On Reflection: Man of Steel

So, a while back I reviewed Man of Steel in an overly long and rambling review (http://thisandthatmikey.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/mike-watches-movie-man-of-steel.html )


To save you a long read, I essentially said that I found the action stuff enough to be entertained but overall I considered the movie to be below average and thought it wasn’t anywhere near as good as the Richard Donner version starring Christopher Reeves and Gene Hackman.

On further reflection, I think I was wrong. I think I may have been a bit too easy on the film and let it off lightly. Don’t get me wrong, if you’re looking for something to do on a quiet afternoon you might as well fill it with super powered aliens smashing up towns and cities in, admittedly exceptionally directed, fight scenes.

Yes, the action in this film is still good, that I will not deny. However, I’ve come to the conclusion that there are lots of movies that I’ve hated and they also had great action scenes. Attack of the Clones has perhaps one of the most surprising and exciting fight scenes of all time in it but I still consider it one of the very worst films I’ve ever seen.

There is a definite difference between your standard Hollywood Action Film with a cast of generic archetypes blowing stuff up and a movie about one of the most famous fictional characters and a genuine cultural icon like Superman. People will scoff at that comment, but it’s true. Superman is not just a character that’s been around for decades but he’s also an allegory for the very best that we as humanity can attain to. He’s the ultimate good guy who, despite being so much more powerful than humanity, he still wishes to be considered human himself. Despite humanity being a generally flawed and imperfect species, his belief in the very best of us leads him to continue to defend us at every turn.

He is not, however, Jesus. But the fact that every single form of entertainment is doing Jesus analogies now (Even WWE with Roman Reigns at the Payback Pay Per View) is another article for another day.

In the film at one point he even tells one of the stuffy army types that he’s as “American as Apple Pie”. And he says it without a trace of irony, because Superman doesn’t consider it to be ironic.

So yeah, this film needed more than just well shot action scenes to get a passing grade. I had my chance and I fluffed my lines. I undervalued the status of Superman as a character, the status that the Richard Donner film gets so right.

Henry Cavill has all the potential to be an excellent Superman. He rarely gets a good line but, on the one of two occasions he does, he delivers it like how you’d want Superman to deliver it. There is a charming superhero in that chiselled body that’s trying to break out if a good writer will let him.

But the writing in this film is anything but good. The characters are paper thin and as one note as it gets. I know it’s somewhat unfair to keep stressing how much better the Donner film was, but the fact remains that it was much better. Yes, it had silly slapstick at times and yes it’s pretty corny when Superman saves Lois from a crashed helicopter only to deliver the “flying is still statistically the safest way to travel” line.

But you know what? I like that cheesiness and I find the slapstick funny because it’s done with skill and passion. I was shocked to hear that a lot of people don’t like Gene Hackman’s Lex Luthor in this as well. Really? The dudes’ brilliant in the role. It wouldn’t be anywhere near as good without him. Compare him to the main villain in Man of Steel and I know who is more memorable and well written.

I think what separates Donner’s Superman from Man of Steel is quite a key factor in why one film is good and why the other isn’t. The people making the Donner one actually set out to make a Superman Film whereas the makers of Man of Steel set out to make Batman Begins if Bruce Wayne could fly.

And why couldn’t we have the original theme in there, if even just a re-mixed version of it? So many bang average scenes would have benefitted from Superman saving the day as the John Williams theme hit at the moment of triumph. I’m all for people doing their own thing, but that’s a no brainer surely? Even Superman Returns had the Williams theme in it. If that atrocity is doing something better than your movie, then I think you need to pull back and take stock.

So yeah, on reflection Man of Steel is worse than I remember. Maybe the backlash from so many other people out there kind of geared me to not liking it as well? Or maybe the countless essays and angry videos made me realise how much I actually liked the character of Superman and how culturally significant he really is?

I think I’d got it into my head that I didn’t like Superman, that the character didn’t interest me. He was just the “Big Blue Boy Scout” and less traditional and darker heroes like Deadpool and Batman were so much cooler and more interesting. I think I’d convinced myself that Superman was dull because he always tried to be so good. I had convinced myself that a man who can fly and can also shoot lasers from his eyes was boring. I officially nominate myself as an idiot.

I had suppressed that in my younger days one of my favourite shows was Lois and Clark. I used to look forward to that with the anticipation I barely have for any episodic television show these days. I had suppressed that the very rare times I would purchase comics in my youth, I’d usually always buy a Superman one. I suppressed watching Superman and Superman II and loving them. I even suppressed playing the Superman game on the Sega Game Gear (Possibly because it was rubbish, but hey ho)

I still think Deadpool is as counter culture and cool as a comic book character can be and I also think Batman is nothing short of brilliant. But hey, I loved Superman! Superman is awesome!

So in a weird roundabout sort of way, I kind of owe Man of Steel a debt of gratitude. If it hadn’t been such an awful film, I may not have been so offended at the treatment of Superman that I realised how much I actually liked him. So thank you Man of Steel, I guess. Thank you for being such a poorly written story with papier-mâché characters and an unnecessary Jesus analogy.

Thank you for angering my blood enough to make me reconcile with one of my childhood favourites.

Next time, I’ll look at another bad movie that I gave a free pass to because it entertained me. Will I stand firm on that one? You’ll have to wait and see

Thanks for reading

Peace Out