Man of Steel

Rating: 6/10 (27 June 2013)

The original Superman is a fantastic classic, most of the sequels that followed were hardly worth the effort, and Superman Returns was to some a hit and miss, but this was the next attempt to reboot the famous DC Comics superhero, from director Zack Snyder (300, Watchmen, Sucker Punch). Basically the film opens on the planet Krypton which is on the brink of destruction because of its unstable core, due to years of exploiting natural resources, General Zod (Michael Shannon) and his followers refuse to believe the planet has no hope of survival. Scientist Jor-El (Russell Crowe) and his wife Lara Lor-Van (Ayelet Zurer) have been the only people in ages to produce a natural born child, and to save the newborn male baby they prepare a spacecraft to launch to the nearest planet with the same resources, and that is planet Earth, and they infuse his cells with a genetic codex to preserve the Kryptonian race. As the spacecraft is launched Jor-El is murdered by General Zod, he and his followers are banished to the Phantom Zone, and indeed Krypton explodes, meaning that the banished people are freed from their imprisonment, and the infant Kal-El reaches and crash lands on Earth to be raised by adoptive father Jonathan Kent (Kevin Costner) and his wife Martha (Diane Lane). They name him Clark, he looks and acts like a normal human, but of course his Kryptonian physiology gives him superhuman abilities, such as extraordinary strength, rapid speed, laser heating eyes, and the ability to fly, but he is forced to hide these abilities to avoid society rejection. Jonathan does reveal to Clark his true origin, of being an alien from another world, and after his adoptive father dies Clark lives a life off the grid using false identities and working various jobs, and using his abilities to do good and help people, until he finds an opportunity to understand his heritage. In the Arctic a large craft has been found buried deep under the ice, and adult Clark (Henry Cavill) investigates it, finding it to be Kryptonian, and he is able to communicate with a the preserved consciousness hologram of his biological father Jor-El, and reporter Lois Lane (Amy Adams) from the Daily Planet follows him, and is rescued from a serious injury. Back in the big city, Metropolis, Lois is insistent to write a report about the superhuman man who rescued her, but Daily Planet editor Perry White (Laurence Fishburne) refuses to print any story without significant proof, so she tracks the man down to his home in Smallville, Kansas, but hearing the story Clark tells she understands his desire to remain anonymous and she lets it go. However General Zod and his followers have found their way to Earth, tracking a distress signal from the spacecraft Clark came in, and they are threatening the Earth with destruction if they do not surrender Kal-El who he is sure has the codex hidden somewhere, and eventually, in his acquired blue suit with red cape and the "S" symbol on his chest Clark surrenders himself to the military. Zod actually intends to turn planet Earth into a new Krypton, which will mean the eradication of the human race and a re-population of genetically-engineered Kryptonians, so when Clark, dubbed "Superman", escapes the enemy ship, with Lois, he convinces the military he is a force for good, and flies to stop the evil plan. The "world engine" that will destroy the world is dropped into the Indian Ocean, but Superman stops it and destroys the ship carrying the Genesis Chamber, while the followers are sucked into a black hole, and Zod and Superman fight to death in an aerial battle through the city skyscrapers and buildings, and the hero is forced to kill the villain. The film ends with Superman continuing to prove himself to the military by doing good with his powers, while also enduring his secret identity, and he finds a job that will help him access dangerous situations without being discovered, Clark becomes a reporter alongside Lois at the Daily Planet. Also starring Antje Traue as Faora-Ul, Christopher Meloni as Colonel Nathan Hardy, Michael Kelly as Steve Lombard, Richard Schiff as Dr. Emil Hamilton, Harry Lennix as General Swanwick and Mackenzie Gray as Jax-Ur. As the first British actor playing the part Cavill does pretty well being bold and brave flying and fighting in the famous suit (without the red trunks), Adams is likable as his love interest, Crowe is good as the father (originally Marlon Brando), and Shannon is good at being ferocious and shouting. The film was a bit mixed in places, going backwards and forwards in time during the childhood and growing of Superman, and I felt it could have a little more of him saving people, but the flying sequences are highlights, the special effects to create the devastation and destruction of the world are fantastic, and the fight sequences are aggressive, there are plenty of engaging moments, it is a most worthwhile fantasy action adventure. Superman was number 26 on 100 Years, 100 Heroes & Villains, and he was number 72 on The 100 Greatest Pop Culture Icons. Good!