Eight years ago, Christopher
Nolan reinvented a seemingly dead superhero franchise with his Dark Knight trilogy. Here he’s acting as
a producer to attempt the same with another DC comic book hero and perhaps the
most famous of all, Superman. There have been Superman films in the past of
course and it’s only seven years since the forgettable Superman Returns hit screens to a decent critical and lukewarm box
office reception. Taking control of Man
of Steel is director Zack Snyder, a man a distinct style and experience of
large, special effects movies. I’ve never had much affinity for the Superman character although I enjoyed
the 90s TV series. The character, coupled with a director whose films I rarely
enjoy lead me to having low expectations for the latest in a long line of
superhero based blockbusters. Unfortunately even my low expectations failed to
be met with Man of Steel, a dull
movie which lasts for an age and goes nowhere.
The film does what all superhero
re-boots are doing this century and gives us the origin story. The problem with
Superman’s origin story is that it’s long and complex, or at least it is in
this film. Spider-Man gets bitten by a spider, develops heightened senses and
web stuff then goes with it. Batman invents stuff and goes from man to
superhero. Superman though has a story which involves the end of a world, a
race’s battle for survival, civil war, unusual childhood development and
alienation before self discovery. That’s a lot to put in one movie and of
course the movie doesn’t want to just give us the origin, it wants to entertain
us with a villain and large scale battle. This results in a two and a half hour
film which is full of long, unnecessary exposition and long winded flash backs.
