Man of Steel: Be careful what you wish for....
It's no secret that my favorite Superhero movie of all time is Batman Begins. Yes, even over the almighty Dark Knight.
That being said, I went into Man of Steel expecting it to be the Begins version of Superman.
WRONG-O.
That was my first mistake.
To be honest - in the end it felt more like the Ryan Reynolds Green Lantern of Superman - without the comedy or whimsicalness of that flick.
And that's not a perk of Green Lantern or a requirement of Superman, more or less something that distinguishes the two films.
Man of Steel plays as if there's no script - but rather what we in the film industry call a "Beat Sheet". A series of events required to tell a story. The script then follows that sheet and expunges upon each beat, elaborating it into something more. Creating moments that matter and make us relate to character through them. That doesn't happen here.
As I described to my friend (who loved the film): Imagine the best Superman movie ever made. Now imagine you didn't see it, but some fanboy just got out of the theater and is telling you all about it. That's how the movie is written.
Truthfully - the components are all there - the liver, the eyes, the lungs, the legs and arms and there is cold and still - beating once or twice to give us a real moment. God forgive me, I love sentimentality and I love it in a Superman movie. Outside of two moments - one with Lois before Superman first meets Zod and the other during a pinnacle moment with Jonathan Kent - the moment had no moments that I really connected to.
The problem is the build for me. By the time Superman is in the suit... he doesn't take it off. The initial fight with Zod and crew and the final fight between Superman and Zod and crew is separated by a mere 10-15 minutes. Clark never even gets out of the suit. I was along with the movie until this point, chalking it all up to a slow build. Once I realized this was the final fight - I started hating the movie.
The fights and such are CGI Gumby men fighting and while I've long pined for Superman to punch something - I got what I wished for. And dammit - I don't think it was worth it. I wasn't riding with Superman. I couldn't get an "in" to be rooting for him.
Most of the build up is about Clark trying to find his place in the world... even though he really kind of already knows what it is. It's more or less him trying to figure out "when" to come out of the alien closet - reducing him to a one note character. The key to Superman, with all his physical prowess, is to give him as many internal and emotional struggles as possible. That not only makes him interesting when he's unbeatable physically - but it also makes him more human and thus more relatable. He does wonder how he got here and what his place is - but then Jor El pops up in the fortress and explains it all to him in under 3 minutes.... effectively ruining the last 30-45 minutes and making them irrelevant to his character arc..... rendering him to have none.
And then it's all punchy punch from there.
And even that has it's issues - whether it be the "ugh" CGI aspect of it, or the fact that the cinematography gets REALLY annoying. If you thought handheld was bad in Nolan's movies? WORSE. If you thought the camera was too close in Nolan's movies? WORSE. If you thought the CGI / Exposion was disgusting in the Transformers movies? WORSE. The cinematography did what I've dubed the "pop shot" in which the camera almost does a jump cut / quick zoom technique in the film and it gets overused and kills it reasoning. It's ok every now and then and especially allowed when Superman is honing in on something - but the rest of the time it's just jarring and takes me out of the moment.
The rest of the characters are also kind of one-note. They're all acted really well by the actors but they have no struggles of their own - sans Lois - which was the highlight of the movie. The direction and purpose they instill her with in this film was perfect and everything she needs for a modernization of her character. I wish we had gotten more.
All in all - I didn't really HATE this movie, but now I understand that justified rating on Rotten Tomatoes I so blindly argued against mere hours before. I stand before you humbled and corrected.
The film is by no means as boring as Superman Returns - but not at all as exciting as the perfect harmonization and balance that Batman Begins is.
This film feels a lot like "Unbreakable" in the sense that it really just feels like the 1st act of something bigger. Papa jow needs more Clark Kent and less Superman. More build and less fragmentation. More character and yes.... less action.
I'll see it again, hopefully my perception will change - but I'm starting to doubt it. It's still not "my" Superman, as the saying goes. It was however, my best friend's, as I could see the restraint he was holding back from slugging me when I started saying I was disappointed by it. I love you Bud, don't hate me. lol
See it. You'll make some connections with characters - but much like a 56K modem - don't plan on staying connected very long. Your emotions aren't in the back seat while the action takes the wheel - they're in the rear view... waving goodbye.
PS: If you miss the 20 some-odd blatant "LexCorp" logos in the final fight... you're blind. That's overkill on the easter eggs.