Man of Steel: Re-imagined or Recycled

Rating: 2/10 (12 June 2013)

I saw an advance screening of Man of Steel. I honestly wasn't extremely excited about this movie because I've been a fan of Superman my entire life and I've seen every rendition of his beginnings. And I was right not to be excited. Spoiler alert: If you are at least 35 years old, you've seen this movie before. It was called "Superman" and it starred Christopher Reeves and was released in 1978. Then you saw this movie again. It was called "Superman II" and it also starred Christopher Reeves and was released in 1980. You've also seen it on "Smallville" if you were a fan of that show. The difference with this film is the names in the credits are more star studded and Christopher Nolan has incorporated his dark imagination into how it looks. Much like Nolan did with the Batman franchise, he has made everything dark and dreary, which doesn't really help when it is viewed in 3D. Many of the scenes are also full of oddly shaped depictions of what Kryptonians would fly in, or on, which I assume Nolan incorporated because we wouldn't expect them or notice them. For example, the phallus shaped mechanisms used to transport Zod and his cohorts into the Phantom Zone looked a lot like what I keep in my bedroom nightstand for lonely nights. But I digress. On the upside, the action sequences were cool and full of CGI which was completely expected. Nolan and Snyder do action well. This was also a more violent depiction of the origin story with some unusual twists from the Superman myth we have grown to love. Obviously Nolan and Goyer were impatient and wanted Lois and Clark to meet and fall in love at first sight, with Lois having the full knowledge of who Clark was before he became her coworker at the Daily Planet. In Nolan's world, Lois will be playing dumb the entire time she works with Clark at the Daily Planet and Clark isn't trying to keep his identity a secret from her. That kind of takes some of the romanticism away from the original story we have grown to love. Not to mention, what was the hurry? Since it has already been said that Nolan will not be on board for the highly anticipated and long overdue "Justice League" movie expected to be released some time in my lifetime I hope, I couldn't help but wonder what was the entire point in redoing this particular story again. A classic is a classic for a reason. With so many other adventures Superman experienced battling other villains, Nolan and Goyer could have written something other than Superman versus Zod version 2013. I don't understand why DC chose to green light this film. I truly believe DC is grasping desperately for a huge box office hit so that they can feel better standing next to their rival, Marvel Comics, who has been whipping out movies like magicians pulling scarves out of their hats ever since they partnered with Disney. DC choosing to rewrite and reintroduce the same three DC Universe characters (Superman, Batman and Green Lantern) twice each (not counting the animated versions) in the last 35 years is just becoming redundant. The next Superman movie should be based on a different part of the series if DC wants a box office hit. True Superman fans know his origin, regardless of their age. Since Nolan and Goyer weren't even true to some of those details 100% (the age Clark first starting feeling his abilities was 13 but Nolan made him younger and Jonathan Kent died in a tornado in the film instead of from a heart attack), why not create something fresh instead of something recycled? I wouldn't see this movie in theaters if I had to pay for it. I definitely wouldn't pay the extra dollars to watch it in 3D. Man of Steel can definitely wait for Netflix. By the way, if you don't like my review because I didn't fall for the very clever marketing of Man of Steel which makes you believe it's going to be an awesome experience, don't message me debating with me about it. I'm entitled to my opinion and if you don't like my review, write your own review. I will not retract anything I've said to make an overly sensitive fan-boy feel better.