Low Expectations = Better Experience

I finally got a chance to see Man of Steel, and I was pleasantly surprised. I’d heard mixed reviews about it, and that’s generally not a good sign for a comic geek such as myself. It often means the character or story lost some vital part of its essence in the translation from page to screen. *cough*GreenLantern*cough*

Excuse me. Had a little tickle in the back of my throat.

Despite my fears, I was entertained from start to finish, and felt that, overall, it was a promising reboot of the franchise. I’m still absorbing the movie (it ended about an hour ago), but I thought Cavill made a great Supes, and Costner did a good job as Jonathan Kent. I also enjoyed Clark the Outcast, slinking around the edges of society, trying to fit in but inevitably moving on (whether it was because he had to ditch his incognito status to save some oil workers or because he lost his cool and impaled a poorly-mannered trucker’s rig with telephone poles).

Overall, the movie was light on humor, but a few things stuck out. The impaled big rig certainly amused me. At the end, Clarke showed up for work for the first time, and Lois said, “Welcome to the Planet,” an in-joke between the two of them that I literally giggled over, partially because it was so cheesy and partially because it was so perfect. And I couldn’t help but be amused by the decision to make Perry White a black man (but don’t get me wrong; Lawrence Fishburne makes an excellent Perry).

They also got the relationship with Ma and Pa Kent right. The Kents are the bedrock of Clark’s personality; they instilled in him a sense of honor, justice, and responsibility and that’s central to this movie. They went a little heavy on the “The world’s not ready for you, son” shtick, but whatever. It served the plot, I suppose. And the way Jonathan Kent humbly accepted his death in order to maintain his son’s anonymity was heart wrenching and true to character, even if it felt a little unnecessary and nonsensical (My son could run there and back in 20 seconds even without his powers, but I’ll go instead. What could possibly go wrong?).

And my god, the fight scenes. One of my biggest problems with the Bana/Norton Hulk movies is that they were light on the “Hulk smash!” and heavy on the “Banner whine!” Whedon fixed that in the Avengers, finding a middle ground for which I was truly grateful, because it’s so damn fun to see an individual that powerful really let loose. The same applies with Supes. Watching him get smacked by an airborne train, seeing him punch Zod through the air, catch up to his still flailing body and then punch it another half a mile, seeing the speed with which Kryptonians can move…it all drives home the reality of these characters. As a comic book reader, you spend a lot of time imaging their speed and power, and to see it fully on display…it evokes the kind of joy kids feel when opening presents on Christmas. It’s bliss.

That said, I wouldn’t be a comic geek if I didn’t bitch a little, and bitch I shall. Overlooking the little stuff (WTF? Lois Lane is supposed to have black hair! Did the Kryptonians steal their armor from the characters in Gears of War?!), there are a few bones I have to pick. The big one I hear most people complaining about is Superman killing Zod. I must admit it shocked me, mostly because in the comic books Superman never kills. Ever. (Except Doomsday, and he doesn’t really count.) He always finds a way to avoid killing and this seemed a rather extreme break in character (no pun intended). Seeing him kill someone is akin to seeing the modern Batman use a gun. It just doesn’t happen.

That said, I don’t have as much of a problem with it as some do. It’s still unclear to me whether Zod killed that family or not, but either way, it seems like a relatively reasonable response from Superman. This movie is about him finding himself, testing his limits, realizing who he is, being both an alien outcast and yet being human—and thus fallible like the rest of us—at the same time. Some may say that Superman is supposed to represent an ideal, and they’re right, but that can also make him hard to relate to. This moment makes him less than perfect, and thus all the more relatable. Depending on how it’s handled, it can also be the foundation of the status quo. This can easily be spun into “I did it once and now I realize it’s not who I am. Never again.” And besides, it felt very much like a wink to comic book readers familiar with Wonder Woman’s killing of Maxwell Lord*, which I appreciated.

Most of my issues with the film stem from faulty logic and unnecessary license taken with Superman canon. For instance, I know Morpheus is in the movie, dudes, but did we really need Matrix-y baby farms? I suppose they needed something to be the MacGuffin, but making it some weird baby-making Codex felt bizarre and forced. To be honest, as cool as it was to see Krypton in all its alien-ness, I thought the scenes there were the weakest part of the movie.

I also took umbrage with the effect “Kryptonian atmospherics” had on Superman. His powers are derived from our yellow sun. His cells soak up all the bright, shiny nuclear goodness and that (somehow) gives him his powers. Short of Kryptonite dust, nothing in the atmosphere should effect his ability to soak up and use the sun’s rays. In fact, the guy doesn’t even need to breathe! He can survive in the vacuum of space, but Kryptonian air saps him of his strength? Weaksauce, man. That sounds an awful lot like lazy writing to me.

Then we’ve got Zod’s terraforming plan. Zod makes it clear in this movie that his sole purpose in life is to protect his people. That’s fine; it makes him a more layered and sympathetic villain, rather than just some random sociopath in charge of an army. So why in the hell does he need to terraform Earth to protect his people? Mars too far away for him? Apparently he took a look at the solar system and thought, “Well, there’s a perfectly suitable planet a little further out that we could terraform, but fuck it—we’re here and I don’t feel like driving all the way back to Mars. Let’s just commit genocide on a planetary scale and call this home, ‘cause I’m lazy.” If he’s a relatively honorable man willing to go to extreme lengths to save his people, fine. Why the butchery? If he’s just a nutbag psychopath, then why even bother with the “I exist to protect my people” stuff?

Even setting that aside, it’s already been established that Kryptonians can live on Earth; why would you need to terraform it?! Why in the shit would you take a planet whose environment imbues you with the powers of a demi-god and terraform it into something that would take those powers away? I don’t hang out in the Legion of Doom’s headquarters, but I don’t know too many people—let alone power-hungry villains—who are willing to give up that kind of power. It makes absolutely no sense.

That’s pretty bad, but the most egregious problem with the movie is the fight scenes. Yeah, I know, I said I loved them. And I did. But I hated where they took place. Namely, smack dab in the middle of Smallville and Metropolis. Superman is the ultimate protector. He exists to help out the little guy; his exists to keep everyone safe. He doesn’t fight city-leveling brawls! Sure, powerful villains might start some shit in the city, but his first response is pretty much always “I need to get this guy out of the city to mitigate the collateral damage.” He punches, kicks, or lures villains away from populated areas so that he can fight them without fear of destroying buildings and killing innocent bystanders. That’s basically Superman’s Rule #1. I’m sure the director and FX guys were practically jizzing their pants at the thought of blasting a bunch of belligerent Kryptonians through as many buildings as possible, only thinking about how “cool” it would look, but it’s friggin’ ludicrous when you take into account what Superman stands for. That—even more than killing Zod—is as out of character as you can get when it comes to the Man of Steel.

So yeah, the movie wasn’t perfect. But it laid a decent foundation on which improvements can be made. And honestly, I can’t help but geek out while watching Superman be Superman, plot holes or no. My hopes for the future: A sequel with the same cast, a different director who reigns in the let’s-destroy-as-much-shit-as-possible Hollywood excess, gets Lex Luthor (with that bitchin’ battle suit of his) involved, and paves the road just a little closer to a Justice League movie.

Fingers crossed.

*In a 2005 event, Max Lord used his ability to control minds to force Superman to wreak havoc on the Justice League. Realizing that gravity of an out of control Superman, Wonder Woman snapped Lord’s neck before he could make Superman do something truly tragic.