Review: "Man of Steel" Overstuffed with Spectacle

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 41 (of 2013) by Leroy Douresseaux

Man of Steel (2013)
Running time: 143 minutes (2 hours, 23 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi violence, action and destruction, and for some language
DIRECTOR: Zack Snyder
WRITERS: David S. Goyer; from a story by David S. Goyer and Christopher Nolan (based upon the Superman characters created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster and published by DC Comics)
PRODUCER: Christopher Nolan, Charles Roven, Deborah Snyder, and Emma Thomas
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Amir Mokri (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: David Brenner
COMPOSER: Hans Zimmer

SUPERHERO/ACTION/DRAMA/SCI-FI

Starring: Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Michael Shannon, Diane Lane, Kevin Costner, Russell Crowe, Antje Traue, Harry Lennix, Richard Schiff, Christopher Meloni, Ayelet Zurer, Laurence Fishburne, Michael Kelly, Dylan Sprayberry, and Cooper Timberline

Man of Steel is a 2013 superhero movie from director Michael Bay. Ooops! I mean…

Man of Steel is a 2013 superhero movie from director Zack Snyder. The film is co-produced and co-written by Christopher Nolan, the director of “The Dark Knight trilogy” (yep, that’s what they’re calling Nolan’s Batman films) with a screenplay by David S. Goyer, who co-wrote Nolan’s Batman films. Man of Steel is a reboot of the Superman film franchise and is the first Superman movie since 2006’s Superman Returns.

Man of Steel focuses on Superman living as a young drifter and itinerant worker. He is forced to confront his destiny and secret extraterrestrial heritage when Earth is invaded by members of his race. That sounds warm and dramatic, but the actual film is an over-produced event movie that loses its heart and soul in a tsunami of computer-generated imagery and special effects. Once you see the movie, you might also think that this loud movie looks like something Michael Bay made, especially his Transformers films.

Man of Steel opens on the planet Krypton, where renowned scientist, Jor-El (Russell Crowe), and his wife, Lara Lor-Van (Ayelet Zurer), celebrate the arrival of a son, Kal-El. Their world, however, is dying as the rebel, General Zod (Michael Shannon), and his followers attack Krypton’s ruling council. In order to save Kal-El, Jor-El launches him in a spacecraft bound for Earth. The infant Kal-El lands on Earth in Smallville, Kansas, where he is found and adopted by Martha and Jonathan Kent (Diane Lane and Kevin Costner), who name the baby, “Clark Kent.” Clark’s alien physiology gives him superhuman abilities on Earth, but also causes him to feel confused and isolated.

As an adult, Clark Kent (Henry Cavill) lives a nomadic life. He does not realize that Lois Lane (Amy Adams), a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist for the Daily Planet, is tracking him. Both Kent and Lane discover that Kent’s alien past is about to return in a way that could mean the end of humanity and the world as we know it.

Man of Steel is half-good, half-ridiculous. First, the ridiculous: the movie is all over the place. It jumps back in forth in time from occasionally overly-sentimental flashbacks to over-charged, present-day fight scenes. The characters are either under-utilized or underdeveloped. Henry Cavill and Amy Adams are actually good as Clark and Lois, but every time they seem about to really bond as characters, Man of Steel runs over to action scenes that look like they came out of the Transformers films, Revenge of the Fallen and Dark of the Moon.

Some of the set pieces depict levels of destruction that are practically impossible to fully comprehend. Fight scenes and aerial battles happen in a whirlwind of computer-generated imagery; sometimes, I couldn’t make out much of anything, even the combatants. In fact, much of Man of Steel is one big tornado of special-effects crap thrown at the screen. There is so much destruction going on in Metropolis that it began to annoy me. After ten minutes of this, I realized that the movie had crossed the line of relentless triteness that now defines big-budget Hollywood event movies.

Even this post-human movie offers moments of genuine humanity. The scenes in Smallville, present and flashback, offer some poignant character drama, if not the occasional tedious homily. There is a good moving and emotional set piece with Laurence Fishburne as Daily Planet Editor in Chief Perry White, as he and some of the Planets’ staff fight to survive the destruction of Metropolis. Michael Shannon is brilliantly demented as General Zod, in way that makes the character alluring.

The filmmakers and (more likely) the studio do not seem interested in Clark Kent’s humanity. They seem obsessed with the spectacle of the superhero and his adversaries as videogame wrecking balls, tearing apart the world in visuals created by computers, software, and cinema technology. Sometimes, that looks quite good, as in Marvel’s The Avengers. Sometimes, it looks like a preposterous overstatement, as in Man of Steel. I found this movie to be a mostly unpleasant viewing experience. Is this what future Superman movies are going to look like? I hope the intriguing, interesting character bits that really left an impression on me and are the reason for my “B-“ score can have a bigger place in the next Man of Steel.

5 of 10
B-

Sunday, June 16, 2013

Henry Cavill to Host Special "Man of Steel" Screening

Warner Bros. Pictures and Henry Cavill Join Forces to Honor U.S. Men and Women in Uniform

“Man of Steel” ™ Star Kicks Off Nationwide Advance Screenings for Military Personnel and Families

BURBANK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Henry Cavill, who stars in the title role of the upcoming action adventure film “Man of Steel” from Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures, will make a special appearance in Lancaster to welcome the men and women of Edwards Air Force Base to a special advance screening of the movie on Saturday, June 8. Cavill will introduce the film and greet the military in attendance, many of whom played extras in the movie, a portion of which was shot on the base.

In appreciation of our troops, and in recognition of First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden’s Joining Forces initiative (www.whitehouse.gov/joiningforces), the Studio will also host advance screenings throughout the weekend at over three dozen military bases across the country. A video greeting from Mrs. Obama and Dr. Biden, thanking those in the audience for their service, will play ahead of the film.

The two “Man of Steel” screenings for the Edwards AFB personnel and guests will take place on June 8 at 2:00 p.m. at the Cinemark 22 Theater in Lancaster, California. The additional screenings for the servicemen and women and families who are currently stationed at Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard bases across the country will take place on either Saturday or Sunday at the following locations:

•Army: Ft. Meade, Baltimore, Maryland; Carlisle Barracks, Carlisle, Pennsylvania; Ft. Lewis, Tacoma, Washington; Ft. Warren, Cheyenne, Wyoming; Ft. Campbell, Clarksville, Tennessee; Ft. Jackson, Columbia, South Carolina; Ft. Stewart, Hinesville, Georgia; Ft. Hood, Killeen, Texas; Ft. Polk, Leesville, Louisiana; and Ft. Leonardwood, Waynesville, Missouri.

•Air Force: Hanscom AFB, Bedford, Massachusetts; Keesler AFB, Biloxi, Mississippi; Dover AFB, Dover, Delaware; Travis AFB, Fairfield, California; Goodfellow AFB, San Angelo, Texas; Lackland AFB, San Antonio, Texas; Schofield AFB, Wahiawa, Hawaii; Hickam AFB, Watertown, New York; Sheppard AFB, Wichita Falls, Texas; and McGuire AFB, Wrightstown, New Jersey.

•Navy: SUBASE Bangor, Bangor, Washington; NSWC Dahlgren, Dahlgren, Virginia; NAS El Centro, El Centro, California; NAS Fallon, Fallon, Nevada; NAS JRB Fort Worth, Fort Worth, Texas; SUBASE New London, Groton, Connecticut; NAB Little Creek, Little Creek, Virginia; NAS North Island, North Island, California; NAS Patuxent River, Patuxent River, Maryland; MCAS Miramar, San Diego, California; and NAS Whidbey Island, Whidbey Island, Washington.

•Marine Corps: MCAG 29 Palms, 29 Palms, California; MCAS Cherry Point, Cherry Point, North Carolina; MCB Kaneohe Bay, Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii; MCAS New River, New River, North Carolina; and MCB Yuma, Yuma, Arizona.

•Coast Guard: USCG in Petaluma, California; and USCG in Astoria, Oregon.

“Man of Steel” opens nationwide in 2D and 3D in select theatres and IMAX® on June 14, 2013. The film has been rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi violence, action and destruction, and for some language.


About the Film: From Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures comes “Man of Steel,” starring Henry Cavill in the role of Clark Kent/Superman, under the direction of Zack Snyder. A young boy learns that he has extraordinary powers and is not of this Earth. As a young man, he journeys to discover where he came from and what he was sent here to do. But the hero in him must emerge if he is to save the world from annihilation and become the symbol of hope for all mankind.

“Man of Steel” also stars Amy Adams, Michael Shannon, Kevin Costner, Diane Lane, Laurence Fishburne, Antje Traue, Ayelet Zurer, Christopher Meloni and Russell Crowe. The film is produced by Charles Roven, Christopher Nolan, Emma Thomas and Deborah Snyder. The screenplay was written by David S. Goyer from a story by Goyer & Nolan, based upon Superman characters created by Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster and published by DC Entertainment. Thomas Tull, Lloyd Phillips and Jon Peters serve as executive producers. Warner Bros. Pictures presents, in association with Legendary Pictures, a Syncopy Production, a Zack Snyder Film, “Man of Steel.” The film will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.

www.manofsteel.com

Flashy "Immortals" Mortally Flawed

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 27 (of 2012) by Leroy Douresseaux


Immortals (2011)
Running time: 110 minutes (1 hour, 50 minutes)
MPAA – R for sequences of strong bloody violence, and a scene of sexuality
DIRECTOR: Tarsem Singh Dhandwar
WRITERS: Charles Parlapanides and Vlas Parlapanides
PRODUCERS: Mark Canton, Ryan Kavanaugh, and Gianni Nunnari
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Brendan Galvin (D.o.P.)
EDITORS: Wyatt Jones, Stuart Levy, and David Rosenbloom
COMPOSER: Trevor Morris

FANTASY/DRAMA/WAR

Starring: Henry Cavill, Mickey Rourke, Stephen Dorff, Freida Pinto, Luke Evans, John Hurt, Joseph Morgan, Alan Van Sprang, Isabel Lucas, and Kellan Lutz

The subject of this movie review is Immortals, a 2011 3D fantasy film (which I saw in traditional D). The film, which is loosely based on various Greek myths, follows the quest of a man seeking vengeance against the ruthless king who killed his mother.

In the year 1228 B.C., Hyperion (Mickey Rourke), the mortal Heraklion king, seeks the Epirus Bow, a weapon of immense power that can be used to slay immortals and gods. Hyperion will use the bow to free the enemies of the gods, the Titans, so that they can destroy Zeus (Luke Evans) and the other gods. His search for the bow takes Hyperion and his army to the village of Koplos.

During their rampage through the village, Hyperion kills the mother of Theseus (Henry Cavill), a highly skilled warrior. Theseus is shunned by his fellow villagers because he was born a bastard child, but the gods favor him. During his mission of vengeance, Theseus meets Phaedra (Freida Pinto), an Oracle priestess. Phaedra’s visions tell her that Theseus will play an integral part in Hyperion’s quest to free the Titans, but whose side Theseus will choose remains a mystery.

Director Tarsem Singh likely first made a big impression on pop culture because he directed the music video for the R.E.M. song, “Losing My Religion,” which won “Best Video of the Year” at the 1991 MTV Video Music Awards. I found the video to be as pretentious and as ridiculous as the song (although I like R.E.M.). He next gained attention for directing the Jennifer Lopez movie, the visually striking, but pretentious and dumb, The Cell.

Immortals is less pretentious and less dumb than the R.E.M. music video and The Cell, but still pretentious. Immortals is certainly visually striking; there were moments during the film when certain costumes, sets, and backdrops gave me pause and made me press the rewind button on the remote. Sadly, the movie seems like little more than a fairy tale that someone could tell in less than half an hour stretched past the breaking point in order to become a nearly two-hour long movie.

Immortals can be described as 300 and Troy retrofitted with elements of Lord of the Rings. So there are epic battles, clashes of supernatural beings, and big pre-battle speeches, but there is not much of a narrative.

I must say that Mickey Rourke gives a stellar performance as the brutal King Hyperion, but Rourke’s performance fashions a character that is better than the movie in which he plays the central villain. Henry Cavill’s performance is a mixed bag. Sometimes, Theseus is rousing; other times, the character doesn’t come across as the kind of great hero that an epic action fantasy film needs. Hopefully, Cavill does better next year when he debuts as the lead in the Superman film franchise reboot, The Man of Steel.

Immortals is not bad, but it isn’t particularly good. It is a movie with potential and lots of good elements that don’t quite come together. Thus, Immortals will likely be relegated to that great pile of mediocre movies that exists between the really good and highly entertaining stuff and the stand-out bad stuff.

5 of 10
C+

Thursday, April 05, 2012

Henry Cavill as Superman Revealed

“Man of Steel” Revealed

Much-Anticipated First Look at Star Henry Cavill as Superman

BURBANK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures have provided the first look at the new “Man of Steel,” revealing star Henry Cavill as Superman in the film from director Zack Snyder.

The film also stars three-time Oscar® nominee Amy Adams (“The Fighter”) as Daily Planet journalist Lois Lane, and Oscar® nominee Laurence Fishburne (“What’s Love Got to Do with It”) as her editor-in-chief, Perry White. Starring as Clark Kent’s adoptive parents, Martha and Jonathan Kent, are Oscar® nominee Diane Lane (“Unfaithful”) and Academy Award® winner Kevin Costner (“Dances with Wolves”).

Squaring off against the superhero are two other surviving Kryptonians, the villainous General Zod, played by Oscar® nominee Michael Shannon (“Revolutionary Road”), and Faora, Zod’s evil partner, played by Antje Traue. Also from Superman’s native Krypton are Lara Lor-Van, Superman’s mother, played by Julia Ormond, and Superman’s father, Jor-El, portrayed by Academy Award® winner Russell Crowe (“Gladiator”).

Rounding out the cast are Harry Lennix as U.S. military man General Swanwick, as well as Christopher Meloni as Colonel Hardy.

“Man of Steel” is being produced by Charles Roven, Emma Thomas, Christopher Nolan and Deborah Snyder. The screenplay was written by David S. Goyer, from a story by Goyer and Nolan, based upon Superman characters created by Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster and published by DC Comics. Thomas Tull and Lloyd Phillips are serving as executive producers.

Currently in production, “Man of Steel” is slated for release on June 14, 2013 and will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.