[BLOG] Movie Review - Man of Steel

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Lonesamurai
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[BLOG] Movie Review - Man of Steel

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A young itinerant worker is forced to confront his secret extraterrestrial heritage when Earth is invaded by members of his race.


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Wow...   Just wow...



Seriously, THIS is the Superman film we've been waiting for!  Now the station staff know I'm not the biggest fan of the Dark Knight Trilogy (although yes, I will be going to watch the three film IMAX next month), but they, and Christopher Nolan's input shines through, grounding the film from the VERY Scifi start.  The direction by Zack Snyder is solid, the story by David S. Goyer shines, from start to finish.

In Man of Steel we actually get to see more of the life of Krypton than we EVER have before.  This is a test tube society, people are bred for specific roles in life, Warrior, Scientist, Diplomat... and the society has suffered because of it!

Krypton is a dying world, years of harvesting energy from the planets core depleting it and leading to a catastrophe.  Zor-El (played AMAZINGLY by Russell Crowe), tries to warn the ruling council, but knowing how it will turn out, he and his wife, Lara Vor-Ul (the incredibly beautiful Ayelet Zurer), give birth to the first (and last) son of Krypton to be born be natural means.  Whilst Zod (Michael Shannon), tries to stop the council by military coup, but ultimately fails and is banished to the Phantom Zone by the council.



This is an incredibly strong opening for the film, Crowe is on fine form (something I, and others, will be shocked by, considering his films of late have been, well, flat) as Jor-El and he steals the film up until the destruction of Krypton and beyond.

This, of course, leads us to Earth, 33 years later and an adult Clark Kent (Henry Cavill), hiding from the world and doing odd jobs here and there, having to move on when he uses his power for good and saving people in case he is found out and shunned.

We very soon get to meet Lois Lane (played brilliantly by Amy Adams), looking into an alien ship discovery.

Some excellent Smallville shout outs happen here, firstly we meet Dr. Emil Hamilton, played by West Wings Richard Schiff, however, the US Air Force technician helping him is played by Alessandro Juliani, who played Dr. Hamilton in the TV series (and yes, quite a few people in the cinema also recognised this when you heard the little giggles to see him)



From here on in, the films turns into a tour de force of just HOW powerful Kryptonians can be on Earth.  Not only Zod, but his small army aswell, ESPECIALLY his right hand lieutenant Faora-Ui (Antje Traue), who (with the help of some amazing CGI, takes down US soldiers with a combination of military martial arts, super speed and super strength.

We also meet US Colonel Nathan Hardy (Christopher Meloni), who goes by the codename Guardian throughout the film, in, what I am hoping, means we will (somehow) see the return of this character in a sequel as the Star Labs hero.  Here's hoping!



The fight scenes between Superman and others, and all the destruction they bring, truly leap off the screen, and not just because of 3D (I watched the 2D screening), but because they are so strong and perfectly done.

JJ. Abrams can learn a lot from Zak Snyders use of lens flare aswell, what is in the film has a natural place and looks like its MEANT to be there!  The whole film looks beautiful throughout and I'd happily goto see the film again if I can.



I've mentioned in previous reviews about my "tingle factor" for films and how I base my scoring of a film on how it makes me feel.

Avengers made me tingle and scored highly because of it.  Man of steel didn't give me the tingles, it made me feel stronger, as a person, but thats because the character is meant to do that and Snyder brings that out brilliantly!  Superman is a shining beacon for all humanity to strive to be better, compared to Batman, who is there to instill fear in those that would do wrong, Superman brings the light to the world.

It's clear we're gearing upto, if not a full on Justice League movie, a live action Batman/Superman would be IMMENSE!  And with Zak Snyder, David S. Goyer and Christopher Nolan at the helm, we could genuinely see a really good cinema takings scrap between Marvel and DC, something the fans want AND DESERVE!



This film LITERALLY flies!



9/10

~Lone
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