Ladies and Gentlemen, if there is one movie you go see this summer, go see Man of Steel. I have been waiting my whole life for a Superman movie that would be as big and grandiose as I felt a Superman movie deserves to be. Finally, with the combined star power of Zack Snyder and Christopher Nolan, we have that film. They have managed to take Superman from the Campy, very comic, borderline terrible (we loved them because we didn’t know any better) films of the past, and transform him into this absolutely incredible, grounded, more serious, yet still fun, epic film we have today.
This is an origins film, but it is a reboot of the Superman franchise. They manage to tell Superman’s origin in a way that feels fresh, not overly drawn out, and is exciting for both fan and non-fan alike. The beginning on Krypton, is visually breathtaking, and does a great job of Introducing Russell Crowe as Jor-El, as well as Michael Shannon as General Zod. From there we are shown, through flashbacks, a young Clark Kent, and are treated to a bit of insight into how difficult it was growing up with these strange powers, and how important the moral guidance from the Kent family was. They took some liberties here with the mythos, and just like anytime you make changes to a character like this, some fans will hate it, and others, will accept and enjoy it. Personally, I felt they were acceptable changes and only served to strengthen my enjoyment of the film.
This movie has some absolutely INCREDIBLE battle scenes. I mean never have I seen anything like it. The scale of the destruction from the fights… WOW. Zack Snyder and company NAILED these fight scenes. You can tell the love and care they put into them, the sense of scale is just mind-blowing. I think my mouth just hung open in awe for almost the second half of this film. We have seen some pretty epic battle scenes recently (Avengers anyone?) but nothing prepared me for the raw visceral kick that this film produced. They are big, HUGE, over the top battles, and I loved every second of them.
Part of what makes the battle scenes so believable is the music and sound. Hans Zimmer did a wonderful job of the score, the music really sets the tone, and he really went to the next level to make every scene feel so surreal and legendary. The sound effects in this film, with all the different battle scenes and special effects, simply shines. You will want to see this movie in the best quality cinema possible, it is worth it.
I feel as though they did a great job casting this film. Henry Cavill is a wonderful Superman, not only does he look and act the part, but I felt that he did a great job of conveying the emotional side of the character as well. Micheal Shannon is a fantastic General Zod, delivering a legendary performance and truly selling the character to the audience. When I first heard Amy Adams was Lois Lane I was nervous, but it turns out I had nothing to worry about, as she does a great job of being that brave, plucky reporter that we know and love. She and Clark have great chemistry together and it really goes a long way in the film to create attachment with these characters. There was the odd character throughout the film that felt a little campy (mainly a daily bugle reporter or two) but overall I was very pleased with the acting in this film.
After having seen this film, I couldn’t come up with any real gripes that I had. There will be people out there that will hate on the mythos changes, but I personally found them acceptable, enjoyable even. There will be some who will hate on it because it’s so unrealistic, Ummm guys, it is a film about aliens, and super-powered beings, so of course it will be unrealistic. I am sure that there will be the people that will hate on it because this is a more serious, less campy Superman, they will say it doesn’t “feel” like a Superman film. All I can say to that is, FINALLY, the Superman movie I have been waiting for my whole life, has finally arrived. When someone asks if I want to see it again, the answer will be an astounding, YES.
By Dayne “Anjel” Cody
GEEKOHOLICS 
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