The story of the Man from Krypton who comes to Earth and must find out what his destiny on this strange planet is. The man who will become Superman finds that growing up with super powers is not as easy as we would think. His Father and his adopted parents try to lead young Kal-El (Clark Kent) to be a better man, but it's the threat of warriors from his doomed home world that force him to become the hero the World needs.
Cast
Henry Cavill as Clark Kent / Kal-El
Amy Adams as Lois Lane
Michael Shannon as General Zod
Kevin Costner and Diane Lane as Jonathan and Martha Kent
Laurence Fishburne as Perry White
Russell Crowe as Jor-El
Antje Traue as Faora
Who will like this:
Any fan of the Superman comics, movies or otherwise should be able to come away from this movie feeling satisfied in some way shape or form. This "re-telling" of the classic story does not stray to far or try to put it's own spin on what is known as an iconic figure and one of the oldest Superhero tales in modern times. It may not be suited for the very young, like the Christopher Reeves movies as it is just a bit more dark and violent. However, there were similarities to The Chronicles of Riddick and the Matrix Trilogy that fans of those movies will find appealing.
Phantom Thoughts
I started this blog long after Superman Returns, but if I could just briefly say something about that movie, I would say that the reason it didn't do so well was because it didn't know what it wanted to be. By that I mean that it was funny in parts reminiscent to the Christopher Reeves movies and serious and drama filled in others, while giving Superman some kind of human element that just didn't work all together and patch worked together. THIS is not that movie. It is basically updating the story we all know and love and putting it into a time we all know instead of 1938, when Superman was first introduced in Action Comics.
The beginning of the film starts with the back story on Krypton. After that, most of the history of growing up on a farm in Smallville is told in flashbacks. Though some have said that it does not give a full enough description, I think that being such a well known character Man of Steel hits the important and necessary elements of his back story and gives the audience credit for filling in the "gaps".
Now let me explain why I referenced The Chronicles of Riddick and the Matrix movies above. In re-designing the famous Superman costume, Zack Snyder and Christopher Nolan provide an explanation for why he has it, where up until now, we assumed that it was something that Clark Kent came up with for his alter-ego. I was not a huge fan of what it looked like when I saw the first photos leaked, but during the movie, it didn't bother me as much (unlike Andrew Garfields hideous Spiderman costume! So glad they fixed that for the sequel) The skin tight garb is actually the under armor of classic Kryptonian warriors. Kal-El only uses this part of his home world's uniform and not the armor part because he is a man of peace, not war. But the whole first sequence of the movie set on Krypton, and that Kryptonian armor, were very similar to the look and feel of Riddick.
As far as the Matrix goes, well...let's just put aside a moment that two of the main actors, Laurence Fishburne and Harry Lennix from The Matrix also had roles in this movie. Let's put aside for a moment the fact that Harry Lennix plays basically the EXACT SAME CHARACTER in both movies. What's left is Clark Kent, realizing who he is and learning his abilities. It reflects Neo so much it's scary, right down to the first time he takes flight.
Overall, the film was great. It was well paced, told a good story and the fight scenes were really good. I mean, besides pretty much leveling two different cities, which I thought being who he was, Superman would have tried to take the fight to a less populated area. There were a lot of nods to the old movies as well as TV shows and comic books for the enthusiasts to catch. I had fun with it and I am anticipating the 2015 sequel which has been confirmed to have Batman in it.
Until Next time, see you in the center seat.
