Man of Steel Review

So, Man of Steel. With the astonishing success of the fantastically entertaining Avengers Assemble, as well as the series of individual films leading up to the famous team-up, Marvel Studios has understandably claimed total dominance in the genre of motion picture known as the Blockbuster. Now with the much-anticipated arrival of Man of Steel, DC Comics aims to replicate and eventually surpass their long-term rivals. Warner Brothers, with the weight of the expectation of millions of DC fans on their shoulders, had one job to do. To make us truly believe a man can fly. Have they succeeded? In a word, yes. Man of Steel is everything Superman is, triumphant, explosive, inspiring, and emotional. That last word is key here, for me, because if there is one aspect of Man of Steel that separates it from the Marvel Universe series, it is that it is emotional. You really do get a feeling that Superman, Kal-El, is a member of an extinct race, who never knew his real parents, and has the responsibility of a whole planet resting on his conscience; A planet that is quite clearly not ready for the power and sheer destruction that occurs upon the revelation of meeting Superman, and the arrival of a fellow Kryptonian, General Zod. Michael Shannon as General Zod is ruthless, tyrannical and will stop at absolutely nothing to achieve his goal (which I will not disclose for spoilers). More importantly though, he does what a great comic book villain should do; he pulls at the heart strings of us, the audience. There is no escaping the fact that, despite the genocidal path he takes to get there, Zod’s eventual destination is only to see the survival of the people he loves and the thing that matters most to him. Action-wise, there is only one thing I can say. Films such as the aforementioned Avengers Assemble and even Michael Bay’s ‘no acting skills required’ Transformers trilogy need to take a back seat. Man of Steel has, hands down, the most mind-blowing and devastating destruction and action in any film I have EVER seen, period. Honestly I was starting to wonder towards the end of the movie if there was going to be any left of Metropolis come the sure-to-happen sequel the Chitauri and Decepticons should take notes from the Kryptonians, Superman included. Henry Cavill played a PERFECT Kal-El. He was awe-inspiring, and in the heart-stopping climax, tear-jerking. Can’t say anymore for obvious reasons, but the ending to Man of Steel is sure to stick in the minds of many a movie-goer for a good few years. There’s that word again, EMOTIONAL, the word that will separate future DC films, and Justice League, from the fun but less serious Marvel films.

 

Verdict: 9/10. Did what it had to do. Epic and intense.