REVIEW: MAN OF STEEL

There are a couple of items to address before going into my review of the highly anticipated "Man of Steel." The first is to pay respects to an actor who's passed, the incomparable James Gandolfini. I didn't have the privilege of watching "The Sopranos," but I thoroughly enjoyed his supporting work in "The Taking of Pelham 1 2  3" and "Zero Dark Thirty." He was a familiar face that'll be missed in the community, and a TV legend in his own right. Second, I haven't written in the blog in a long time; I've been working on a short film with several friends that I wrote and co-starred in, so I've spent a lot of time on that, and will post it as soon as filming completes!

Now on to the review: I'd heard polarizing things on this superhero blockbuster, and none of them assured me I was going to love it. I'd listened to mostly good buzz about "Iron Man 3," with raves from my peers in high school, but that obviously was a let-down for me. So heading into the theater, I tried to hush down the buzz from everyone else and just let myself either be fully disappointed by "Man of Steel" or be immersed in its glory. I'm happy to report on the latter end of that spectrum.

The biggest compliment I can give "Man of Steel" is that it doesn't focus too much on Superman's genesis; we all know where he came from, why he was there. We don't need excessive shots of him as a boy, him as a teen, we all came for SuperMAN. To me that was the flaw of the 1978 classic, one of the few I might add. Along with "Superman: The Movie" the only other Superman film I've come in contact with is "Superman Returns," which bored me half to death when I watched it as a 10 year old. Later on in life, I'd come to find I wasn't the only one, and the movie improves significantly on that version. Lex Luther is so overplayed at this point, so I'm glad they gave General Zod a chance in the spotlight. I've had a roller coaster history with Michael Shannon.  He stunned me with his outgoing, abrasive John in "Revolutionary Road," disappointed me with an over-the-top turn as a rock n roll sleaze in "The Runaways," and left me neutral with his pointless role in "Mud." Here he's still over-the-top, but in a role that calls for it. Zod is almost literally bigger than life himself, and Shannon's bug-eyed rage fits with the character's thirst for recolonizing his planet.

Amy Adams is decent (and so beautiful) as Lois Lane, but didn't really add too much to the role for me, though Zack Snyder, "Steel's" director, gave her character some feminist edge by having her win a Pulitzer Prize. So how was Henry Cavill in the titular role? He may not contain the character Christopher Reeve embodied so long ago, with that effortless charisma, but Cavill, with a remarkable super American accent, was a fine choice. Snyder himself, whose work in "300" made me a believer, had an enormous task ahead of him taking on this project, and I hope there are planned sequels (hopefully not with Luther, but that's already the rumor going around.) A nitpick is the special effects, marvelous wreckage all across the city, but why couldn't they slow down the action when Superman and Zod are fighting? It looked like two costumed roadrunners colliding into each other, and made for a difficult viewing experience. 

But with minor criticisms aside, "Man of Steel" sidesteps Superman cliches in favor of a thrilling action picture that can satisfy everyone, and yes, you will believe a man can fly.

Rating: 3/4 stars

P.S. I forgot to mention Russell Crowe, but if you strip his "Les Miz" performance of its singing, that's what he was like in "MOS," except more wise and hologram-y.