Review: Man of Steel

Man of Steel is the latest addition to the superman franchise. A live-action superhero movie directed by Zack Snyder, notable for his work on 300 and Sucker Punch, and produced by the director of the famous Batman trilogy Christopher Nolan, Man of Steel hit the big screens this summer and torpedoed its way to the top. The movie also features a star-studded cast with Henry Cavill starring as Clark Kent, Russell Crowe as Jor-El and Amy Adams as Lois Lane. Laurence Fishburne (our beloved Morpheus) also makes an appearance.

Man of steel is an entertaining film with beautiful visuals, apparent when Superman is busy saving the world from his evil foes. The cinematography is brilliant and provides for appeasing eye-candy throughout the movie. The well-designed costumes for characters are apparent. The wardrobe for people from Krypton is clearly different to those from Earth, which helps add diversity and creativity.

Another praiseworthy and positive aspect of the movie is the film score, composed by the legendary musician from Germany: Hans Zimmer. The music is pleasant on the ears and always in synchronisation with the action.

As much as one could try to praise the plot of Man of Steel, there is simply nothing notable that can be deemed worthy. The plot is full of plot holes large enough to swallow entire continents into its bosom. The character of Lois Lane is useless throughout the story except for a few scenes at the very beginning, and is present only due to her comics counterpart and as a cliqued love interest for our beloved Clark Kent. Amy Adams should consider herself very lucky for this role and the fat paycheck that she cuddles with in her sleep. Laurence Fishburne's character has also no purpose to the story and would have been more useful in potential future sequels. Kevin Costner's Pa Kent's end is also hysterical; a more downright stupid  cause has never been witnessed before. General Zod also comes off as a raging lunatic -- due to Michael Shannon's over-the-top acting and his incessant whining-- rather than the noble general trying to save his race as he is portrayed in the comics.

The main problem with Man of Steel, however, is that it tries to be something it is not. The movie tries to stay to the roots of superman while inventing and exploring its own universe, and it fails. Man of Steel also has pacing problems. With a running time of almost 150 minutes, an hour of the movie is spent on the build-up, another hour on Superman and General Zod and the remaining time is spent on a long, boring fight.

Direction is also Man of Steel's weakest points. The director relies too much on CGI and over-the-top fight scenes that one almost kills themselves due to embarrassment  The movie also lacks a sense of danger. General Zod and his minions are not something that can be considered a force to reckon with, at least not for Superman anyway. He seems lax throughout their encounters and rarely seems to be putting much effort in. The director seems to have handled the fight scenes the same way he handled fight scenes in 300. In the end, the fight choreography seems to produce a vibe one would expect from a cartoon instead.

Man of Steel has grossed over $400 million dollars worldwide; how it has achieved this is beyond me. The only thing that could have possibly helped Man of Steel so far is the fact that it stars some of industries biggest names, and the fact that it is after all an addition to the beloved superman franchise. Fans are thoroughly advised to stay away from this dismal movie and instead spend their money on World War Z, which despite all its problems is a far better movie than Man of Steel ever will be.