Man Of Steel (2013) - A Turnoff.

★★☆☆☆

Going to cinema for a film was my top entertainment while TVs and TV shows were still kind of rare. Those I remember for sure I checked out together with my mom are Christopher Reeve’s ‘Superman’ series. To an adult like my mom, Superman was nothing impressive, but to a little naïve boy like me, it certainly was. I like Superman movies that represent hopes and dreams of flying higher and being stronger and larger than life. After years of hibernation, Superman finally came around again with Zack Snyder as the director, and Christopher Nolan the producer. I expected there’d be slo-mo spectacular moves like those in ‘300’, but there’s quite the opposite, and it feels nothing like ‘The Dark Knight’ either. This new version of Superman is more or less a disappointment!

Yes, ‘Man Of Steel’ is packed with actions and I’m fine with that, but I would’ve enjoyed it if they had just slowed down a bit, and not given me nauseous, boring action sequences like a hybrid of ‘Transformers’ plus ‘Dragonball’ plus ‘The Matrix’ sequels. The tone of the film seems a bit too dark and gray as ‘Superman’ is supposed to be rather bright and hopeful. The story is told in flashbacks from time to time, which makes it look fresh but not intriguing and gripping enough after all. The only thing that moves ironically is when Kevin Costner’s Jonathan Kent dies.

The ending is another reason why ‘Man Of Steel’ is a turnoff. Why must General Zod (Michael Shannnon) be left to go head to head with Superman? Why must Superman kill? It’s such a bad choice! A hero’s there to preach and teach the bad to be good. To do so, he’d rather sacrifice his own life than any others’, including a bad guy’s. I guess a superhero should be wise and able enough to come up with a much better solution to a hostile situation than simply ending a life!