DCEU Review Series
Man of Steel
2013
Zack Snyder
The hype and excitement around this film was too large to meet expectation. Superman is a beloved icon in comics and film. Everyone has an opinion, Christopher Reeves will forever loom over any Superman project as the quintessential definition of the character. He set the standard. So it’s already working off a deficit.
There’s the infamous Tim Burton/Nicholas Cage failed Superman project of the 1990s. That lead to Superman Returns (2006), a loosely defined sequel film directed by Brian Singer starring Brandon Routh in the mid 2000s. Superman Returns made over $391 million and was considered a failure. It lacked a certain action dynamic but the characters were consistent with the world Richard Donner created back in the 1970s.
But here we are 7 years later, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is killing it at the box office and Warner Brothers wants a piece of the superhero pie. They tap into their most iconic characters to create a universe to compete with Marvel. Christopher Nolan is pulled in as a producer. He had just come off massive critical acclaim and financial success from The Dark Knight Trilogy. He was teamed up with Zach Snyder whose first feature was a commercial friendly translation the more art provoking George A Romero Dawn of the Dead. (Side note the Snyder version was written by 2025 Superman director James Gunn). Snyder’s Dawn of the Dead was less artistic but more action packed, made a ton of money, well received by fans and critics. Snyder’s follow up films were other comic book adaptations; 300 and Watchmen. Those films seemed to be page for page adaptations, lacked any real depth or originality. He copied the material without understanding the material. It led to inconsistent performances and visuals that didn’t match the tones of the source comics. Each film made tons of money though and comic fans had more to like in those films than to hate.
Therefore Zach Snyder teaming up with Christopher Nolan to make a Superman film should have been Warner Brothers/DC printing their own money. What we ended up with was a bleak and depressing character. The studio pushed for a dark gritty story because Nolan’s Batman was a successfully told dark gritty story. The only problem is Batman is a dark character. Superman is about American optimism. An immigrant coming to America, adopting its culture, becoming beloved by the people as he supports truth, justice, and the American way. Snyder missed the memo.
It all comes down to how Superman defeats the villain Zod. He not only kills Zod, he breaks his neck. It has been pointed out that Christopher Reeves threw Zod down a bottomless pit and killed him, but it was far less graphic. Christopher Nolan stated to the press he argued in the writers’ room not to have Superman kill Zod. He lost the faceoff. Snyder got the film he wanted. Nolan didn’t produce additional DCEU films after first film. Nothing has ever been publicly stated but the writing seems to be on the wall. Nolan was unhappy with the direction of this new DC franchise and left to pursue other projects.
So let’s look at the story in its entirety. It opens with Superman’s dad Jor El (played by Russel Crowe) dealing with the fall of the planet Kypton. The action was intensified compared to the original Marlon Brando portrayal. Zod is leading a rebellion against Krypton while Jor El is working his own game to save his son and Krypton’s lineage. Government ineptitude has caused them to ignore signs the planet is being destroyed which dominoed into the rebellion. Zod’s rebellion is stopped, him and his soldiers are tossed into the phantom zone. Jor-El launches his son Kal-El in a single ship to Earth to save him. Krypton is destroyed, Kal-El crashes on Earth, is adopted by American farmers Jonathan and Martha Kent, and raised as an Earthling. They name him Clark and raise him as their own son.
This version of the Kent’s are more paranoid. They raise him with the constant worry his secret will be discovered. That paranoia oozes through the entire plot, infecting its story with melancholy. It doesn’t get more Americana in cinema than Diane Lane and Kevin Costner but their characters really suck the air out of the room. Jonathan Kent is telling his son to let people die so no one knows he has superpowers. He eventually gets himself killed during a tornado while trying to save the family dog. His teenage son (who looks thirty) could have saved Johnathan Kent but waves him off because a ton of people might see him get rescued. Absolute travesty of writing, anyone who thinks that’s great characterization has no clue what makes Superman such a popular hero.
Then we have Lois Lane chasing down leads about an alien space ship which leads into her tracking down Clark Kent. She figures out Clark Kent has powers before Superman even exists. That change isn’t so terrible but it doesn’t match the source material. The real issue is the overall treatment of the plot being an “alien first encounter” film.
At some point Zod and his cronies escape the Phantom Zone and track Kal-El to earth. They make a bunch of weird threats demanding Kal-El be turned over. There’s some boring philosophical debates on if he should “save the world” as if we think he’ll keep hiding. The conversation about it is boring and we know what he’s going to do. He’s going to become Superman. So why is thirty minutes devoted to this? Then he has to earn the trust of the government and Earth and stuff. It gets pretty boring, though not cliché.
He confronts Zod, tries to play nice in the sandbox, eventually an epic battle takes place. Superman wins but massive devastation happens in the process. Basically an entire city is destroyed, millions are probably dead. All because Kryptonians with superpowers fight on Earth. We then get the infamous neck breaking scene. Zod is about to kill some family with his laser vision as Superman has him in a hold. Somehow the people can’t make a run for it so Superman breaks his neck and cries like a little baby about it. It’s graphic and lame and the thing that makes Superman awesome is he finds better ways to save people than just killing the bad guy. Also, the people could have just ran out of the way. They weren’t cornered to the point they could shimmy around the fallen pillar and the lasers. There’s bad plot and there’s bad blocking. You can forgive plot holes for solid emotion, forgiving bad blocking is hard and ultimately a failure of the director.
The day is saved, Superman keeps getting tracked by the government because of, reasons. He’s all like, I want to be a hero in my own way, and flies off. Then the Daily Planet where Lois Lane works gets a new reporter named Clark Kent and Lois is all googly-eyed because it’s really Superman.
It’s a tolerable film and as the first in a giant crossover franchise it leaves people hopeful for better films to come. Unfortunately, Zack Snyder doesn’t understand happy since he’s just Michael Bay without the racism and sexism. So what we get is a series of follow-up films all devoted to dark and gritty crap. Therefore, looking at this film in retrospect and the tone it eventually set, it becomes far worse than watching it for the first time.
Not a fault by the creators but they tried to distance themselves from the original Superman films. Thus a new theme song was created. This film actually taught everyone it’s better to embrace John Williams original score than run from it. The logic is sound, new Superman, new song. But the Superman theme is so iconic that not having it in a film actually scaled down the films vibe, it made the movie more depressing. It was a nice attempt but ultimately a failure that they needed to learn.
The same issue goes to the costume design. When this film was made DC’s New 52 (the worst thing to ever happen to comics) was in full swing. Comic creators changed his costume to get rid of the red underwear. The film followed the current costume style of those comics. The suit isn’t terrible but that change to the classic costume is another missing piece that takes away from the value of the film. They also toned down the colors, it’s not the bright primary colors of yellow, red, blue. They are darker shades for a darker feeling film.
Ultimately Superman shouldn’t be a dark character. He’s supposed to be a hopeful character. The film even tries to reflect this but having his S symbol stand for hope in his alien language. Unfortunately they dropped the ball everywhere else.
Written by
Joseph Ammendolea
Owner/President
“I Like To Play With Toys” Productions®
ILikeToPlayWithToysProductions@Yahoo.com
