Man of Steel: Should We Be Excited?

So, 2013 reigns in a fresh year of superhero's. We have the new Thor movie expected this year, a sequel to Wolverine's solo outing, Iron Man 3, and most importantly Man Of Steel. Superman flies back onto our screens for the first time since summer 2006. So, the big question is - should we be excited?

Although Superman is probably the most famous of all the superheroes he has to be one of the worst. He's just annoying. These days people like a bit of grit with their hero, there almost seems to be a craving for an antihero. Take Batman for example. Bruce Wayne is always a good guy, but he constantly seems to be struggling with his inner darkness and you always get the feeling he's treading dangerously close to the realms of evil. We most definitely do not get that with Superman and I think this could prove to be a real problem as the audience simply might not be able to engage properly with the character as a result. Our modern audience appear to relate to a sense of realism within the superhero genre and I'm afraid it might be a task too far to get that realistic feel with Superman.

However, believability can be traded in when it comes to comic book creations but only in exchange for fun. Plain, simple, enjoyable fun. Last year two of the major superhero movies that hit the cinema were The Avengers and The Amazing Spiderman. Neither of those films particularly bothered with an accurate depiction of what is and isn't possible realistically in modern day society, yet both films were a resounding success. Why? Because they were genuinely fun to watch.

That said, I can't see them going with that approach for Man Of Steel. It just wouldn't fit. Considering the crew behind the camera, the cast in front of the camera, and the script that put them all there in the first place it certainly seems as though it'll be an attempt at the gritty and realistic for Superman.

That gritty feel has to be one hundred percent authentic, because lets face it Superman is the cheesiest superhero ever. He wears a bright blue skin tight suit, a long red cape, and has a pair of red undies on show at all times just to top it off. Cheesiness at its finest! The makers of this movie have absolutely no coolness to fall back on and as a result Man Of Steel needs to be perfectly done to work. If Batman says something a bit cringe worthy you let it slide because he's dressed in an awesome black suit and has the keys to the Batmobile in his pocket. If Spiderman come's out with one of his slightly camp one liners we allow it because he's a loveable teenager who's swinging his way around New York with webs that he shoots from his wrists. If one of Tony Stark's punchlines has been pulled from the very bottom of the cringiest barrel all is forgiven because he's a genius billionaire playboy philanthropist! Superman is none of those things, not even close. This film has to be constantly on its toe's because one drop of the ball could spell disaster. Perfection is needed.

When it comes to perfection one name stands out in my mind - Christopher Nolan. So when Warner Brothers decided to invest in a reboot of the Superman franchise there was surely one name that topped their list of potential suitors - Christopher Nolan. From what I can gather there were a lot of different pitches from some well respected writers and directors but in 2010, after a discussion during writing for The Dark Knight Rises, Nolan and fellow writer David Goyer were hired to produce and write the long awaited Superman reboot. Goyer himself is a well respected man in the film industry, with a CV that boasts writing for Nolan's Batman trilogy as well as the Blade franchise and the most recent Ghost Rider installment. With Nolan taking the producers role the man sat in the directors chair will be Zack Snyder, most well known for his 2006 film 300. Recognised best for his use of long constant shots paired with slow motion during fight scenes Snyder will hopefully be able to bring a good intensity to the action in Man Of Steel without falling into the stereotypical conventions of fight sequences. Great producer, check. Great writer, check. Great director, check.

The cast on the other hand are a bit harder to come to a conclusion on. First of all you've got Superman himself, Henry Cavill. The only thing I've seen Cavill in was Immortals, a fairly decent film, in which he did impress me. Was he stunning? No. Did he bring me to tears with his raw acting ability? Not even nearly. But he was very good at what he did. His troop rallying speech was realistic and somehow remained cringe free, which I found most impressive. On top of that his action sequences were very well done and his performance as a whole quite good. His biggest advantage though to playing Clark Kent and his famous alter ego is that he looks the part. He's a handsome man with dark hair and a great physique as we'd expect from a Superman, yet he possesses a slight roughness around the edges which will really help to support the gritty and realistic feel that this film appears to be trying to create.

Secondly we have Amy Adams taking on the role of Lois Lane. Amy Adams is a really great actress so I think casting her is a great choice by the film makers, the only problem is she just doesn't look right. When I think of Lois Lane I think of a stereotypically beautiful dark haired younger woman, but that's not Amy Adams. She is however a brilliant actress who knows how to play a strong confident female character and I also happen to think she's a very pretty lady. This film will constantly be trying to win people over and I think sacrificing the stereotypical image for acting ability will prove to be a clever move.

Finally we've got Michael Shannon portraying the bad guy, General Zod. Shannon himself is a good actor, as shown by his brilliant role in HBO's award winning television series Boardwalk Empire, and is brilliant at portraying an authoritative character. For any good villain to be believable they have to have a sense of dominance about them and I think Shannon will be able to bring this to the role well, but I'm not entirely convinced he's the right choice for a super villain and this may end up letting the film down. I think Shannon's General Zod will end up either being a stroke of genius, or a horrific move for Snyder and co.

Overall I think we can be excited, but very tentatively. So far things are look to be heading in the right direction for Man Of Steel and from what I can see this seems like it will be a good movie. The problem is that it's so very risky, there is absolutely no safety net for this one. After the painfully dire previous attempt at a Superman film the worlds most famous hero is teetering on the edge of the abyss, much as Batman was after the 90's. Nolan has saved one superhero for us, can he do it again? Lets hope so!





Written by Ash Davies