Without giving away the story and in spite of the technical problems with the sound vanishing in that latter part of the film, Man of Steel, which played at the Bay Walk Cinema, the Bay Area Wal-Mart shoppers who purchased
tickets to Thursday, June 13th première of Man of Steel were delighted with the gritty
retelling of the Superman. This newest adaptation of the Superman franchised took a page from its recent comic book counterpart in that Superman (played by
Henry Cavill) after learning his true identity and his mission on earth, does not sly away
from fighting dirty as the computer graphic
simulation shows.
However, becoming America’s superhero is not an easy job as Kal -El
(Clark Kent) learns when the government does not trust you and his father killer, General Zod (Michael Shannon), tracks him down with intentions of
destroying all humanity and terraforming the earth to suit future Kryptonians. The
darkness in today’s Man of Steel is in keeping with the times, and like may of
us, Clark
Kent searches not only for his origins but his place in his adopted
home world of Earth.
The film begins with Kal-El birth on Krypton, and the
viewers get to see that for all of Kal-El likeness to human, he is very much an
alien from an alien world. Although, Russell Crowe is super a Jor‑El, at times he
off comes off like a video game character directing players from one section of the game to another.
Kevin Costner was a predictable as Jonathan Kent and imprinted
on to Clark what it means to be human and how to know when the time is right to reveal himself
as a super being. More importantly, Jonathan teaches Clark that there will be painful consequences
for revealing his true self, and that at times he will be force to make some very hard
choices. There are quite a few flashbacks but they are not distracting to the film as they give viewers glimpses into
Kal-El life as Clark Kent as well what lies beneath the
madness that drives General
Zod.
As with any DC Comics hero, the violence and
destruction in Man of Steel is high, and the humor is preserved for such scenes
as Clark attempting to fly and allowing the authorities to handicap while he knows doing so
it is no more than a show of goodwill.
In my opinion, the world does need a hero, and Henry Cavill
is the \superman of this new era. I give this film a B+. Man of Steel opens Friday in theaters nationwide.
For those viewers who stay in the theater as the problems
with the sound for 3D version of Man of Steel were corrected, they were given
free tickets to any 3D movie of their choice.