Man of Steel

Trailer-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6DJcgm3wNY

I've never been that interested in Superman. To me he's like a really over-powered character in a fighting game like Metaknight in Super Smash Brothers who becomes a little boring due to their lack of flaws. Man of Steel does an alright job to make Clark Kent a little more interesting but still feels a little bit meh when compared to almost any other superhero film in the last few years.

It's an origin story of how Superman came to be Superman and we really do see where it all started with Superman's Mum's birth scene starting the film. The thing that struck me most about Man of Steel was how sci-fi it was. The film spends quite a bit of time in space and the first 20 or so minutes feel like a mash of Avatar and John Carter [for all 4 people that saw that]. For those totally ignorant of Superman it definitely does come as a bit of a surprise.

An area of the film that works is how Clark Kent's story is told through flashbacks. Sure it's a little unbelievable that all this blockbuster action sequence stuff all happened to him in his childhood just by chance [a dramatic bus crash, a tornado] but it shows him at his most human...or not as he's an alien. I just felt that the best bits of the film is where you see Superman as a person with emotions and a bit of angst. It stops him from becoming this soulless inhuman alien who can do anything.

The action in the film is also pretty breathtaking and has 'summer blockbuster' written all over it. It's just scene after scene of explosions and falling buildings and the fight scenes are fast and frantic. They could maybe do with a little more heart behind them, there weren't many moments of tension where you really cared for the characters involved. No matter what happened to Superman he was always going to get up and keep fighting, he's Superman. Lois Lane and his mum are quite outside the main action so it's just the 1000s of faceless people in Metropolis we're supposed to worry about.

I found the scenes of Earth far more interesting than when the film got bogged down in Sci-Fi though. Whenever they were in space or Superman's 'real' Dad reappeared in some life-simulation thing I found myself caring less and less. I felt the same when I watched Thor, the best bits of a super-hero film are when they're saving real-life relatable humans and not when they're going on about some deep futuristic plan 1000s of miles away in space.

General Zod works alright as a villain but there has definitely been many more interesting.

It's not a complete disaster but just fails to really stand out next to some other superhero films recently or even some of this year's action blockbusters. It has a few very nice moments and the action is very much worth the price of admission but there's not much else to get really excited about.

7/10


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