“Man of Steel” successfully rekindled the Superman franchise thanks to a great story, cast and superb special effects. (Poster property of DC Comics and Warner Bros.)
By: Jacob Elyachar
For the first time in seven years, the Man of Steel flew on the Silver Screen.
Instead of sinking to the bottom of the ocean like Superman Returns, this film took moviegoers on a journey that breached Earth’s atmosphere and sent us to the remains of Krypton and back.
There were three factors that attributed to Man of Steel’s success: story, the acting ensemble and the special effects.
Man of Steel’s story focused on the classic origin story by Superman creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster that were fused by modern tales written by John Byrne, Geoff Johns and Grant Morrison.
Screenwriter David S. Goyer (the Christopher Nolan Batman trilogy) worked his magic by breathing in new life into the legendary superhero’s opus by modernizing Metropolis, making Krypton (both majestic and volcanic) and adding characters who played a part in the Man of Steel’s life (Faora, Steve Lombard and Professor Emil Hamilton) into the film.
The Man of Steel casting ensemble brilliantly brought Goyer’s screenplay to life. Henry Cavill did a terrific job bringing Superman onto the big screen and made Kal-El easily routable. Amy Adams’s Lois Lane was exceptional and captured the independent and feisty version of the Daily Planet reporter that is currently featured in The New 52 instead of the archetypical damsel in distress.
In addition, both Russell Crowe and Kevin Costner, perfectly portrayed Superman’s fathers: the brilliant scientist and biological father Jor-El and his down-to-earth adoptive father Jonathan Kent. Rounding out the cast of standouts is Michael Shannon. His version of Zod was more maniacal and calculating than Terrence “Kneel Before Zod” Stamp.
Finally, the special effects were out of this world. Between the tentacles on Zod’s warship to the silver-colored Kryptonian flashbacks, Weta Digital, MPC and Double Negative brilliantly brought the science fiction aspects of the DC Universe to life in this film.
Final thoughts and grade: Zack Snyder, Christopher Nolan and David S. Goyer all breathed life into one of DC Comics’ most recognizable heroes and proved that with the right story, cast and special effects that Warner Bros and DC Comics can do fantastic superhero films that are not just about a certain Dark Knight! (Here’s hoping that Kevin Spacey reprises his role as Lex Luthor for the sequel). A-
