bit of license is taken with the original storyline upon which the movie is based. There are elements which cause me to grimace somewhat, because I was reading comic books when I was four years old, all the way through adulthood. I read Superman's origins in 1961, when his Kryptonian ship was a rocket with fins on the back and one thruster. He was wrapped up in a blanket made of Kryptonian thread, which was also super. This movie deviates quite a bit from that origin, and also has a few twists thrown in, such as how Kryptonians colonized space over thousands of planets before becoming nearly extinct.
The body count is high, and though we don't really see a lot of on-screen death, the destruction of Metropolis is extensive. It far exceeds the amount of destruction that New York City experienced in The Avengers. There is also, as I said, a lot of action. One part towards the end is pretty disturbing, which the Superman I knew would have never done. I think it is the only part of the movie that I have too much trouble with. I can't talk about it, because many may not have seen the movie yet, but when you see it, you will know what I am talking about.
I give Man of Steel a full five Shurikens, for good casting, good acting, a decent story which flows well, and also for being a good long action-filled movie from start to finish. I recommend this as a must-see for this year, even more than Iron Man 3 (but possibly not as much as Thor 2).
