The latest Superman adventure Man of Steel, is a prelude to where we usually pick up Clark Kent at the Daily Planet in Metropolis. The story partially takes place on Krypton, leading up to the destruction of the planet, the escape of the hero Kal-el and the exile of General Zod which arrives on earth looking for Kal-el/Clark.
I need some more scenes
Russell Crowe played Jor-el, Kal-el’s father. His hologram/consciousness was carried to earth in Kal-el’s space ship so he ends up being an interactive character around earth after he died on Krypton. I got the sense that he wanted more screen time and said something like “come on, there has be a way for me have more scenes.” Kevin Costner played Clark’s earth dad and even though he died in the film, the flashbacks were flying fast. I wondered if he saw how much extra screen time Crowe got and said “hey, let’s put more flashbacks in so I can have more scenes.”
This was just the sense I got while watching the movie.
What’s with the Cape?
I seriously have to ask what the purpose of Superman’s cape is. It does not appear helpful, useful, or necessary. So is it just a fashion statement? At least there was no red underwear over the costume this time. I can get on board with that. But the cape? I don’t understand that. And then there were Lois Lane’s (Amy Adams) 4″ stiletto heels. In the desolation of General Zod’s bombardment. She runs around in heels. I’m rolling my eyes.
Fan Fiction
At what point is something fan fiction vs canon? There are so many stories about Superman (or insert any super hero name here) and they come from a variety of places. So if something is only written for the internet, it’s considered fan fiction but if someone sells a screenplay, it becomes canon? The story reminded me of fan fiction. Maybe I read too much fan fiction. Was the story really good enough to be made into a movie?
And About the Movie – Sort of
Back story is fun. I love origin tales. Henry Cavill as Clark Kent was well cast. A female character even giggled and noted that “he was kinda hot.” There was only one scene where he looked just like Christopher Reeves. There were probably too many scenes of face close-ups – yes we know he’s pretty.
Lot’s of fight scenes, with the final fight going on far too long. It had an Avengers feels to it. Sidenote: The transportation on Krypton reminded me of the Moths from Lexx.
There were some scenes that were purposely grainy, almost like you could see the over sized pixels for effect. A fluffy and entertaining summer movie.