When the word "superhero" is mentioned, what do you think of? Most of us will think of traditional heroes that have been around for decades: Batman, Spider-Man, Captain America, Iron Man, and especially Superman. Possibly the most-portrayed hero of all time, the alien superhero recently got a new film, appropriately titled Man of Steel.Man of Steel made the most money out of any Superman movie ever, and that includes Superman: The Movie and Superman Returns. It is also currently the second highest-grossing reboot film of all time (following The Amazing Spider-Man). The film stars Henry Cavill as Superman/Clark Kent, Amy Adams as news-reporter Lois Lane, and Michael Shannon as evil General Dru-Zod.
SUMMARY
The alien planet Krypton is being torn apart by overuse of natural resources, as well as a civil war between the rightful leaders and rebels. Scientist Jor-El has tried to save his planet, but he sees that there is no hope, so he and his wife Lara plan to send their son Kal-El off the planet. They will send him to a planet called Earth.
As Lara prepares a space ship holding her infant son, rebels attack her and Jor-El's home. The rebellion's leader, General Zod, tries to stop the ship from leaving. When he fails in this, he murders Jor-El, though he and his team of leading rebels are soon banished to the Phantom Zone. Krypton soon explodes after this, causing them to be freed of their bonds. This is not the last time Zod will enter the scene, of course.
Go forward about twenty years or so and we meet Clark Kent, a mysterious and somewhat dark young man. The audience is shown a rather angry Clark, as we go back and forth between his childhood and adulthood. In chronological time, the infant Kal-El lands on Earth and is adopted by Jonathan and Martha Kent, who name the boy Clark.
All the events leading up to Clark's adulthood are displayed. One day, while he is in Antarctica (visiting his secret cave), he is discovered by Lois Lane, reporter for Metropolis' The Daily Planet. He disappears, and Lois begins a search for the "mystery man."
Eventually, General Zod and his band of rebels come to Earth in search of Kal-El, now named Superman. He and Lois are taken into custody, but are aided in escape by the "consciousness" of Jor-El (which was quite strange).
City-wide disaster strikes as Zod attacks both Smallville (Clark's home) and Metropolis (location of The Daily Planet). Pretty soon, though, this turns into worldwide chaos as Zod's machines begin changing Earth to be hospitable for Kryptonian aliens, rather than the native humans.
For those who know the Superman stories, be prepared for a nearly completely different look at Kal-El's origin story. It will take the whole story and basically flip it upside down.
CONTENT
I believe that the violence in Man of Steel far exceeds that of any previous Superman film, even Superman Returns. There are punches, blood, many gunshots, and fights using superpowers. Sadly, some of the violence concerning Superman is out of revenge and anger. There is one scene where we see a Kryptonian woman being engulfed in flames, as well as a scene where human children are in a sinking bus. The violence and graphic content of this film rivals, if not passes, that of The Avengers. However, although the violence is intense, it is not what I would call gory.
As in all Superman movies (and really all superhero movies), there is a romance between the superhero and the lead female. I recall only one or two kisses between Superman and Lois Lane. Also, the rebel commander Faora-Ul (a female Kryptonian) wears tight-fitting armor. On this topic, Clark Kent is seen for at least a few scenes without a shirt. Soon after this, Clark is in a bar and a man touches a woman's behind (Clark defends her). Towards the end of the film, a female soldier says that Superman is "hot."
There is a moderate use of foul language. Lois Lane, I recall, contributes much of this. The film includes a few uses of God's name, besides multiple uses of d***, a**, and h***.
Jor-El appears to Superman, Lois Lane, and General Zod on a few occasions, all of which are after his death. When Superman questions this, Jor-El explains that it is his "consciousness" which I took to mean spirit. This bothered me, but there were also some other things in the spiritual area. There are some clear connections between Jesus Christ and Superman (sent to save Kryptonians and humans, communes with his father), one of which is a scene with him in water with his hands outstretched, as if on a cross. I am not sure whether the filmmakers meant this as a mockery or not, but these things are still present.
While Man of Steel was the most visually-stunning Superman film, I would strongly disagree that it is the cleanest or the most moral. Superman is portrayed much darker than in previous films. With the 1970's Superman, we had a noble and heroic superhero, but with 2013's version we have a vengeful and angry superhero (which might have something to do with producer Christopher Nolan, of The Dark Knight fame). This bothered me a lot. You might enjoy Man of Steel, which I did at points (particularly some of the musical scores), but it has little to redeem itself.
GENERAL INFORMATION
Length: 143 minutes
Rating: PG-13 (for intense sequences of sci-fi violence, action and destruction, and for some language)
Director: Zack Snyder
Producers: Christopher Nolan, Charles Rovan, Emma Thomas, Deborah Snyder
Music: Hans Zimmer
Year of release: 2013
Primary audience: Teens, adults
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