Man Of Steel - Into the Snyderverse

IMDB

When I saw the trailers for Man of Steel I was a little pumped to see it. So much, I went to Wal-Mart and purchased an early showing ticket. As a life-long Superman fan, how could I not? Had my Superman T and red jacket, my candy and drink and after it was over I loved it. The fanboy in me had won out. It took multiple viewings of it to really get it and come to the conclusion, it was not great. It was barely okay.

Zach Snyder is a great visual storyteller. With his movies like 300 and Watchmen they all look good. But the other thing he does, and not very well, is most of the time its style over substance. It looks great, the visuals look like they come right out of a comic book. It’s the story that’s the problem. To quote Peter from Family Guy, “It insists upon itself.”

The Snyderverse could have been something special. Something to give Marvel a run for its money, but it was all flash. No sizzle. The darker, more realistic tone did it no favors. It’s a superhero movie, it’s supposed to be fantastical. Let’s take a closer look and see what flaws began to crack at the foundation of the DCEU with its first outing.

It begins with Lara-El giving birth to baby Kal-El, the first natural birth on Krypton in ages. While the Reeve era’s Krypton was bright and icey, this one wasn’t. It was dusty and looked like it was right out of the Jurassic Era. It was a little reddish brown, but it was sunset, so it gets a pass.

Christ, Coffee and Comics

Jor-El, like before, goes to the council to warn them of Krypton's imminent destruction. He asks for the mcguffin Codex, but is interrupted by Zod and his legion. Not nearly as over the top as Stamp’s version, but Michael Shannon is very imposing as General Zod. Jor-El manages to escape as Zod’s forces lay waste to Krypton. He heads to the birth farm to grab the Codex, a skull thingy. 

Explosions. Explosions. Explosions.

Jor-El puts the Codex inside of baby Kal before sending him to Earth, putting all their hopes and dreams of the planet into the young boy. Zod arrives and Jor-El takes him on, preventing him from destroying the ship. Lara sends him off, defying Zod’s request to abort the launch. Zod kills Jor-El out of anger. Guards arrive and surround Zod, taking him in.

For their crimes, they’re all banished to the Phantom Zone. Zod promises he will find Lara’s son, making him pay for what they did. Zod and his people are put into phallic shaped pods that can only be described as dildos…sorry not sorry. You couldn’t have made another pass at that design? Little more effort? It just looked wrong. Really wrong.

Screen Rant

As Lara grieves, Krypton implodes and the ship flies through space, crashing in a town called Smallville, KS. You know it, you love it. You watched it for ten seasons.

Skipping past the backstory, it pops up throughout the movie, we get our first look at adult Clark. Bearded and working on a crab boat. They’re near an oil rig fire and Clark goes to rescue them. Physics are against him as he tries to hold part of the rig from falling on the rescue chopper. He falls into the sea and we go to a flashback of Clark in elementary school as his powers kick into high gear. Seeing through things, hearing everything, and heat vision.

Back in the present, he’s saved by whales and steals some clothes. Passing a school bus, a memory flashes in his mind. Clark’s a little older than he was before, about twelve or thirteen. He’s being bullied by Pete Ross (a friend to him in the comics) and Lana Lang standing up for him. Then BLAM, tire blows and the bus crashes into the river and begins to sink. Clark rushes to the back exit and pulls the bus to safety and pulls Pete out of the water.

Pete’s mom shows up to the Kent farm, claiming the work of God helped save her son. Jonathan, trying to defuse it by saying Pete thought he saw something, but he didn’t. Once they leave, he goes to have a talk with his son. 

What follows is the first MAJOR misstep in my opinion. And I mostly blame Smallville for this. Let’s compare…on the show, Clark saves Whitney (a guy who also just bullied him) and while no one saw anything his dad was furious asking if anyone saw; Jonathan was always worried about Clark’s secret from being exposed. Clark asked, “What was I supposed to do? Let him die?” Even though he hesitated for a split second, Mr. Kent told him no. But here? When Clark asked the same question his dad answers, “Maybe.”

REDIT

That is NOT what a good father or Johnathan Kent would say. While its for similar reasons, he goes about explaining it the wrong way. He’s supposed to lift up Clark, not pull him down like this. The exchange did lead to him telling Clark the truth about his origins. He shows him the ship and the key. This scene does make up a little for the ‘maybe.’ Telling him like in the Reeve’s version, that Clark was sent here for a reason.

Present day, Clark is working at a bar, still hiding out from the world. The notion of why was never explained, even after his father’s death. At the bar, Clark decides to use his powers for a little fun. Impaling a guy’s truck with power poles for getting grabby with a coworker and pouring beer on him for protecting her. A small nod to Superman 2? Maybe. Before this exchange Clark hears about a ship found up north that sounds like a spaceship. He goes to investigate it, but guess who also is investigating?

The Atlantic

Lois Lane (played by Amy Adams) arrives in the arctic. She’s every much the tough, smart ace reporter we’ve come to know and love. Interesting thing though, in this introductory scene there are three actors who also appeared on Smallville. Amy played a ‘freak of the week’ in an early season 1 episode. The military guy who met her at the helicopter played Wes Keanan in two episodes and was a part of Lex Luthor’s military experiment. Inside a tent delivering exposition, the analyst appeared in multiple episodes as Dr. Emil Hamilton…who is standing right beside him as he delivers his information saying something was buried in the ice and the ice surrounding it was over 20,000 years old.

Lois gets her camera and begins her investigation into the mysterious object. Taking photos of the site, she catches a mysterious man heading towards the site. She follows him inside. It’s Clark, using his powers to discover an old ship from Krypton below, equipped with a key slot that fits the key he was given as a child. A robot sees him as a threat and tries to stop him, but once the key is fully inserted, it goes away.

He hears his father whispering to him and sees someone out of the corner of his eye and follows. He finds multiple pods with dead bodies inside, with one open. Lois gets closer to the ship and when she takes a photo of the robot, it blasts her. He hears her scream and goes to save her. Clark uses his powers to help her, after which he steals the ship.

Lois goes to work to find out who the handsome stranger is that saved her life while reporting on the ship. Lawrence Fishborne as Perry, was perfect casting. As small as the role of Perry White usually is within the universe it takes place in, he’s a serious boss, but gives Lois a lot of leeway because he knows she’s a brilliant reporter. This one alone already has a Pulitzer. And can probably spell it too. He also knows when he has to bury a story. Especially when the Pentagon is denying all the corroborated facts.

She goes to a friend of hers that has his own website that publishes conspiracy theories and gets him to post it, because she’s hoping to find her mystery guy.

Back in the arctic, Clark has the ship’s guidance program up and running and he finally meets his father. Rather than the disembodied voice in the Fortress of Solitude, it's a walking, talking hologram as part of the ship’s interface. He gives Kal-El the backstory of Krypton (and exposition) of how Krypton went out among the stars to find new planets and use machines to make them just like Krypton so they could inhabit the planet. Then, artificial population control, outposts abandoned and the planet’s core became unstable and how Zod formed a coup.

The Codex was used to give people of Krypton a purpose, but never by choice and that’s what Jor-El feels the planet lost. When Kal was born, he could aspire to be something else, something greater.

Another weak part of this movie is there is so much talking and not a lot of action. And when the action does begin later, it doesn’t stop. There’s not much balance. Russel Crowe has to deliver a nearly five minute monologue to explain everything. Clark gets his alien suit after, and with his cape flowing behind him, he learns how to fly and push his limits to what he can do. The suit itself is a battle suit from Krypton, very alien. Compare that to some interations that had Martha make the suit. I kind of perfer those, because it has a human touch to the could be god.

Screen Rant

The scene where Clark learns to fly is good. You see him push himself and smile and laugh as he gets the hang of it before falling and crashing into a mountain. He gets right back up and closes his eyes, focusing on what he wants to be and takes to the skies whooshing through the clouds. He does the Christopher Reeve flying around the earth, but goes too quick to smile for the camera.

As Clark learns of his past and his powers, Lois zeroes in on Clark Kent. I still don’t understand why Snyder felt the need to rush to Lois finding out about Clark. Because if she was good enough to find him, someone else could and his identity would be revealed to the world. Mostly because they wouldn’t be as honorable as Lois.

Clark explains (with another flashback more frustrating than anything else in this movie) that fear of how people would perceive him kept him from stepping into the light. We go back to Clark and John having an argument in the truck with Clark wanting to do something useful in his life. He’s a young man now, eighteen or so. His dad wants him to be a farmer, but Clark wants to do more. Again, on Smallville, Jonathan never expected him to take over the farm or stay in the small town. That he was destined for bigger things and he wanted that for him when he was ready.

Here? Nope, farming and feeding people is important (and it is, just not for Clark). This of course is just a petty argument so he can throw the “You’re not my father” line. Since we were talking over his grave before the flashback, we all know what’s coming next. It’s just forced conflict for conflict's sake. Before he can apologize, there’s a tornado! Clark leads them to a nearby overpass. Clark’s dog Hank is still in the car and someone needs to get him before the tornado passes. Clark says he’s got it, but his dad goes instead.

Screen Rant

He’s doing this to protect Clark’s secret, I get it, but Clark is an adult male at this point. With the look and physicality (to an average person) of an 18-year old who’s on the football team. He wouldn’t even need his powers to run and get the dog and get back before anything happened. Once again, conflict for conflict’s sake. His dad goes instead, and gets his leg caught and can’t run after he gets it out. He dies as the tornado takes him.

This was THE WORST moment of the movie and most tone deaf in Superman lore. Yes, Jonathan Kent often dies. Usually of a heart attack. Why? Because it’s something he CAN’T FIGHT. Something he can’t prevent. That’s what gives it meaning. That’s what teaches him he can’t save everyone no matter how hard he tries. That’s supposed to be the lesson. Here, Mr. Kent died for nothing. Just to supposedly keep Clark’s secret. It is tragic that he died because the world wasn’t ready for Superman yet.

Lois decides to not run with the story and is suspended for two weeks for all her efforts.

Clark decides to visit his mother after the exchange. Could have walked, took a bus. He tells her he found his parents and about his origins. She’s happy, but not. Not quite ready to share him with the world yet or for him to be taken away.

An hour into the movie, our villain, and his ship arrives, hovering just outside Earth’s orbit. Zod interrupts your locally scheduled programming with a message: You are not alone (in languages all over the world). There’s someone from his planet on Earth, turn him over. Kal-El must turn himself in within 24 hours or they attack.

The guy who published her story outs her and men in black SUVs come for her because she knows who the mystery person is and they all want her to come forward with who Kal-El is. 

REDIT

Clark goes to church, hoping to get some priestly advice on what to do. There’s a not so subtle Jesus allegory (long standing theory that much of the Superman mythos is symbolic of Christ) in this scene as there’s a giant stained glass window behind Clark of Jesus praying to God at the Garden before he was taken in and put to death. SYMBOLISM!!! Dial it down a little there Snyder.

He decides to take a leap of faith and turns himself into the Army if they free Lois Lane. In an interrogation/interview he tells her the S stands for a symbol of hope. And before she can say the name, they’re interrupted by Dr. Hamilton. Everyone’s worried about him spreading pathogens, security concerns of what he might do. He’s worried about what Zod will do and agrees to be turned over to Zod.

Lois and Superman share a nice moment, but I still don’t really feel the chemistry between them. It feels a little forced and circumstantial to the situation they’re in. There’s some there, just I don’t find it to be as there as others I’ve seen.

Faora comes down to pick up Kal-El with one extra caveat…they want Lois Lane as well. Cause he reads the papers and knows something? I don’t know. She agrees and the pair head off to space to meet with the General. While alone, he carefully hands Lois his key as Faora retrieves a breather for Lois.

While meeting with Zod, Clark feels off. He can’t breathe because he’s spent 33 years on Earth and adapted to it. Clark passes out and Zod talks to him in a virtual space. Exposition about how they escaped the Phantom Zone and searched for the outposts that were now barren. When Clark started the ship, it signaled them to Earth. They want the Codex and to make Earth New Krypton. It’s his duty and his destiny, so sayeth the Codex when he was born.

Lois sees a console and puts the key inside of it. Jor-El is now in the ship and can help Lois and Superman escape! He starts by fixing the atmosphere on the ship to human, Lois can breathe and Clark can adapt back. With his powers back, he escapes as Lois plays follow the leader and enters a pod to escape to Earth. Her pod’s attacked and Superman has to rescue her, but not before Jor-El tells him that he’ll be the ‘bridge between’ humans and aliens and he can save them all. He jumps out the ship ala Jesus on the Christ…more heavy handed symbolism…and saves Lois from her crashing pod.

Lady Geek Girl and Friends

Zod’s people arrive on the Kent Farm wanting Clark’s ship. They of course don’t find the Codex since it was destroyed when it was put into Kal-El as a baby. The first fight finally begins 90 minutes into the movie. Zod’s mask breaks and he starts feeling everything, senses going haywire. He flees, but leaves behind two of his soldiers. The townsfolk run and hide as they go toe to toe. Army ready to fire on them, but of course it does no good. The big one goes Hulk smash as Superman crashes with Faora into an IHOP. Those pancakes gonna be a little late getting out.

She spells out Clark’s main weakness. He won’t kill, but they will no matter who gets in their way. The two on one fight continues on the streets of Smallville as Superman uses his powers they don’t know about to take them on. Army decides to kill them all, including Superman. It doesn’t end well for them.

The damage in the fight scenes in this movie are probably a lot more comic book accurate than most. When taking on foes that are equal or stronger than him, there’s always a lot of heavy damage to the city and towns he fights in, along with casualties. Product placement stores get totaled during the small town fight and Zod takes his second (Faora) and heads back to regroup.

Superman, who saved the army colonel, says he’s not their enemy. Trust is finally building between the Man of Steel and the military. As Clark checks in on his mother, Lois arrives with a plan to stop them.

A scientist guy, who checked Superman’s blood while he was weak (played by another Smallville actor who played a version of Lex Luthor) tells Zod the Codex now lies in Kal-El’s cells. Zod fires up the World Engine, the machine that will destroy the Earth to rebuild Krypton in its place. Sending one part to the Indian Ocean and the other to Metropolis. I wonder if Bruce Wayne is in town? The drive begins to operate and goes to work destroying the world.

REDIT

Metropolis starts to get leveled. Buildings are destroyed and people are killed by the energy beam destroying everything in its path. The world will be destroyed if someone doesn’t stop it. Superman plans to use the ship he came to earth in to create a singularity to stop the hyperdrive. Being around it will make him weaker, but he knows he has to try anyway. He goes up up and away as everyone gets ready for the plan.

Zod begins to adjust to his newfound powers, making him more dangerous. Jor-El asks Zod to stop what he’s doing. Superman flies down and takes on the computer nanites designed to fend off attacks. The Army is failing to blow it up because the missiles are being pulled in by the gravity of the machine.

The spectacle of fight number 2 is intense and creates a realistic look of what would happen when aliens come down looking for a fight. The fear of its citizens, the chaotic damage of buildings blowing and falling down, sometimes on top of people. It’s ugly and it’s messy and, again, fairly accurate to comics. It’s the one part Snyder does really well.

As dust and ash fall upon the city as buildings blow closer and closer to where Perry White and Lois’ coworkers are. Superman sits below the ship and gathers his strength and flies up into it, destroying it to save his world. The machine powers down and falls apart. Hamilton and Lois now have to fire Clark’s ship to save the planet on their end. Of course, there’s a problem and the key won’t go in. Zod’s targeting the ship. Tension! Excitement!

Superman destroys Zod’s ship and Krypton’s chances at being remade. It crashes through the city and Hamilton figures out how to fix the ship. Just spin it. Key goes in, but Faora shows up to slow them down. Hamilton fires it up and Colonel crashes the ship into the other one, sending all the Kryptonians back to the Phantom Zone. Lois falls to earth and Superman saves her but has to pull them out of the event horizon. Portal closes and they’re all gone.

Weeeelllll…except for Zod. He’s not happy. Bit angry. Lil mad. All perturbed.

The Gamer

It’s time for the final battle. Zod’s army is gone. His chance to remake Krypton was destroyed. He monologues that he was born to protect Krypton and now he has no purpose. Shannon really plays this part well. While you don't feel for Zod, he emotes what he's going through. He had only one purpose in life, and now that purpose is gone. He literally has nothing now. He says he’ll kill all humans, so Superman goes into battle mode one last time to finish him off.

The two fight throughout the city, causing more damage and chaos in their wake. All of which plays a crucial factor in the next movie. Buildings topple. Zod throws a LexCorp diesel truck. The streets, destroyed. There’s only one way this ends. With Zod’s death or Superman’s.

In a weak joke in the middle of the fight, Superman hits a sign that says ‘No accidents in 106 days’ and becomes 0 after he hits it. Good one, Snyder.

The long fight continues in the skies and into buildings. Into space, destroying a Wayne Satellite while they fight. They fall and land in a train terminal. Superman has Zod in a choke hold, but it still doesn’t slow down Zod who uses his heat vision to try and kill.

Zod left him no choice. He had to kill Zod. With the fight over, Superman cries out in pain. Mourning the loss. He is now truly alone and the last of his kind. Guilt over killing.

Den of Geek

This was highly controversial since he has one simple rule: No killing. What you have to realize is while he does have that code, maybe this was the moment he TRULY adopted it. So he would never have to feel that kind of pain again, feeling what its like to kill. It wasn’t him, and he never wants to do it again. It was shocking and a huge moment, he was also out of options. There was very little he could do in that moment that wouldn’t have got more people killed. He didn’t like it, didn’t relish in it, he hated that it came to that. Superman will never kill again, not if he can help it.

The other part that made this moment off, was the next scene was Superman tossing a drone that was following him. He told the army he was here to help, he’d have to trust that he’s there to do good like he will trust them to leave him to do his thing without being hunted down.

Spotern

Clark decides to be part of the world. Joins the Daily Planet as cub reporter Clark Kent (finally!) and dons the glasses and  will be shown the ropes by Lois.

Man of Steel!

It could have been better. 2.5/5 at best.

Cavil looks the role as Superman. The costume and the look, it all worked. He was a tough and serious Superman. What I never realized until after a few watches is that I didn’t feel that spark of hope. When Reeve’s was on screen, he’d smile and you could feel it. That symbol of hope he’s representing. I didn’t feel that the entire run of Cavil.

The all too realistic take on an alien on earth did it a small disservice. It’s supposed to be and feel impossible. It’s a godlike alien from another planet. Have fun with it. The story was essentially Clark becoming Superman in like a couple days going against one of his greatest foes. The fact he was hiding out half his life just never made sense. He was doing all these little things that led a trail of breadcrumbs for Lois to pick up on and follow. Intelligence only has to investigate Lois a little bit to put all the pieces together and realize Clark Kent is Superman.

The fight scenes worked great. Because Snyder can do the spectacle when it comes to that. The realism of the fight that even fits within the comic book world it’s part of. It just took a long time to get there. Three big and intense fight scenes in the course of under an hour. The quiet moments were all at the beginning. There were few moments to relax and breathe between the final fights. As soon as the World Engine was destroyed, Superman and Lois kissed and boom, there’s Zod. Final fight.

Snyder’s movies lack balance. They’re for the most part humorless (especially BvS), the tone is dark when Superman is light and hopeful (even if this is an origin story). The big moments are huge, but there needs to be a moment of calm before it fires up again.

With the end of the DCEU, we learned what his plans were and while this Superman fit that tone of what he was trying to do, it’s like he knows nothing of how Superman really is. The arc he was set to go through wouldn’t have been earned. Clark was isolated his entire life…at home as a kid then as a grown up walking the earth helping people from time to time, but never as himself and not as Superman. Just a drifter.

It wasn’t until the end when he finally stopped running and became Superman did he decide to sit still. Open himself up to Lois and be Clark Kent again. Which was another issue, he was barely Clark Kent. When he puts on the glasses it wasn’t the meek Clark who’s trying to be disguised as a regular guy. He stood tall, deep voice. The glasses are only half the disguise. The mannerisms and klutzy Clark is what makes it hard for people to believe that he could be Superman.

I loved this movie when I first saw it, but now? I see the cracks and this while a decent movie, lacked heart.

And heart is Superman’s greatest strength. Not just his will to want to do good and help people. His heart that was shaped by his parents and the morals and values of living in Smallville, but his parents were more overprotective. Knew he was meant for great things, but ultimately instead of preparing him for the moment, wanted him to stay hidden. Isolated from having friends and living a normal life.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice wasn’t technically a standalone, so I won’t be doing that or Justice League. Mostly because I can’t really sit through those to break it down. Just more problems and negatives than positives.

If you love Snyder movies, I get it. Love what you want to love. Enjoy what you want to enjoy. These critiques are just my opinion and mine alone. He was building a darker Superman storyline with the Justice League. Losing Lois, becoming an emissary to Darksied, needing to become the hero he needs to be to defeat him.

Problem is, none of this was ever really earned. When we jump to Dawn of Justice, he’s doing his thing, adored by some as Superman, hated and distrusted by others. Then he dies. Just barely out there as a hero and he’s gone, defeated by Doomsday. He was rushing to a story rather than letting it breathe and build the universe. Introduce a couple solo films, make a Batman and Wonder Woman solo (same one could have been made). Then you do Dawn of Justice with another main villain that allows for a team up. If you want to do Doomsday, you bring it in later, in a second Justice League movie.

The rush to the finish line was the biggest problem. The darker, bleak tone showed he really didn’t get Superman. It works for Batman, but not Superman. He’s supposed to be the symbol of hope, but I never felt that watching the movies. That changes this weekend.

James Gunn’s Superman finally hits theaters. A reboot and rebirth of the DCU. How it goes and where we go from here is unknown, but I’m excited to find out.

Fortress of Solitude