Joshua P. Simon - The Accidental Author

So, Man of Steel came out on DVD recently which meant that I finally was able to watch it on Amazon Prime. Though I didn’t dislike the movie, it definitely was a disappointment from what I wanted it to be.

I give it a 6.5/10.

WARNING: Spoilers Below.

Pros:

• Visuals of Krypton
• The fact that Zod was trying to do his job by protecting Krytpton when staging a coup, rather than just trying to seize power. It gives his motives more depth than just making it a power grab.
• Fight Scenes are pretty much perfect.
• Special effects are dead on.
• Casting across the board was great.
• I like that Lois figured out his identity. It validated her more as a reporter.
• I like the idea of a more paranoid Jonathon Kent doing whatever he could to protect his son. More realistic.
• The destruction of Metropolis. This was FAR more realistic considering the parties involved then what happened in the Avengers. I like both movies but when heavy hitters are slugging it out, this is what would really happen.
• Killing Zod both made sense from a practical standpoint (no prison could hold him) and a Superman mythos standpoint. Superman has killed Zod in the comics (as well as others way back in the day) and in Superman II with Christopher Reeve (Zod died by falling to his icy death).
• As long as they use this death to drive character development in future films, I’m good.
• I find it strange that everyone made a big deal about him killing only Zod and not the fact that he damned all the other Kryptonians to the Phantom Zone where it was said they would starve to death. Plus, he heat blasted all those babies in the Genesis chamber…….

Cons:

• Most of my issues stem from the actual script itself and the editing.
• Too many short and choppy scenes left everything feeling like it lacked emotion.
• Dialogue was sometimes too on point.
• Humor was severely lacking. It came in spots at the end but by that point it felt out of place considering the tone. I’m all for a darker tone to Superman, but even Batman (in Nolan’s films) had levity from time to time (which makes the darker moments more effective).
• Despite the great casting, several people were grossly underutilized.
• Diane Lane and Kevin Costner had some solid moments with a young and even older Clark. The problem is that they were all just a bit too quick (a problem with the flashback method). Therefore, some of the tender moments didn’t fully work.
• In the case of Jonathon Kent, the paranoia went a bit too far. How does Clark ever develop any sense of morality when his dad tells him not to help people so he can stay a secret. Very inconsistent. Plus, this paranoia didn’t allow for some of the more grounded childhood friendships Clark is known to have with Pete Ross and Lana Lang.
• Awful decision for Jonathon to die in a tornado and totally unbelievable. No son would allow his dad to die like that, regardless of the consequences. It was much more poetic for Jonathon to die via a heart attack since Superman with all his powers was helpless to save him.
• Really inconsistent power levels between Superman and the other Kryptonians. There is no reason why Zod and the others could all do the same things as Superman with a similar power level. The whole throwaway line that Zod was military trained so he could adapt quicker was weak. Plus, it matters little since his cells hadn’t absorbed yellow sunlight for 30+ years.
• Of all the changes in the Superman mythos, this lack of consistency was what I had the biggest issues with.
• Too many things happened out of convenience such as
• The kryptonians going to the Phantom Zone in a spaceship so they could easily escape.
• Jor-El (a scientist) being able to easily defeat trained military personnel (including Zod). Plus, the fact that he can magically appear and do amazing things to help both Superman and Lois Lane when they need it most.
• Though they did show Superman save a few people in the fighting (Lois and a random soldier), this wasn’t shown enough. It would have made far more sense if part of why he was getting his butt kicked early on was because he was busy trying to protect people.
• The whole choosing Earth over Krypton scene really didn’t hold any weight for me. This is because the entire movie up to that point showed a Clark Kent who did not feel accepted by anyone other than his parents. He was alone and an outcast who never belonged. Why would he give everything up so easily? It didn’t ring true to me.
• The Lois Lane and Superman dynamic wasn’t developed enough.