Film Review: Man of Steel

Man of Steel (2013)
starring Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Michael Shannon, 

Diane Lane, Kevin Costner, Laurence Fishburne, Russell Crowe

Watch the Man of Steel trailer #3

(source: WarnerBrosPictures)

Synopsis

A young boy learns that he has extraordinary powers and is not of this Earth. As a young man, he journeys to discover where he came from and what he was sent here to do. But the hero in him must emerge if he is to save the world from annihilation and become the symbol of hope for all mankind. (via Warner Bros. Pictures)

I saw Man of Steel with my brother on its Thursday night advance Wal-mart screening just before its opening day, Friday June 14th. We saw it in 3D! We loved and enjoyed watching this movie. Then, I saw this movie again the following week with my parents, this time on iMax 2D. I must say, iMax 2D was the best format (as I saw this movie again, a couple more times in real 2D...this film was definitely worth watching more than once...at least, for me) to see this new Superman film on the big screen. I must say, this was the best live-action Superman film I've seen to date and the film version I've been waiting and wanting to see for a long time. I've enjoyed watching the first 4 Superman films (starring the late Christopher Reeve & Margot Kidder) and Superman Returns (starring Brandon Routh) even the TV versions from Superboy series to Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (this show made me a huge Lois & Clark/Superman fan though and will always be my favorite especially the great portrayal/performance and pairing of Teri Hatcher as Lois Lane & Dean Cain as Clark Kent/Superman) to Smallville (with Tom Welling as Clark Kent and especially Erica Durance as Lois Lane, my second favorite LL after Teri Hatcher)...I've watched them all, but I don't really have a favorite Superman film version. As much as I've enjoyed watching the first two Superman films with Christopher Reeve (didn't care much for the 3rd and 4th films) and Superman Returns, I didn't have a favorite film version that I'd say I had seen multiple times and still love it (after repeat viewings)...until after I've seen this movie, which I thought was superb and amazing. While this film was not perfect and it had its (minor) flaws, I loved and enjoyed watching it anyway. I've been waiting for so long to see a great Superman film for our generation since Superman Returns was kind of a disappointment (even though I've enjoyed watching it back in 2006 and thought it was a good film at the time...) and failed to have a sequel...Thankfully, Warner Bros. rebooted and made this film. Though, I must admit, at first when it was announced they were rebooting, I wasn't sure about seeing a Superman reboot, let alone an origin one (a-la-Batman Begins), but as a big Superman fan, I kept an open-mind and had been following this film's production/filming status and progress from the very beginning...from its rumor casting to fun official cast announcements to its production/filming of it to the first teaser Comic-Con trailer to its super brilliant trailers (trailer #3 in this post above was my favorite that kept me super excited, super pumped, and so enthusiastic about seeing this film) to its cool TV spots (that kept me wanting to see more!), to its cast and their TV appearances and screening premieres. I've never been so excited and anticipating a new Superman film like crazy, as I did with this movie. And when it came out and I finally saw it, Man of Steel, far exceeded my expectations for this film and didn't disappoint. It was all that and more!

There are so many things I love (and appreciated) about this film. One of them was the super and outstanding ensemble cast that the awesome director Zack Snyder assembled in this film. Most of the actors happened to be my favorite too (ie. Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Diane Lane, Kevin Costner, etc.), so I was even more excited and was looking forward to seeing all of them in this film.

The Cast...

Henry Cavill as Clark Kent/Kal-El was superb and amazing in this film. He is SUPERMAN! (and super fine too!) He looked and acted the part perfectly, in my opinion. I thought he did a great job playing both Clark Kent and Kal-El/Superman (even as mysterious "Joe" in earlier scenes). Loved every scene he appeared in and his scenes with every character in this movie (esp. with Amy Adams' Lois Lane). Loved his flight scenes too as well as his fight scenes with Michael Shannon's General Zod.


Amy Adams as Lois Lane was great in her part. Loved her portrayal of Lois as an intelligent, outspoken, and a hard-worker intrepid reporter as well as a caring, loyal, and trust-worthy ally to CK/Superman, her future DP co-worker and love interest and how she had more to do and knew Clark's secret identity (and helped him and protected his secret too) in this film. Also, I loved her on-screen chemistry with Henry's CK/Superman. Wished there were more scenes between them. They looked great together and their scenes together were some of my favorite ones in this movie. The cute ending scene of them together as Lois & Clark at the Daily Planet made me so happy and excited to see more of them and their iconic relationship's further development in the sequel. I hope so. Looking forward to seeing them as a couple and DP co-worker in the sequel!

Kevin Costner & Diane Lane as Jonathan & Martha Kent were perfect casting. They both did a great job playing Pa & Ma Kent despite their small (but definitely memorable) parts/scenes in flashback (with Kevin's Jonathan Kent and his scenes with young Clark Kent at age 9 and 13) and in present (with Diane's older Martha Kent and her wonderful scenes with Henry's older Clark Kent).

Russell Crowe as Jor-El was great too. I didn't expect to see his character to have more scenes, but in this film, there were more Krypton scenes in the opening and he appeared more on it as well as in couple random scenes in his adult son Kal-El's present life and even had a brief scene with Amy's Lois. I thought that was pretty cool! Russell was fantastic as Jor-El. Loved and enjoyed his portrayal in this character and glad that his part was expanded more than just a cameo.

Ayulet Zurer as Lara Lor-Van was good too even in her brief scenes. She did wonderful as Lara. I feel for her when she was reluctant to let her son go and her final scene was memorable, heartbreaking, and sad.

Michael Shannon as General Zod was a badass Kryptonian villain in this film. He owned the Zod character! Loved his line when he said "I will find him!" His fight scenes with Russell's Jor-El at the beginning were pretty good as well as his later fight scenes with Henry's Superman.

Antje Traue as Faora was a total badass female Kryptonian villain in this film. She nailed her part and she did a great job! She was great in her fight scenes with Superman.

Laurence Fishburne as Perry White was very good too despite his small scenes. I loved his scenes with Amy's Lois at the Daily Planet and the brief ending scene with Clark & Lois...talk about foreshadowing...the hottest team of the Daily Planet! Hopefully, we'll see more of him in the sequel with both Lois & Clark.

Harry Lennix as General Swanwick was good here even though he had a few random and spread out scenes. Loved the random scene when he asked Captain Farris, about Superman: "What are you smiling about, Captain?" and she replied: "Nothing, Sir. I just think he's kinda HOT." LOL! The audience definitely chuckled in this scene.

Christopher Meloni as Colonel Hardy was good here as well despite his small part. Loved his scenes with Antje's Faora, from their first encounter in the battle in Smallville to their final scene where he re-quoted her: "You're right, a good death is its own reward."

The rest of the cast...

Cooper Timberline and Dylan Sprayberry as young Clark Kents (aged 9 played by Cooper Timberline and aged 13 played by Dylan Sprayberry) both did a great job playing their respective CK parts. Both were impressive as the younger versions of Clark Kent. Dylan even resembles Henry too!

Also, the minor characters: Jenny (Perry White's young intern) and Steve Lombard of the DP staff as well as Richard Schiff as Dr. Emil Hamilton, Captain Farris, young and older Pete Ross, young Lana Lang, and young Whitney Fordman were all good.

My favorite quotes/dialogue from Man of Steel...(so many of them, actually...they were memorable and in random order)


"What if a child dreamed of becoming something other than what society had intended? What if a child aspired to something greater?" (Jor-El)

"People are afraid of what they don't understand." (Jonathan Kent)

"You will give the people an ideal to strive towards. They will race behind you, they will stumble, they will fall. But in time, they will join you in the sun. In time, you will help them accomplish wonders." (Jor-El)

"You're not just anyone. One day, you're going to have to make a choice. You have to decide what kind of man you want to grow up to be. Whoever that man is, good character or bad, it's going to change the world." (Jonathan Kent)

"My father believed that if the world found out who I really was, they'd reject me... out of fear. He was convinced that the world wasn't ready. What do you think?" (Clark Kent)

"My name is General Zod. For some time, your world has sheltered one of my citizens. I request that you return this individual to my custody. To Kal-El, I say this: surrender within 24 hours, or watch this world suffer the consequences." (General Zod)

"Goodbye, my son. Our hopes and dreams travel with you." (Jor-El)

"Make a better world than ours, Kal." (Lara)

"Can't I just keep pretending I'm your son?" (young Clark)
"You ARE my son. And I have to believe that you were sent here for a reason. And even if it takes the rest of your life, you owe it to yourself to find out what that reason is." (Jonathan Kent)

"You believe your son is safe? I WILL FIND HIM!" (General Zod)

"Can you imagine how our world would react if they came face to face with this?" (Perry White)

"You will not win. For every human you save, we will kill a million more." (Faora)

"My son was twice the man you are." (Jor-El)

"Mrs. Kent, I'm Lois Lane from the Daily Planet. And I'd like to talk to you about your son." (Lois Lane)

"What are you going to do when you're not saving the world?" (Martha Kent)

"What is the 'S' stand for?" (Lois Lane)
"It's not an 'S,' on my world it means 'Hope.'" (Superman)
"Well, here it's an 'S.' How about...'Super'..." (Lois Lane)
"Excuse me." (Superman)

"A good death is its own reward." (Faora)

"You're right, a good death is its own reward." (Colonel Hardy)

"Krypton had its chance." (Kal-El/Superman)

"Because I want my mystery man to know that I know the truth." (Lois Lane)

"Thank you." (Superman)
"For what?" (Lois Lane)
"For believing in me." (Superman)
"It didn't seem to make a difference." (Lois Lane)
"It did to me." (Superman)

"What are you smiling about, Captain?" (General Swanwick)
"Nothing, Sir. I just think he's kinda HOT." (Captain Farris)

"This is Clark Kent." (Perry White)
"Hi, Lois Lane. Welcome to The Planet." (Lois Lane)
"Glad to be here, Lois." (Clark Kent)

"You know they say it's all downhill after the first kiss" (Lois Lane)
"I'm pretty sure that only counts if you're kissing a human" (Superman)

I have many favorite scenes from this movie, but they are too many to list them here. Empire Online actually listed them all here: Man Of Steel: 50 Best Moments (Spoilers within)!

Overall, I thought Man of Steel was a SUPER. HEROIC. EPIC. BRILLIANT. SPECTACULAR and AMAZING film. In my opinion, it was the best CBM (Comic Book Movie) I've seen this Summer and this year! This film had it all...Outstanding ensemble cast. Great acting by everyone. Great visual and sound effects. Beautiful Music/Score by Hans Zimmer. Visually stunning Cinematography and great quotes/dialogue and memorable one-liners. Superman's origin story was written and adapted very well in this fresh new take/reboot. I loved and enjoyed watching this movie from beginning to end. It had plenty of action, great CGI (loved Superman's flight scenes) effects, great character development for both Clark Kent/Kal-El/Superman and Lois Lane, witty moments, as well as strong and emotional scenes. Loved the Easter eggs too that were randomly shown in this movie (See 15 Man Of Steel Easter Eggs You May Have Missed via Empire Online). I highly recommend you see this film, if you haven't already. Go See It!


My Man of Steel Film Rating: (10/10; A+)