Superman: Spectacle trumps storytelling

Published Jun 28, 2013

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MAN OF STEEL

DIRECTOR: Zack Snyder

CAST: Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Russell Crowe, Diane Lane, Kevin Costner, Michael Shannon,

CLASSIFICATION: 10-12PG V

RUNNING TIME: 143 minutes

RATING: ***

THIS latest rebooting of the Superman myth on screen pits director Zack Snyder’s sense of the epic against Hollywood bean counters’ need to tick off the blockbuster checklist, with middling success.

For a blockbuster you need a Hans Zimmer score (check), generic action sequences of bad guy pummelling good guy who delves deep within to find the strength to prevail (check), and several buildings that can be messily destroyed (double check).

Man of Steel represents the most computer-generated sequences outside the forthcoming Pacific Rim and possibly Elysium that you will see on screen this year. These unfortunately create a bland sense of visuals because they are oh so perfect – there’s not an ash flake out of sync or a building that doesn’t collapse just right, so the back of your brain is screaming “unreal, unreal”.

Therefore the film, strangely enough, highlights that storytelling is the most important film-making technique, which every bit of technological magic is meant to support, not obscure. Amazing special effects mean nothing if you can’t get the viewer to buy into the story (did John Carter teach Hollywood nothing?)

The film flits back and forth to tell the story of how Kryptonian Jor-El (Crowe) sends his son to Earth, where he is adopted by Jonathan (Costner) and Martha (Lane) Kent from Kansas, and how Kal-El (Cavill) finds his place in this world.

You will believe this Superman can fly and the opening sequence on Krypton is… erm… epic… but this is about as far away from a comic as Superman can get. Where is the sense of fun?

Cavill is gorgeous as broody Superman, and this storyline emphasises the fact we tend to forget about the comic book character – that Kal-El is an alien from Krypton. While the character was at the forefront of the creation of the superhero genre, one of his principal themes has been that his very alienness helps to teach readers what it means to be human.

Snyder packs the film so full of visuals we associate with the creation of “epic moments” that you can practically see the strings. (Which is kind of funny because if you now watch the Christopher Reeve films you can see how the special effects were achieved.) It’s all iconography and very little else.

The skyscrapers of Metropolis are destroyed as Superman and General Zod (Shannon) duke it out and it is super violent, but all the special effects obscure the uneven pacing and lack of actual drama.

Somewhere amid all the computer-generated smoke and mirrors, the film does tell the story of how Clark Kent becomes Superman. To a certain extent it does so through the eyes of Daily Planet reporter Lois Lane (Adams), which highlights the lack of storytelling. If they had concentrated more on this angle and given us the discovery of Superman through Lois’ eyes there would have been some dramatic narrative.

As it is, the film looks visually spectacular and this Superman is believable as an alien, but focusing so much on creating the spectacle means the very story takes a back seat – yet it is telling the story about what makes the man in the red cape tick that keeps the comic book fans coming back for more, generation after generation.

Yes, this Superman is less of a wimp than that guy from Superman Returns and Christopher Nolan’s touch can be seen in the more broody moments of Kal-El’s questioning whether humans are ready for an alien with god-like powers to walk among them, but tortured exposition is not storytelling.

If you liked the Iron Man trilogy, you will like this.

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