Not your father's Superman

Rating: 9/10 (16 December 2013)

Comic book purists may well balk at 'Man of Steel," writer David S. Goyer and director Zack Snyders's radically re-imagined take on the Superman story (with a hefty assist from Christopher Nolan). However, those who think that even a universally recognized slice of Americana could use a little updating every now and again will find much of interest in this new film.
This one starts off fairly traditionally, as we are once again shown the origin story of the baby wrapped in swaddling clothes who would later grow up to be the super hero famous for being faster than a speeding bullet and being able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. We see again how, with their planet Krypton on the verge of being blown to smithereens, the baby's parents (Russell Crowe and Ayulet Zurer) launch him into outer space in a ship programmed to land on a planet called Earth, where he will go on to be found by a loving Kansas couple (Kevin Costner and Diane Lane) and raised as their very own. And how this baby, dubbed Clark Kent, will grow up to be a man with super powers that he first will not understand but over time will come to accept and to use for good by rescuing the innocent and vanquishing the evil.
But after following the conventional path for a time - and just as you're settling in for a rehash of the famous 1978 movie version of the same material - "Man of Steel" suddenly verges off onto radically untrod territory. First of all, this Clark Kent is a much more psychologically conflicted creature than we are used to finding in depictions of Superman, who hitherto has been one of the sunnier, less brooding and more well-adjusted figures in the superhero canon. This Clark is genuinely struggling with his place in the universe, wondering why it is that he is "different" from all the other kids and why his parents keep telling him not to let anyone else know of all the marvelous feats of strength and heightened perception he is capable of doing. Even more radically, the Lois Lane (Amy Adams) in this version, while still a reporter for the Daily Planet, is onto Clark right from the start and, in fact, pursues him to find out what it is that makes him tick. No double identities, no coy disguises for this couple (if one could ever call a pair of black-rimmed glasses and a fedora a disguise).
"Man of Steel," in many ways, plays less like a superhero movie and more like an alien-invasion thriller, as Clark is reluctantly forced to reveal his identity and special powers to the world when one of the survivors from Krypton, the evil General Zod (Michael Shannon), comes to Earth, all guns a-blazing, intent on making it his own.
At first, Henry Cavill seems a bit stiff as the man of steel (pardon the pun), but, as that moniker suggests, that might not actually be a bad thing, for it underlines the earnestness and innate goodness of the character in a way that a more emotive performance likely would not.
I must also add that among recent blockbusters, "Man of Steel" easily has the most spectacular special effects and the most exciting action scenes, bar none. Yet, Snyder clearly has his sights set higher than a mere comic book fantasy. The flashback scenes, recalling Clark's childhood spent on the farm, have an almost Terrance Malick, impressionistic feel to them, as they evoke the poetic richness of nature. This enhances the mythic quality of the storytelling and neutralizes the cheesiness that is regularly so much a part of the genre.
To those who complain that this is not the Superman story they've known and grown up with, I'd respond by asking what the point would be of remaking an already overly familiar film if you're just going to do the same old thing anyway. This is the only movie in a long time that actually managed to surprise me, and I think that in an entertainment industry in which safe and boring imitation is the sincerest form of flattery - and often the surest route to box office success - I admire artists who are not afraid to shake things up a bit, even if it winds up upsetting a few people in the process. So sit back and enjoy this new take on a famous story - just know ahead of time that this is NOT your father's Superman. And I say "Amen" to that.