Man of Steel

         
                                                             

             In today’s movie landscape the comic book movie rules all. It seems like every year one comes out that breaks box office records. And for studios it’s not just enough to release one, you have sequels and even reboots. And as well as most of these movies have done, there has been something missing since 1978, something faster than a speeding bullet. It seems Superman has been forgotten in a Marvel and Dark Knight world. Well that is all about to change with over two hours of superhero bliss.

         Sure in 2006 Bryan Singer released “Superman Returns”, an ode to the classic Richard Donner movie. The problem was it just didn't hit the spot, and plus *Spoilers* they gave Superman a kid, and anyone who has seen Kevin Smith’s “Mallrats” knows the problem with that. That also was B.A. (before Avengers), and the universal love for any and everything superhero related. So D.C. watched what Marvel did and put together an all star creative team to bring back the man who put “super” in the word superhero.

After the success of the Dark Knight trilogy it was a no-brainer to have writer David S. Goyer and his Batman buddy Christopher Nolan team up to make Superman relevant again. Now you need someone who’s known for stunning visuals, and flowing capes, so you bring in Zach Snyder (300, Watchmen) who is all about style. Now that you have assembled a dream team all that is left to do is make it happen, and boy did they. Most people know the iconic story of Superman, but Goyer and Snyder somehow make it their own. Everything about this film works, and belongs in the pantheon with films like “The Avengers” and “The Dark Knight”.

        When the trailer came out for this film, I couldn't stop watching it. It just gave you this feeling that you could be watching something great. A Hans Zimmer score doesn't hurt either.  With that said, the film lives up to that trailer. Superman has been told the same way since the original film in 1978. Spaceship crashes into earth, the Kents find a baby and raise it as their own, Clark discovers he has powers, gets a job at the Daily Planet and well you know the rest.

With “Man of Steel” Goyer and Nolan start with the spaceship, but then shift to Clark trying to find himself. They use flashbacks to show his life growing up, and decisions that made him who he is today. This is such a good story it would be easy to forget about the direction, but Snyder has his fingerprints all over this movie, and all of this makes for a great film. With such a large shadow cast by the original “Superman” this film got out of that shadow in a single bound. I always remember the tag line for the original, “You’ll believe a man can fly”. And that promise was kept. This time the filmmakers of “Man of Steel” will make you believe a man can soar.

Brian Taylor