MOVIE REVIEW: Man Of Steel

Movie Review: MAN OF STEEL

Minor Spoilers Below!

Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures brings us Man of Steel which is directed by Zack Snyder together with Christopher Nolan as producer and David Goyer as scriptwriter. Today it  finally hits theaters and we we’re lucky enough to go to the premiere and watch the movie ahead of everyone else. We actually have a lot to say in this review but right now our heads are overwhelmed and the words can’t come out perfectly. But if there’s one thing about the movie that we just keep blurting out to people even if it is NOT A PERFECT MOVIE with 10 out of 10 ratings, is that it is THE BEST SUPERHERO MOVIE. EVER.

After six long years of waiting for the right Superman movie, and it could also be said that this is not yet a full-blown Superman movie but more of a Clark Kent/Kal-El movie and will delve into that along the way. Man of Steel first shows us where everything started – Krypton. The first few minutes showing Krypton, it’s tech, environment and the scenes with Zod and Jor-El was jaw dropping. At the very beginning the film captures your eye with it’s spectacular visuals and super background music by Hans Zimmer. We all know what basically happens, that baby Kal-El was launched from Krypton and went to Earth. But in the movie there is more into it than Kal-El escaping a doomed planet, it shows the legacy and a burden that Kal-El eventually has to carry and is key to the main plot of the movie. Upon his arrival on earth, the movie switches to a ‘present-flashback’  mode which then highlights Clark Kent. Clark’s struggle to fit, to adapt and control his powers and emotions as well as his character development is greatly told through his kansas boy years with his foster parents. Another strong point of the movie is that the relationship between Clark and Jonathan Kent is much deeper than what we saw in previous adaptations in movies and comics as they tackle life lessons and hard lessons dealing with morality and Clark’s responsibility with his powers. These kind of parts in the story truly made this movie stand out from the rest of the superhero movies and we’re sure that it has now set a standard – a very high one.

The second half’s essence is Clark standing up for humanity and facing the rogue Kryptonians lead by General Zod (“I WILL FIND HIM!!”). These part contains all of those action scenes that we’ve waited for YEARS! Although all these action scenes were really awesome and is a fanboy’s dream to look at, it might be a drag for some people. No doubt the action scenes were superb but a lot is happening some parts are a bit messy. But one thing’s for sure, those fight scenes were the most awesome ones we’ve seen in all glorious CG. The cast did a great job in portraying their characters, from Jor-El to Perry White. But there’s something about Amy Adams’ Lois Lane that doesn’t fit quite right. The script for Lois is topnotch and we can say that it’s really Lois but Amy Adams doesn’t  deliver that Lois kind of attitude very well. Michael Shannon was a BEAST as Zod! Perfect! But the one who really popped out to the viewers eye is Antje Traue’s Faora. Faora is such a badass character and her portrayal was top notch. There are also some characters in the story that doesn’t really shine, there are also some lines that are really cheesy but still works. That said, the rest is great. From great visuals, that grey-ish tone on the film, action scenes, to the epic soundtrack – this could arguably be the best Superman  movie. But since this is more like a Batman Begins type of movie, and knowing that a sequel is confirmed it is highly probable that we’ll be seeing a more intense but still a different movie.

Man of Steel is Clark/Kal’s journey to becoming Superman (updated: the word Superman only mentioned ONCE in the whole movie!). Snyder , Goyer, Nolan and everyone who worked on the movie did an EXCELLENT job in fleshing out the essence of Superman . What’s more beautiful is that they did it in a way that this is a Superman story set in the modern-real-world and still manages to let the viewers know about Clark and Kal, his legacy and how he stood up to face challenges. And I thank Nolan’s power on being able to do that. But the real beauty of Man of Steel and what makes it so great, is that it captured who Superman is deep inside and that after the movie you’ll be able to understand who he is and what he embodies.  The movie was a real joy to watch, it is one epic superhero movie that SHOULD NOT BE MISSED. We’re giving it a 9.5 out of 10, but again we’re sticking to what we said earlier — THE BEST SUPERHERO MOVIE. EVER.