Review: Man of Steel
*Spoilers Alert
Do NOT forget to rate this post when you finish.
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| Official "Man of Steel" Poster. |
One of the contenders of best 2013 movie,
'Man of Steel' definitely delivers in term of narration, characters, and action
sequences. And it is for many, including me, the 'Superman' movie we have been
waiting for.
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| "Henry Cavill". |
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| "Russel Crowe" and "Ayelet Zurer". |
The film starts at a time where
'Jor-El'(Russell Crowe) and 'Lara Lor-Van'(Ayelet Zurer) just gave birth to
their son 'Kal-El', the first non-genetically engineered born child in a long
time. At the same time a military rebellion by General 'Zod'(Michael Shannon)
and the destruction of 'Krypton', will lead to the sending of 'Kal-El' to earth
so that he can live and keep the 'Krypton' race alive. And after 33 years, we
see 'Kal-El/Clark Kent'(Henry Cavill), who was raised in 'Smallville' by his
adoptive parents 'Jonathan Kent'(Kevin Costner) and 'Martha Kent'(Diane Lane),
facing the return of General 'Zod', who threatens to destroy Earth unless he
surrenders himself. And here 'Clark Kent/Superman' must face the choice of how
he will make a choice of what is right and what is wrong and continue his
journey of self-discovery. Other characters include 'Daily Planet' reporter
'Lois Lane'(Amy Adams), 'Daily Planet' Editor in Chief 'Perry White'(Laurence
Fishburne), 'Zod''s lieutenant 'Faora'(Antje Traue), General 'Swanwick'(Harry
Lennix), Colonel 'Hardy'(Christopher Meloni), Dr. 'Emil Hamilton'(Richard
Schiff), 'Jenny'(Rebecca Buller), and 'Steve Lombard'(Michael Kelly).
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| "Michael Shannon". |
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| "Amy Adams". |
What a journey it has been for 'Man of
Steel'! From the minute Warner Bros. Pictures announced the plan to reboot the
franchise after the failed attempt of the 2006 movie 'Superman Returns' and
till now 'Man of Steel' was under the radar. But after seeing it I have to say
the movie exceeded my expectations. 'Man of Steel' was able to deliver exactly
what fans were demanding: portraying a movie about the origins of 'Superman',
while also making him look modern and more relatable to humans. And the writers
and director were successful in doing that. From the story to the character
development, the action sequences as well as the visual effects, 'Man of Steel'
is able to deliver in all these points. Some points were delivered better than
others, but that does not diminish the movie in any way.
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| "Russell Crowe" and "Henry Cavill". |
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| "Kevin Costner" and "Diane Lane". |
Usually I would start talking about the
director, but seeing that "Christopher Nolan" was involved in this
movie as a producer and writer I have to talk about the story first.
"Christopher Nolan" is one of the best men to hit the movie industry.
You can know from the story that both he and “David S. Goyer” ‘Dark Knight’
trilogy are very knowledgeable of the 'Superman' origin story and all the
elements related to him. "Goyer" was also responsible for the
screenplay. Hearing what 'Superman' fans were demanding, they were able to
brilliantly incorporate some of the most famous elements of 'Superman'. The way
they allowed the movie to show us the superhero and human part of 'Superman',
at the same time grounding the story, modernizing it and darkening its tone;
moreover, incorporating great themes about conflict of what is right and what
is wrong, "Nolan" and "Goyer" must be commended for their
efforts in making this movie epic. Of course, we are not denying some of the
plot holes, but they can be easily removed and forgotten.
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| "Laurence Fishburne" and "Rebecca Buller". |
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| "Amy Adams", "Henry Cavill" and "Antje Traue". |
Choosing director "Zack
Snyder"('300' and 'Watchmen') to helm this major movie for Warner Bros.
Pictures was a little bit of a risk. But adding him with "Nolan" and
"Goyer" gave this movie a great advantage: having a team that can
incorporate beautiful visual effects with a cohesive story line. Visually, this
movie is by far the best work "Snyder" has ever done. And the 3D is
pretty impressive, something that I did not anticipate. The movie moves
non-stop and cleverly from one scene to another, which makes this 2 hour 23
minutes movie seem short. And with all the themes and character narrative
stories, "Snyder" and "Goyer" were able to add these great
action sequences and plant them in a strategic way throughout the movie. As for
"Hans Zimmer"('Dark Knight' and 'Pirates of the Caribbean'
franchises) creates a score that is majestic and that was able to heighten the
movie. It was also able to make us forget that classic 'Superman' theme music
wasn't included. All these elements in directing, story, and music made this
movie able to successfully change this franchise.
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| "Henry Cavill". |
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| "Amy Adams" and "Christopher Meloni". |
First of all the mentioning of the word
'Superman' was smartly minimal and was placed in a funny way. The pace of the
movie is really great, and being a summer action superhero movie, I thought
that the mix between action sequences and character interactions were done in a
solid way. The themes of the movie, from the self-discovery that 'Kal-El' faces
to the struggle that he faces and other themes too, were added in an intelligent
manner that enhances the movie. In the first 18 minutes or so, it was really
nice to see that they have put a lot of work in creating 'Krypton' and its
civilization and it had many great moments. From there on until the 1 hour
mark, the movie was all about setting up the audiences to what will happen and
all the information they needed to know. For the majority of time I liked the
way the flashback scenes were used to allow the story to develop. The action
sequences were really done over the top, however it must be noted that
sometimes these sequences were too CGI heavy. My favorite action sequences were
the final battle between 'Kal' and 'Zod', 'Kal capturing 'Lois', and
'Smallville' fight scene. The ending was superb and will pave the way for
future sequels.
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| "Michael Shannon". |
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| "Kevin Costner" and
"Dylan Sprayberry".
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'Man of Steel' cast had one of the most
talented casts. It gathered many established actors/actresses with new and
uprising actors/actresses, which was a great decision. Let’s start with the
actor who played the character that the movie is based on. "Henry
Cavill" is the first non-American actor to play this character. In my
opinion being that this movie is hopefully the beginning of a new franchise,
making "Henry Cavill" liked by the fans and the audience was a
priority. So even though he wasn't able to unveil all the potential he got, he
did a great performance and took full advantage of the few times where he was
able to showcase his talents. And for main part, he was able to give us the
character we as fans wanted: a vulnerable, relatable, and humane hero.Worth mentioning the good performances of "Dylan Sprayberry" and "Cooper Timberline" who portrayed 13-year old 9 year-old 'Clark Kent' respectively. Believe
it or not "Amy Adams" previously auditioned for the role of 'Lois
Lane', including the 2006 movie. And thank god she was chosen. I am a huge fan
of "Amy", and given the not so expanded character we were hoping for,
she nailed it. Her portrayal was really exciting to watch and gave us a new and
different 'Lois Lane'. The chemistry between "Henry" and
"Amy" was exceptional. Despite the fact that the story between them
was in some way limited, both actors were able to create a great connection
between these two characters that the audience was able to enjoy.
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| "Amy Adams". |
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| "Harry Lennix" and "Richard Schiff". |
"Michael Shannon" was the best
choice for General 'Zod'. He was able to change the concept of alien villains.
And what I liked most about this representation is the way the writers will
make the audience relate to the point of view of 'Zod' and that what he is
doing might be right according to his beliefs. "Russell Crowe" was
given the ability to expand the story of 'Jor-El' like never before, and I
loved the way they allowed him to interact with "Cavill" and
"Adams"'s characters. One positive thing is the 'Jor-El'/'Zod' respect/hate
relationship, which was depicted brilliantly. "Kevin Costner" and
"Diane Lane" were amazing carrying the family drama sub-plot
throughout. And the father/mother/son relationship between these two renowned
actors and "Cavill" was another brilliant and believable story
element. "Laurence Fishburne" did a great job with the limited baggage
that came with his character and the chemistry with "Adams"'s
character was enjoyable yet short. “Ayelet Zurer” gives an emotional
performance and showed us one of the many themes included in this movie: a
mother’s struggle to give her child the best. "Antje Traue"
surprisingly made a very good impression with her character. As for the other
actors "Harry Lennix", "Christopher Meloni", "Richard Schiff", "Rebecca Buller", and "Michael Kelly" they did a great job supporting the main cast.
Warners Bros. Pictures was successful in
rebooting this amazing story. Now while we await the box office verdict, which
will determine whether other DC comics characters and a 'Justice League' movie
will be made, we can only hope for a sequel for 'Man of Steel' and that this
movie will allow its director and producers to learn from the mistakes they did
to make an even better sequel.
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| Official "Man of Steel" Poster. |
-Starring: Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Michael Shannon, Russell Crowe, Kevin Costner, Diane Lane, Laurence Fishburne, Ayelet Zurer, Antje Traue, Harry Lennix, Christopher Meloni, Richard Schiff, Rebecca Buller, and 'Michael Kelly.
-Based on: 'Superman' by "Jerry Siegel" and "Joe Shuster".
-Studio(s): Warner Bros. Pictures, Legendary Pictures, Syncopy and DC Entertainment.
-Directed by: Zach Snyder.
-Story by: Christopher Nolan and David S. Goyer.
-Music by: Hans Zimmer.
-Running Time: 143 minutes.
-Budget: $ 225,000,000.
-Box Office: -Domestic(US): $ 291,045,518.
-Foreign: 371,800,000.
-Rating: -IMdb: 7.6/10.
-Rotten Tomatoes: 56%.
-Metacritic: 55%.
-PERSONAL RATING: 8.6/10.
-"Man Of Steel" Trailer:
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