Superman is back! This time, he decides not to wear his iconic red underwear but who cares right?
It was back in 2008 when Warner Bros. decided to restart the Superman franchise after the previous film, Superman Returns, was considered a disappointment despite the fact of being critically and financially successful. Sure they had potential of earning so much more than what they had but at least it wasn't box-office bomb. To make the long story short, here we are with Henry Cavill as the new Superman out to save the world from those who seek to destroy it.
The movie is ridiculously long but with good reason. It starts off on the planet of Krypton where we are introduced to our hero's parents: Jor-El (Russell Crowe) and Lara (Ayelet Zurer). In the same setting, we are introduced to the antagonist General Zod (Michael Shannon) who led a coup against the council in order to take charge of Krypton. During the coup, Jor-El and Lara was able to successfully get Kal-El (real name of Superman) off the planet, much to General Zod's fury. After Krypton blows up, the next sequence is located on Earth. We see Kal-El, now called Clark Kent, is all grown up and every once in a while, flashbacks are shown of how he grew up to the man he now is. Before donning his cape and suit, he juggled numerous jobs for some reason. He was probably in search for his past since it is in one of his jobs that he found out his history and where he came from. Of course, where there is Superman, there would also be a Lois Lane (Amy Adams). Being the reporter that she is, she sets to find out who Superman is after being rescued by him. Did she ever find out? Watch it so you would know. Just as everything seems to be going smoothly for Clark, General Zod shows up on Earth and threatens to destroy it unless Superman is turned over to him.
The movie has a darker tone to it and can even be compared alongside Nolan's Batman Trilogy. To be expected I guess since the producer is none other than Christopher Nolan himself and the screenplay was written by David Goyer, who also wrote the screenplay for The Batman Trilogy.
What I really appreciate when I was watching this film was how friendly it was for everyone. For sure, the die-hard fans would understand not only the historical background of Superman but also its minor details. Personally, I barely know things about Superman. All I know is that he's strong as hell, has Lois Lane for a love interest, from planet Krypton and his weakness is Kryptonite. After watching the movie, I felt as if I know so much more about Superman so kuddos to that.
The movie runs for two hours and twenty minutes long and it was actually worth it except for the last remaining minutes. More than first half of the film, we get to know who Clark Kent is. We don't see Superman just yet. We witness how he was raised and the challenges he had to face not only as a child but also as a grown man. The first part of the movie is emotionally driven and makes the audience sympathize, in the worst case scenario, bored since I heard one movie-goer complained about it as I was going out the theater. Anyway, the emotions presented on the first half of the film foreshadows Superman's decision in the latter part of the film. Whatever he learned would greatly affect his decisions in the present. Sadly, it was barely noticeable since the remaining 45 minutes was non-stop action and fighting. I don't really know why the fight scene was too long but my guess would have to be because of the action-deprived Superman Returns. In relation to this, the fight scene was intense but messy. I guess that's expected yet again since this is DC Universe. If there's one thing I noticed when watching Justice League is that their characters are brutal in fight. They don't really care if it's a man versus a woman. They would hit and smash each other in any way they can. The ones fighting will just end up destroying everything in the wake of their fight.
The movie this time is more realistic. To be honest Superman isn't really my favorite hero since he's way too strong. I'm always skeptic about Superman and his adventures since he's invincible. No villain is good enough to stop him. The movie fixed that and we see Superman beat up Kryptonians while getting beat up in the process as well. We see a more vulnerable side to him.
As much as I actually liked the movie, there were a few things that failed to soar high. The movie fails in the area of character development. There was a potential but it was not emphasized. The scene where Clark comes out of a Kryptonian ship wearing for the first time his suit had me excited. That scene held such great importance for his transformation from Clark to Superman but it was so brief and unconvincing that it was a bit of a let-down. Unfortunately, the other characters suffer the same fate.
The set design and the editing was a job well done. This was especially true during the Krypton sequence. You can definitely see the difference between Earth and Krypton from its people to its surroundings. The Kryptonian ships were well-designed and the fight scenes were well choreographed and edited. There are just a few editing inconsistencies that I noticed when the fight scene was nearly finished. There were instances wherein it looked like as if an entire city is destroyed but voila, when they crash inside one building, everything is still in its proper and organized state as if no explosions and carnage were happening outside. Same deal when the fight was over: everybody was back to their jobs as if nothing happened. It was as if their pulverized workplace just immediately grew out from the ground after one night.
Bravo to Zack Snyder who shot this using only handheld cameras. Which reminds me, since it was shot using handheld cameras, I'm pretty sure the 3D experience wouldn't have much difference than watching it on 2D. Just a tip. Another round of applause to him for not even using a second unit. He shot every scene himself. Awesome director if you ask me.
In conclusion, I loved the film. Superman is back and he is more relatable and more human in a sense. If you're a fan of those emotionally-driven superheroes then this film is for you. If you're a fan of those ridiculously long action sequences then this film is yet for you again. The film may not be perfect but I'm putting a lot of hope and expectation to the future sequels. After all, it isn't an 'S' it's a symbol of 'hope' in the planet Krypton.
Rating: 4/5
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