There's a scene in Zack Snyder, Christopher Nolan and David Goyer's reboot of the Superman film franchise where our hero, Clark (Henry Cavill) visits the Smallville parish. We've received the obligatory backstory at this point, with Kevin Costner and Russel Crowe performing valiantly as Jonathan Kent and Jor-El, respectively. The evil General Zod (Michael Shannon) has arrived on Earth and demands Clark turn himself in, ostensibly to save the human race.
As Clark and the bewildered minister discuss the moral quandary, Cavill's profile is framed by a stained-glass image of Christ in a not so subtle nod to Superman as savior. It's a brief moment in the film, certainly not a narrative thread one would call dominant in the film by any stretch of the imagination, but it's an interesting choice given the note Nolan and Goyer left their last superhero project, The Dark Knight Rises. It's as though the heroes of the DC Universe, on the screen, are both grappling in worlds that are extremely gritty but built ideals that existed way back when these characters were created. It's a dynamic that, in the Dark Knight trilogy, worked because of the inherent tragedy at the center of the story: the death of the Waynes, and Batman's righteous quest to carry on their ideal, within limits.
Superman has no limits. We know that early in the film, when Lara worries their son will be killed on Earth and Crowe's Jor-El deadpans, "How?" Therein lies the center problem with any Superman film, and the reason 2006's "Superman Returns" left many moviegoers with a bad taste in their mouths. How do you craft a villain for a hero with so few weaknesses?
Snyder and Co. do well with Shannon's Zod, and his accomplice Faora-Ul (Antje Traue). But Nolan and Goyer's mold just doesn't fit the Superman mold perfectly, and in grasping for a narrative that makes sense in this universe, there are some misfires (the church scene chief among them, because the idea of Superman as a martyr to human beings fails on a few levels).
That's not to say Man of Steel isn't a great film. It is, it just feels disjointed. The performances, particularly of Costner and Crowe, stand out. It's just too bad that the questions of patriarchy and the effect they have on Clark are never fully explored. In one scene, Clark bickers with Jonathan about his future. Within minutes of screen time, Jonathan is taken from Clark forever, and the emotions as a result feel...slightly off. That may be because the origin story is told through flashbacks, a narrative technique that works in this film but lacks the gravitas, say, of a "Batman Begins."
The film looks great, though. Snyder is the perfect choice to direct a film in which hand-to-hand combat becomes pivotally important, as it does in the film's final third. The director's signature camera slowdown works excellently here with the jerky, thrusting movements of Zod's foot soldiers, and the climactic battle between Zod and Clark in the skies above Metropolis will take your breath away, regardless of whether you watch it in two dimensions or three.
Much has been made of Cavill's lack of the humor that makes Superman relatable to the audience. It's a valid complaint, but also one with its origin in the source material and not the story that Nolan and Goyer are trying to tell. This is a story with weight — questions of humanity and how it might react to the larger question presented by Superman's presence: How do our notions of the universe (and even God) change when a man with such abilities appears on Earth? The smartest decision the team made was making Jonathan and Martha (Diane Lane) keenly aware of the effect this knowledge will have and using it as the source of their wish to shelter Clark from the world. It gives this tale a touch of humanity and reality that might have otherwise gone by the wayside with so many things blowing up.
I'm not sure where the Man of Steel franchise will go from here. Given the early box office returns, a sequel is inevitable. And while not perfect, Man of Steel sets the canvas on which to paint a number of very interesting stories (and potentially set up that Justice League movie, eh, Warner Bros.?). Let's just hope the next time out, that story is chosen from the start and remains focused during all of those aerial theatrics.
Verdict: 4/5 stars
No comments:
Post a Comment