Man of Steel

The latest in Hollywood's "darker, more realistic superhero" movie series, this one is about the infamous Superman and his origins. My personal introduction to the Superman franchise (I'm a noob, so sue me).

Thoughts

Should probably start by noting that I had the special privilege of attending a pre-screening of this film, so unlike countless other random writings on my websites, this one might be of some actual value - at least if you read it on the day this was written :)

The plot itself is relatively straightforward. The world of Krypton is dying out, and one particular General Zod wants to save it by any means necessary. This puts him at odds with Superman's father, who whisks away his newborn son to Earth. Dude grows up with a "normal" life under his adopted parents (well, as normal as various superhuman feats can make you), until shit hits the fan, Zod finds him, and eventually the two end up in a battle over the fate of the Earth. (Forgive me if this is redundant to any Superman veterans out there.)

Anyways. Christopher Nolan. No, he didn't direct this movie (Zack Snyder did), but with Inception and TDK having earned permanent places on my all-time movie favorites, I suppose I couldn't resist the chance to see his hand touch another superhero franchise, bland as Superman has always seemed to me. Certainly, I knew it would be unrealistic to expect another TDK/Inception-level quality movie, but why not hope for the best, right?

I suppose I was both disappointed and not after watching the movie. Nolan's hand in the movie definitely shows - top-notch production, really nothing to complain about with the script, visuals, and I think I only recall one audio discrepancy (music cutting out too soon). Yet it isn't TDK/Inception-level, because...

Well, it's predictable.

Did I ever doubt Superman's victory? Have I never seen this "superhero rises from humble origins to eventually perform great deeds" theme? Have I never heard the "aliens vs humans" dilemma? Have I never seen the protagonist get with the only half-significant female character in the story? The answer to all of these question is no. With TDK, the Joker could genuinely leave viewers doubting Batman's victory. With Inception, although victory was probably more assured, the constant twists kept you on your toes for a lot longer than you might think (see Casino Royale). Man of Steel? No. Predictable plot to the end, positively lackluster characters (especially female ones; no offense, Nolan, but when your best female character ever is Ariadne of Inception, you've got a lot to work on), and not even the "well, it's a tech demo" excuse that Avatar can fall back on.

I hope none of this implies Man of Steel is a bad movie. Like I said, top-notch production, and maybe if you're a Superman junkie, nostalgia will hit you, or you'll get a lot of clever references that flew over my head. I just fail to see anything worthy of note in the movie, especially with an extremely generic hero and villain.