Man of Steel

I check rottentomatoes.com quite often. I don’t judge a movie by its trailer because trailers tend to lie. Some movie trailers have the best parts of the movie in them, others merely suggest that you will watch the good parts in the actual movie.

The people behind the trailers for Man of Steel did a fantastic job. They managed to create enough interest in the movie by evoking emotions. The trailer gives you the feeling that you will go in to watch something epic.

I don’t know about you, but I expect a bit of humor in every movie. Even the most depressing ones must have that one scene that makes you laugh a little bit.

I couldn’t find that scene in the Man of Steel .

If you’ve watched the original Superman movie with Christopher Reeve then you know how funny should be done.

I think the intention of Man of Steel was to take the title a bit too literally. You see, a Man of Steel won’t find anything funny. Nor will he make others laugh. He will be all about the strength. And the movie does emphasize that more than anything. We are lead to believe that Clark struggled with trying to be himself while growing up. And I am sure he would have. When he finally does become Superman, he seems to love being a God among men. This is a different Superman. In the past, Superman wanted to be normal, blend in, be reluctant about embracing his destiny, help others without question, save his father.

** Spoiler Alert **

The scene I disliked the most in the movie was the one where Jonathan Kent commits suicide. There is no other way to see it. For him to think it was ok to risk his own life to save the family dog, was idiotic. The other fact that Clark would have emerged with the dog and himself intact makes this series of events even more ridiculous. Jonathan Kent should have died of a heart attack. You see, Clark couldn’t have prevented a heart attack, but he could have prevented his dad from being taken by a tornado. Not being able to save his father from a heart attack would make Clark realize that even though he is Superman a.k.a a Man of Steel, he is living among mortals who die quite unexpectedly and easily. Humans are fragile and their lives hang by a thread. This makes protecting them all the more important. So, Superman will realize that he has a bigger responsibility than just keeping a secret. The way this was handled in the movie didn’t make sense.

General Zod, kills Kal El’s father, Jor El. So when Superman and Zod are punching and kicking the crap out of each other, it is expected because both of them are angry. Zod mentions that the only way the fight will end is if one of them dies. And then they proceed to destroy most of Metropolis (empty buildings?) which no doubt would lead to many humans dying from falling debris, fire, etc.

There is nothing that can be done about that though. The scene where Superman is finally forced to take a life is a bit strange as well. Superman kills (and feels really bad about it) because Zod was about to use his laser vision to kill a couple of humans. I believe that Superman, no matter what situation he finds himself in, would not take a life. Surely, he could have used the final burst of strength to poke Zod’s eyes …

Lois keeps being rescued by Superman. Damsel in distress is always good for superhero movies. But not when the damsel is Lois Lane. The one thing that separates Lois from all other women in the fictional universe is that she is supposed to be very capable of taking care of herself should the situation demand it.

But being rescued gives the Superman and the movie an excuse to throw in some romance. Not the smartest way to do it though.

The “S” is not an “S”, in Krypton it stands for hope.

So let’s “S” that there will be a better Man of Steel movie in the near future.