Man of Steel

"What if a child dreamed of becoming something other than what society had intended? What if a child aspired to something greater?"

Who in the world doesn't like Superman? I would assume the overall resounding answer would be "no one." Everyone likes Superman, or so I thought. However, according to public opinion, the more accurate response to that question would probably be, "who cares?" As hard as it is to admit, Superman has slowly become less relevant the farther we move past the events of 9/11. While I don't necessarily agree with this point of view, it is arduous to deny that the hardened audiences of today have a difficult time identifying with the big blue boy scout.

Then Christopher Nolan, David S. Goyer, and Zack Snyder enter into the picture. Three individuals who believed that they could reinvent, reboot, re-envision (whatever you want to call it) Superman in order to take an aging 75 year old American Icon and make him relatable in a 21st century world. And I believe that's exactly what they accomplished with the Man of Steel.

This is not your father's Superman. In all actuality, this isn't even my Superman! Gone is the forty-five minute origin story of Krypton's imminent destruction, Jor-El sending his son to Earth, Clark growing up with the Kent's, his eventual transformation into Superman, and his arrival at The Daily Planet as the bumbling spectacle-wearing reporter. Gone is Lex Luthor. Gone is another plot revolving around land, land, land. Now don't get me wrong, all of these elements are here in Man of Steel (except for Luthor, and the "bumbling reporter" part), but they're all told in flashbacks, purposefully peppered throughout the majority of the film. And it works; very well, I might add.

What this film does right -- much more so than the original 1978 film ever did -- is that it allows the audience to empathize with the main character. A lot of people, my wife included, don't easily accept a do-gooder for do-gooder's sake. Superman (and Clark Kent, for that matter) had over half a centuries worth of material in comic book form to express why Superman is who he is. I felt that his true motive was sorely missing from the Christopher Reeve film.

This crucial component, however, is not lost in the Man of Steel. Rather than just an origin story, we're provided with more of Clark's back-story and the events that formed him as boy and young man, eventually providing us with the all important answer of why. This story, while it is broken up into flashbacks, is much more palpable here than in the 1978's version, where all we see is Clark lift a truck as a toddler, kick a football into the next county out of frustration, race a locomotive, bury his father, and then walk to the North Pole after being "called" by a glowing green crystal buried in the Kent's barn.

As the audience, we also identify with the dichotomy of Clark's fathers; the biological and the adoptive, and how their absolute love for their son -- although expressed in two vastly different ways -- truly shaped the man that Clark/Kal-El eventually becomes by the end of the film. Jor-El, played masterfully by Russell Crowe, believes in the greatness of what his son can truly be. Kevin Costner, embodying a very authentic Jonathan Kent, plays the over-protective father, who believes that if his son is exposed for who he truly is before the world is ready to accept him, could end up being disastrous.

Don't think for one second though that this is a perfect film. There are plenty of plot-holes that I could easily touch on, like how quickly Lois Lane can get from one location to another, moving about as fast as Superman, conveniently dropping in, just to progress the story along. Although the gripes I have with the film are minor, they may seem rather polarizing to others. While Superman has supposedly taken up the mantle as Earth's defender, his unfortunate and blatant disregard for human life -- played out through his battling General Zod and the destruction of Smallville and Metropolis -- is a bit unsettling. Additionally, while the messianic undertones of Superman were always evident before, in this film they're painted with very broad strokes. I could easily nit-pick others, but I also understand that I'm watching a superhero movie about a flying alien with great strength and speed who's practically invincible... so, why pick on the little details when I'm just as happy to suspend my disbelief.

Henry Cavill's portrayal of Superman is warm and genuine and he's extremely likable. He successfully pulls off a conflicted Clark Kent, trying to find his place in the world, as well as the eventual acceptance of becoming Kal-El/Superman, identifying with his race while also choosing to protect his adopted home. Even though many purists may denounce this Superman because he becomes the hero by circumstance rather than by choice alone, it's what makes the Man of Steel personally identifiable, and for that reason, much more believable, spectacular and extremely enjoyable.