Review: Man of Steel

Non Spoiler Review:
Probably my most anticipated film of 2013 is Warner Brothers' Man of Steel, the latest attempt to give Superman the feature film he deserves. With Zack Snyder directing there was the potential for greatness (Watchman, 300) or falling flat (Sucker Punch). I'm very pleased to say he managed to exceed my expectations in nearly ever respect.

Man of Steel stars Henry Cavill (The Tudors, Immortals), Amy Adams, Russell Crowe, Kevin Costner, Diane Lane, Laurence Fishburne and Chrisopher Meloni, with Michael Shannon as main villain General Zod. Directed by Zack Snyder (The Watchmen) with screenplay by David S. Goyer (The Dark Knight Rises), and additional help from Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight Rises) who also served as a producer.

Man of Steel is a full-fledged retelling of Superman's origin, but it doesn't get mired in a linear story, providing flashbacks throughout to illuminate aspects of Clark's development and point of view. The film opens with an extended look at the final days of Krypton, as Jor-El and Lara have conceived the first child in centuries among their genetically engineered population. So baby Kal-El is already pretty special, and as Kryptonian society (and the planet) are in decay, General Zod attempts a coup, prompting Jor-El to act to save his son. Kal-El is, of course, sent to Earth, where he's found by the morally solid Kents and raised to hide his unusual abilities, something that isolates him from humanity. As an adult, he continues to seek the truth about himself, and his journey brings him face to face with Lois Lane. His search has also awakened distant remnants of Krypton who follow him to Earth in hopes of unlocking his secrets.

Superman has had a difficult history following the success of Superman II. Most recently Superman Returns made a fair attempt at modernizing the hero, but where it managed to achieve a level of maturity as far as the character interpretation, it fell into the trap of idolizing the Donner films and refusing to start fresh. While Superman I and II are classics, they remain a product of their time and the crystaline Krypton and land grabbing Lex Luthor no longer fit with our modern day. Thankfully Snyder began anew, revisiting the origin and tweaking it here and there, but remaining true to the mythology that has evolved in print over the decades.

Henry Cavill is perfectly cast. His Kal-El is troubled from years of constantly holding back against bullies and subverting who he really is. Some have criticized the role as being too brooding, but I found it worked extremely well for this incarnation of Superman. Coupled with the Kents' moral guidance, the man that emerges is not the one-dimensional boy scout we're used to, but a complex and evolving man.

Shannon's portrayal of Zod was a surprise. I really had little experience with this actor, so I was thoroughly impressed with how he pulled off what could have been a flat villainous role. Snyder succeeded in creating a nemesis that wasn't out for pure destruction, but was motivated in a way the audience can relate to on a level. Antje Traue as Faora was an equally impressive side-kick. The remainder of the villains got little focus to allow us to distinguish faces and names.

The human characters also get to be heroic and noble. Perry White, Pete Ross, and numerous others did a fair job getting some screentime against the larger storylines, and future films will no doubt give them more to do. But Amy Adams certainly brought a refreshing, more modern Lois Lane. And Crowe and Costner provide two solid father figures for Kal-El.

The film borrows heavily from more recent iterations of the comic book lore, including Birthright and John Byrne's Man of Steel (which is my favorite version). These include Clark wandering the world to learn about himself and the genetically engineered focus of Krypton.

Sets and costuming were meticulously detailed. When it comes to super-heroes onscreen, I've always fallen into the camp that favors the uniform look versus a costume. The classic Superman red shorts are abandoned to something functional, with roots in Kryptonian culture. It's a vast improvement on the original, with darker colours and a CGI rendered cape for added effect. Hans Zimmer's score is poignant and ominous, much like his Batman work. It's certainly memorable and iconic, and I'll definitely be picking that up for repeated listening.

As far as Zack Snyder's direction, this movie is oddly his most realistic looking, despite the incredible number of special effects. He took great care in making it look like the real world. Everything from Superman's flight, to spaceships hovering in the air all seem as if they're taken through the lens of a handheld camera. Dust, debris and haze are prevalent in plenty of shots, and characters look real, right down to Martha Kent's sun damaged face. It's especially evident when contrasting it with a movie like Green Lantern, which came off as extremely artificial looking. There are plenty of iconic shots, too, and the super-powered moments are the most stunning ever committed to film. It feels like we've been waiting decades to be able to watch Superman cut loose on screen, though some will critique Snyder for creating action porn.

Most of the criticisms I've read stem from those who hate Christopher Nolan, Zack Snyder, and enjoy their super-heroes with plenty of camp and jokes. To be blunt, while Superman I and II are still enjoyable in context, they are extremely flawed in plotting. Christopher Reeves buried the franchise with his Superman IV and it's taken years for Warner Brothers to break from the past and proceed with something suitably epic for their property.

Having just watched Star Trek: Into Darkness, which left me cringing at ridiculous plot devices and poor writing, I can say there is very little that had me scratching my head with Man of Steel. It all held together (once you walk into a movie accepting the notion of Superman's powers). The motivation of the villain made sense, and the hero's journey held together. For the first time the greater context of Superman's extraterrestrial origin is a primary plot point, and how this is a first contact situation for the people of Earth. It all resolves itself pretty tightly, and you won't find any flying around the world in reverse climaxes here.

One thing I noted that did not get addressed at all is the massive loss of life that simply had to happen with the apocalyptic destruction in Metropolis. Whole city blocks were immediately flatted and towers kept toppling throughout the climax. There's a moment where Superman throws one of Zod's men through a gas station, and super speed punches send characters careening through several buildings at a time, and not once do people comment that it might be a good idea to take the battle out of the city. If this is my only criticism, then it's certainly not a big one. What I did like is the film delivered the weight of loss and big things happening with serious consequences at stake. But it is Zack Snyder, so the violence is pretty heavy-handed.

I kept my eye out for easter eggs, and while Lexcorp figured prominently in the background, I doubtlessly missed quite a few given the frenetic and shaky battle scenes. There is ample fodder to be found for sequels, though.

Man of Steel is an outstanding interpretation of the Superman mythos, modernized and evolved where necessary to keep the character contemporary. With a fantastic cast, a lot of emotion and a serious tone, it's easily one of my favorite movies since Dark Knight Rises (ironically enough). DC has a winner with this creative team, and it appears they will be continuing together with the sequel and a potential Justice League film. I'll be rewatching this one for a long time to come.

Review: The Dark Knight Rises

Non Spoiler Review:

Faced with closing a final act to a trilogy that included the nearly flawless Dark Knight, Christopher Nolan has taken great pains to create a suitable ending to the saga of Bruce Wayne with The Dark Knight Rises. Eight years after the death of Harvey Dent, Gotham City is a much changed place. Peace reigns in the streets due to the strict Dent Act that has allowed police to round up a thousand criminals in Blackgate Prison. The vigilante blamed for his murder, Batman, has disappeared, and Bruce Wayne is a recluse believing the city no longer needs him, while mourning the loss of his true love, Rachel. Wayne Enterprises has floundered after some expensive and failed humanitarian endeavours. But trouble brews with a band of mercenaries led by the notorious Bane who have set their sights on Gotham.

The entire cast returns—Christian Bale as Bruce, Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox, Michael Caine as Alfred and Gary Oldman as Commissioner Gordon. This time they're joined by Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle, Marion Cotillard (Inception) as Miranda Tate, G. Gordon Levitt as John Blake, and Tom Hardy as Bane. Add in a few very nice cameos, and it's an amazing ensemble.

At a three hour running time, Nolan has indulged his final act with every bit of emotion and plot fitting this epic trilogy. The film juggles a lot of themes, and even wades into the class divide currently in the thoughts of everyone. Fans of the comic book will note that Nolan has taken the best threads from a variety of storylines—Miller's Dark Knight, as well as epics like Knightfall and No Man's Land. And the sense of a three movie arc is brought home with flashbacks to Batman Begins, and ongoing plot threads resolved in this film.

There are usually two types of Batman fans—the ones who enjoy the gadgets and super-villains, and the ones who are drawn to the story of Bruce Wayne. Nolan's series has always been about the latter, and Dark Knight Rises brings to a conclusion the definitive cinema version of Bruce Wayne, courtesy of the talented Christian Bale.

When I heard Anne Hathaway was cast as Selina Kyle, I had my doubts. Suffice it to say she put them to rest wholeheartedly. She's a Catwoman for a new generation (filling the shoes of Michelle Pfeiffer's iconic performance).

It's not a perfectly plotted film—anyone can always find holes if they look hard enough—but the story and acting overwhelm any big ones. One critique I had was the lack of mention of the Joker. I know this was done in honor of Heath Ledger, but seriously? After the mayhem he created, to have Gordon and Bruce only speak about Harvey again and again without bringing up the Joker at least once was a bit much.

The Dark Knight Rises is an immensely satisfying film. It is quite dark, and many critics preferring a more comic book feel will be disappointed. While it might excel just a bit more as the final act of this trilogy rather than on its individual merits, viewers will leave a film series that is wrapped up very neatly. It's now an epic that can be rewatched as a complete story in the same way as Lord of the Rings. Whatever Warner Brothers does with Batman next, it will be a different take on the character. For now, this one remains a masterful work.

Spoilery Musings:

While I did guess that Miranda Tate was likely Talia Al Ghul, I also assumed that Bruce would die but leave her pregnant with little Damien (his son in the comics). But it certainly looks like that's a dead end. And I would have loved to have seen a resurrected Ra's. But at least we got Liam Neeson's cameo.

I also found myself focusing on one of the MacGuffins in the film—the unlimited power source never really gets a good explanation. Bruce's failed endeavour was to create a fusion reactor to provide unlimited power to Gotham—a classic science fiction trope. Yet I was left wondering how such a thing would go over in the real world if an industrialist just switched on a new energy source in a major city. One would think the various power companies would be filing some lawsuits. And why not just flood the reactor to prevent Bane from getting it?

Review: Justice League of America 1

Non Spoiler Review:

With much anticipation, DC has rebooted its line with 52 titles, some new, some old, but all starting at issue 1 following the Flashpoint event. While that does wipe away decades of history for some books, the first out of the gate is the Justice League, a prequel to the rest of the DC line.

Justice League has been a mess for years, despite that it should be one of DC's flagship books. What's new about this series is that it takes place five years prior to most of the upcoming titles so as to cover the beginning of the heroic age and all the goings on involved with that. It's immediately apparent this is a different DC Universe, where super-powered beings have only just made their debut (bye-bye Justice Society), mistrusted, misunderstood, and hunted by the powers that be as vigilantes.

I'm old enough to have lived through numerous DC Universe crises, all of which affected the timeline in some way and threw out or rewove character histories. So the latest really had me considering dropping most of the books entirely. Some characters, like Batman and Green Lantern, are supposed to retain most of their continuity, while others like Superman may receive a considerable revamp. I'm not sure how that will all work out, given it appears huge chunks of history, like the golden age, have been completely eliminated.

Written by Geoff Johns, with art by Jim Lee, the bulk of the issue involves Batman's first meeting with Green Lantern, as they cross paths while tracking a creature in Gotham. Hal is cocky and overconfident, while Batman trusts no one. Between annoying barbs, the two guess that this creature is alien and might be connected to that other alien operating out of Metropolis, so head there to check it out. That brings them to their first meeting with Superman. Also making an appearance is Cyborg (pre-accident), a promising football player dealing with his aloof father.

The story itself just wasn't captivating at all, and comes off as a first installment in a very big storyline to eventually assemble everyone together. What's more, Hal is a dick, and Batman continues to be cold and methodical (as well as pulling off some outrageous stunts, like pocketing Green Lantern's ring). It falls victim to the old trope of heroes either outright battling one another or at the very least mistrusting each other when they first meet. The behaviour and character of all these heroes we've grown accustomed to is now up in the air. Handled properly, it could make for some good reading and suspense, but I found myself distracted every time Hal uttered a sarcastic comment.

This is the most thorough redo of all the DC characters since the original Crisis on Infinite Earths, making a clean break from the past and starting everything in the modern era (within five years of the present). It is a very different world than we're used to. As such, Justice League seems to be geared to new readers, and not the followers of decades of continuity that has told and retold the origins of how the group came together.

Even if it takes a different direction, I don't know if I have the patience to follow what could be a year long origin story (especially given the other heroes' backstories are in flux and to be dealt with in their own books, so there's no foundation to refer to for anyone at the moment). The art was fine, and Geoff John's writing is not the problem at all, just the story itself. This was a disappointing and slow issue to introduce the fulcrum of the DC Universe. I'll give it a chance, but it's started off on shaky legs.

Review: Green Lantern

As Marvel continues its successful roll out of films featuring the likes of Thor, X-Men and Captain America, DC finally brings a new entry from its library—Green Lantern. The hero is certainly well known to the fanbase and has enjoyed some spectacular storylines in print over the last few years. He's easily one of DC's big four (that includes Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman), but is less known to the general movie-going public. His backstory is dense and his powers require a lot more explanation, which makes this a challenge from the start. Special effects have reached the point to do him and his world justice, so I was really looking forward to a new DC character brought to life outside of Superman and Batman. Unfortunately, I was quite disappointed by the wasted potential of the film.

Green Lantern is the obligatory origin story, which always brings its own set of problems delaying a lot of the plot and action of the film. Ryan Reynolds is Hal Jordan, a talented but irresponsible test pilot who has had a fling with childhood friend Carol Ferris, who is also the daughter of the owner of Ferris Aircraft where he works. While he seems to screw up a lot of things, he's brought into the greater universe of the Green Lantern Corps when a dying alien choses him to wield the ring of their intergalactic peacekeeping force for Earth's sector of space. The crash also affects an introverted scientist, Hector Hammond, while the big threat and cause of it all remains in space, challenging the universe and the Green Lantern Corps at large.

I'll start with the good—the cast. I can't find anything wrong to say with the choices, especially Reynolds as Hal Jordan. He pulls it off quite well and there's never a moment where I found myself thinking he was behaving too silly or out of character from the source material. Equally good is Mark Strong as Sinestro, who has a tough job carrying that name, pink skin, pointy ears and mustache, without looking like a farce. Because it's make up and not CGI, his look comes across much more real than his rendered aliens peers. Carol Ferris, while never a very compelling character in the comics, is played capably by Blake Lively. Finally,  Peter Sarsgaard is Hector Hammond, who brings a suitable sliminess to this malformed villain. Green Lantern is directed by Martin Campbell (who also did Casino Royale).

A few logical liberties have been taken with the material to make it more streamlined. The very complex backstory with Parallax and the yellow energy of fear has been made tighter and more cohesive for the story, which works very well.

While the Green Lantern Corps and its 3600 members are a treat as far as cameos and imaginative alien lifeforms, problems arise with the general look of the film. It's a mixed bag, as the emerald energy needs its CGI. The costuming generally gets the notion of the organic look of the energy right, but it doesn't always translate well on screen. The space vistas looked great, but as soon as a glowing green alien flew around it couldn't hold that realism.

While watching I was continually comparing the natural look of Superman Returns' flying scenes to Hal Jordan's glowing video game style shots. Ryan Reynolds seemed to stick out like a sore thumb among these artificial environments and background aliens. Tomar-Re and Kilowog (famous characters from the comics) were welcome additions, but didn't fit well with a real human actor in the same frame. 

The movie begins with an opening narration explaining some things  (compare it to Thor, for example) but the ominous tone of the opening scene didn't carry forward through the rest of the two hours. Having just seen X-Men: First Class I was continually making comparisons to this successful Marvel counterpart with its rich narrative and equally thick backstory. Green Lantern comes across as sterile in many ways, highly rendered and soulless (like The Phantom Menace). 

An origin shouldn't appear rushed. After the opening scene set up the movie, events take place over the course of a few days, which is a mistake, given the epic level  threat and the universe crossing escapades. Can the audience buy in that Hal can learn how to use the ring after a couple of training sessions on Oa?

A second issue is the power of the Green Lantern itself—the Corps' abilities didn't receive any greater explanation aside from the strength of willpower. That leaves the hero's vulnerabilities up in the air when it came to fighting Hector Hammond and Parallax. Why would one punch connect and not another? Does yellow cancel out green? Doesn't the ring protect him at all times?

A case in point—there's a moment where Hal creates a green necklace for Carol. Throughout the scene as they were talking I was distracted wondering how long the construct would last. Sure enough, it had disappeared without any comment by the next scene. I would be interested to know what a general audience would take away from that.

I generally have difficulty with the realistic portrayal of disbelief when a character in a movie like this is faced with a lot of overwhelming information—existence of aliens, drafted into an intergalactic police corps, able to make his thoughts reality—but Hal seems to take it all really well, including a warp speed trip through space. Aside from a few "wows" it's just another day for him it seems. And we're specifically told by Amanda Waller that there's been no alien contact in this world (so much for Superman).

While I enjoyed the characters, the final act and main mash up with the movie's villains pretty much started a downward trend for me. The battle scenes were few and far between and not memorable at all. Something as epic and star-spanning as this needs a big climax. Had the story been strong and complex enough, the visual problems could easily have been overlooked, but Green Lantern just lacks imagination, and that's what the hero is all about.

Spoilers:

Some elements really stuck out for me as big mistakes. The point of no return seemed to be when Hal addressed the Guardians with Sinestro and gave his "I'm only human" speech. After that, he went on to single-handedly dispatch Parallax by tossing him into the sun after several experienced Lanterns had been killed in previous attempts. Let's not forget that Hal is barely a rookie, yet he can somehow walk around with Lanterns who are far superior fighters than him and manages to save the entire Corps.

Yes, Hal is one of the greatest Green Lanterns. But he isn't supposed to be in this movie. And while the writers felt that Hal needed to save the day without calling in back up, that really boxed the threat of Parallax into a relatively minor inconvenience and made the rest of the Corps look inept.

So this has been a disappointment, to say the least. Warner Brothers really needs to take a page from Marvel and see what they're doing right with their characters. An adult story does matter. A lot of flash and CGI does not. I'm hoping Green Lantern at least makes enough money to warrant a sequel which could rescue this hero and bring a proper, memorable Sinestro/Hal Jordan battle to the screen (as evidenced by the end credits easter egg).

I would recommend Green Lantern as light-hearted entertainment with some interesting visuals. You certainly won't get The Dark Knight, or even Superman Returns. Those who are fans and those just looking for something a little different (a super-hero in space) may get a kick out of it, but I found myself talking much more about X-Men: First Class when I left the theatre.