Man of Steel Review

Man of Steel Review

 

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I was really looking forward to Man of Steel, after seeing the trailers I expected the picture to take a more mature stance and focus on the backstory of the character rather than explosions and action. Unfortunately I was wrong, as Man of Steel is simply another cliche superhero movie.

 

The film starts rather well, with an initial first 15 minutes set on Superman's home planet which provided some stunning visuals and environments, which gave a brilliant first impression. The second segment focused on the origins of Superman, his childhood and family life, and provided enough backstory for me to care about the character. After this initial 45 minutes however, a sense of familiarity began to creep in. Knowing that at its heart this is an action blockbuster, I predicted that the plot would be 'good vs evil' and there would be fight scenes, but I did not predict the sheer mediocrity of this cliches. A film like Avatar manages to both stay true to its genre as well as try new things and do what it is meant to do well, Man of Steel does not even do what is expected of it well. Take the action scenes, usually, a viewer might like to see whats going on, not in Man of Steel, instead we are treated to a montage of quick zooms and cuts and a nausea inducing filming style, so that it is nearly impossible to keep track of what is going on. The amount of explosions on offer in Man of Steel is simply astounding, with some form of explosion or collapsed building every other minute during the last hour of the film. This in turn creates a numbing effect, once the same explosion or collapse has happened a few times, it loses its spectacle and awe, and instead becomes repetitive and boring. The supporting characters fare no better, with only the main character having any sort of characterisation or backstory, so that in the end the audience don't really care what happens to any of the sub plot characters. By the end of the film every worn out cliche of the superhero genre has been utilised, leaving nothing more than the empty shell of what was promised, with the heart and soul ripped out.

 

Technically the film is impressive, but has been done better in other similar films. The visuals on Superman's home planet are wonderful, and gave the film a distinct look and feel, once the action hits the typical city setting however, it could be any other superhero film released in the past few years. I found the 3D to be lacking, reminding me of The Hobbit, in that it simply adds depth, rather than being used in interesting and new ways á la Life Of Pi. The performances in the film were mixed, ranging from middling to dire, the standout is without a doubt the villain of the film, Michael Shannon. His role was solid, and his usual roles as mad or deranged individuals helped make General Zod a particular standout amongst the crowd. Henry Cavill gave a middling performance as Superman, lacking any real emotional depth or humanity, instead amounting to no more than a mindless action hero. Amy Adams as his supporting actress fared even worse, coming off as wooden and awkward, providing little in the way of chemistry between the two. Another thing to note is that the film is remarkably humourless, one of the problems with these kinds of films is that they can take themselves too seriously, The Avengers was a critical hit because of its ability to make fun of itself, Man of Steel on the other hand is a solemn affair, adding to the dull atmosphere of the entire picture.

 

I can imagine many of you will want to see the film for the character and the comic books, if that's the case then you might be less disappointed than I was. If however you're looking for an above average action blockbuster, don't even bother seeing this, it screams mediocrity, and no amount of flashy promotion or cleverly edited trailers should persuade you otherwise.

 

6/10