Starring: Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Michael Shannon, Diane Lane, Russell Crowe, Kevin Costner, Ayelet Zurer, Laurence Fishburne, and Cooper Timberline
Distributor: Roadshow Films
Runtime: 143 mins. Reviewed in Jun 2013
| 
| 
This is an American superhero film, based on the DC Comics character, “Superman”. It is the latest in a long-running Superman series, which began some 75 years ago. Richard Donner was highly successful commercially with his film, “Superman”, in 1978. The latest film in the series was Bryan Singer’s “Superman Returns” in 2006.
The film returns us to Superman’s early history. The planet, Krypton faces imminent destruction, and Jor-El (Russell Crowe) and his wife Lara (Ayelet Zurer) launch their newborn son, Kal-El, to Earth in a spacecraft and load a genetic register with him, called Codex, that is intended to preserve the Kryptonian race.
Kal-El (Cooper Timberline, as a child) is raised as the adopted son of Jonathan (Kevin Costner) and Martha (Diane Lane) Kent, who name him Clark. Clark has special superhuman abilities, but Jonathan reveals to him that he is an alien and tells him not to utilize his powers, lest people come to reject him through fear. A grown-up Clark (Henry Cavill) discovers a Kryptonian scout-ship that allows him to interact with the preserved consciousness of Jor-El in the form of a hologram. A journalist on “The Daily Planet”, Lois Lane (Amy Adams), tracks him to discover the ship also and she listens to Clark’s story. She decides not to reveal his secret, and she knows that her Editor, Perry White (Laurence Fishburne) will not print her story, because no one would believe it. In time, Clark takes a job as a reporter on The Daily Planet to keep him close to Lois Lane, and in touch with any calamities that are happening.
The commander of the rebel forces back on Krypton, General Zod (Michael Shannon), wants access to Codex and demands the surrender of Superman to him, threatening that Earth will suffer the consequences if it does not agree. Superman surrenders, but learns the malevolent plan of the general, and wins over the support of the military on Earth to help him. Doing fierce battle with the maniacal general and his team, Superman kills Zod.
The film lines up against modern superheroes, like Batman, Spider-man, Hulk, and Iron Man, that currently show-case the darker side of human nature. Superman does not sell out his virtues to a return to darkness, as most of the modern movies about superheroes have chosen to do. Against type, the film emphasizes Christian virtues, almost intentionally, in the way it casts its superhero. Running the risk of overemphasizing its point, it shows implied crucifixion, gives the age of 33 to Superman, Superman seeks counselling from a Priest, and Superman’s father (Jor-El) thinks his son will give “the people of Earth an ideal to strive towards” and “be a God to them” to “give them hope”. The film is a wordy attempt to mature Superman by focusing on reconciliation of his identity as a human with his identity as a God-like superhero, and for the most part (General Zod’s killing indicates Superman’s comfort with aggression), his virtuous qualities remain relatively intact. But mid-way, the film loses its direction, and becomes an excuse for lots of violence.
Superman is costumed to look different (the red underpants are gone), and there is little expense spared to bring this version to the screen. The movie affirms sacrifice, faith and service. However, lots of fight and explosion scenes muddy the waters for indicating the development of uncomplicated virtue. These scenes are included, because they show super-achievements, but they represent achievements that bow to the popular demand for high action-appeal. The action is repetitive, and the fiery explosions reach a point of being silly.
The film is brought to the screen with a bold visual style in high-tech format. It tries to reenergize the superhero myth, and Henry Cavill’s hero-looking performance as Superman helps. Snyder is arguing for a superhero that one can look up to (almost completely) for decency and humanity. But ultimately action effects win the day in a movie that goes over the top to dazzle in explosive ways.
12 Random Films…
