Director: Zack Snyder
Talent: Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Michael Shannon, Diane Lane
Release Date: 14th June 2013
I often get frustrated watching summer blockbusters, and not out of any firmly-held sense of pretentious good taste (though God knows I can whip that out at a moment’s notice when there are people looking). For the longest time now, big budget spectacles have seemed embarrassed to be giving me what I’ve paid for. Pay to see a blockbuster and you want broad and bombastic – but that doesn’t necessarily mean I want a brains-off experience like detractors often claim. Blockbuster stories are about conflicts of such clear moral certitude that no audience member could possibly feel left behind, littered with universal social experiences to guide the characters along in a way that feels inclusive. Unsophisticated in ambition, maybe, but I see no reason to sneer at products that are accurately labelled.
My frustration comes from seeing the extent to which blockbuster filmmakers have been trying to hide what they do. It’s embarrassing to see directors like JJ Abrams or Christopher Nolan hide the worlds they’re building behind relentless shakey-cam and lens flares, drenching even the most terrestrial scenes in the same garish bold lighting that splash around heaving action scenes. It’s insecurity that prompts it, self-conscious nods to the audience to let them know that they shouldn’t look too closely, concealing all possible seams behind an unnecessarily busy eye.
It’s against that backdrop that Man of Steel manages to feel refreshing. There’s a confidence in Snyder’s direction that lets the audience get closer without any hyperventilation. The action is over-the-top and stuck on fast forward, but the stakes are laid out well enough for us to invest in the shouty, kinetic madness. Cannon-fodder supporting characters are developed sufficiently for us to root for them as they scramble around the constantly-moving battlefield, giving us a sense of real peril as the hail of debris falls continuously for over two hours. Snyder lingers generously on his huge CGI set pieces, letting us breathe in the spectacular if uncanny cartoon environments – something a lot of his peers wouldn’t have the courage to do.
But these small successes of old school Hollywood competence are made more impressive when you consider the pitfalls that usually trap Superman creators. First, this story is heavy on the Kryptonian mythology of Superman’s birth. It’s a strange, dated space opera straight out of the mid 20th century – but Snyder doesn’t patronise his characters and plays it straight. After a while, that kind of confidence infects any initially uneasy audience.
The other big trap that Snyder avoids is the one that makes most Superman stories quite tedious. When you strip away the varied villains and locations, most Superman stories end up at one question: “can Superman punch the hardest?” This film comes up against it too, but intelligently Snyder has us spend a little time inside Clark’s head. We get to know the pain of having to acclimatise to the Earth’s atmosphere and we’re provided with tight close-ups and intimate over-the-shoulder shots of Superman in flight. It’s subtle, but by getting to know his sensory world a little better, when the time comes to punch really hard we have a slightly better appreciation for what’s involved.
While I’m impressed by its successes, it’s by no means a classic. Henry Cavill’s atonal performance hurts Snyder’s decision to cut back and forth between the present day and Clark’s youth, causing the required contrast fall flat. While he was cast mainly for the geometry of his face, with Russell Crowe playing Superman’s space-dad Jor-El and Michael Shannon playing Zod, Cavill’s plastic looks seem weirdly alien among both humans and Kryptonians. The dubious need to re-tell Superman’s origin story also affects the film’s pace, making it feel top-heavy and off kilter, while the final fistfight drags us on a lengthy, tired perambulation through CGI skycrapers before landing at the tighter emotional climax. After seeing buildings fall over for two hours, we were ready for a human climax and didn’t need the extra magic carpet ride.
A reflection of a better kind of blockbuster and a worthy rendering of a comic book character that even the best writers struggle with, Man of Steel is worth your few quid after a long week sorting insurance claims (or whatever it is you do). It might not have the character that an enduring summer hit needs to be remembered, but it has a confidence and integrity that will charm most willing audiences.
