Thoughts On Man Of Steel

I went to the midnight showing of Man of Steel on my birthday last week.  The theater wasn't packed when I arrived, but it had filled to near capacity by the time the show began.  No cosplayers were at the screening that I saw, but I heard from others that some garbed in full Justice League gear showed up at theirs.

(For those of you who haven't seen the movie, some minor spoilers follow):
Man of Steel is basically Superman Begins in that it explores Clark Kent's origins and psyche mostly in flashbacks peppered throughout the film.  They work pretty well for the most part.  There was only one sequence that I took issue with, but that had to do with the execution of the scene and not the scene itself.

One thing that Man of Steel does well that previous films never really touched on is the relationship between General Zod (Michael Shannon, who is absolutely phenomenal in the role) and Clark's biological father, Jor-El (Russell Crowe in what I think is possibly the best version of Jor-El on screen).  Zod, as Krypton's military leader, has a singular focus of ensuring the survival of the Kryptonian race no matter the cost.  Jor-El, Krypton's lead scientist, also wants to ensure Krypton's survival, but through a far less violent method in the form of sacrificing his only son to Earth.  In a society that had become nothing more than a machine where everyone born was bred only to fulfill one specific purpose in life, the idea of a child given a choice was heresy.  This dichotomy forms one of the key backbones of the film and is especially well touched in a scene towards the finale.

Another thing that Man of Steel finally gets right is giving Superman some people to punch in the form of the Kryptonians Zod, Namek, and Faora (a small, but standout performance by German actress Antje Traue).  This all out display of Superman's powers is something that was sorely missing in Superman Returns.  An especially nice touch is the way eyes look when heat vision is being activated.  There's several big action scenes throughout the movie and though they're done well enough, I started to feel a little fatigued from all the constant non-stop destruction.  I very much enjoyed the hand-to-hand sequences though.

All in all, I thought the entire cast was pretty solid.  Henry Cavill, Michael Shannon, and Antje Traue may not have been household names before this movie, but they will be after.  This was a film I enjoyed so much that I saw it twice on opening day.  Very rare occurrence that is.  

For those of you who've grown accustomed to after credits parts in superhero films, there are none here.  However, there are some easter eggs in the form of a visible Lexcorp logo on the side of a tanker truck and a Wayne Enterprises logo on a satellite during the last fight scene between Clark and Zod.  There's also one when Clark is inside the spaceship that will later become his Fortress of Solitude in the form of an open stasis pod (possibly a reference to Supergirl of whom that ship belongs to as shown in the special prequel comic for Man of Steel).  There are more and I'm sure you can find them through the power of Google.

For anyone who wants to erase the bad taste of Superman Returns, Man of Steel will not disappoint.  It may not be a great movie, but I think it is a highly enjoyable one.  As of this writing, it opened up to a $125 million box office weekend domestically, so a sequel is assured and maybe, just maybe, the Justice League will also be greenlit...