Marvel Studios began a bold gamble that many believed it would...should have failed before now. No way that any studio could begin a full interpretation of a broad comic book universe to the big screen and have the larger non-comic reading public care. No way they could kick it off with a secondary character. No way, no way. Shows that both Hollywood executives and the masses aren't visionaries. Those sorts generally aren't the cutting edge, frontiersman types.
Well, that frontier has been established. DC Comics would like to do something similar with its characters. They have had greater success than Marvel with animation, but when it comes to silver screen live action, of late, unless it begins with "Bat" and ends with "Man" (or "Dark Knight"), they've found the road slow going. But this summer, they decided to revisit Superman, post Nolan-Dark Knight, to hopefully kick off suck a cinematic universe. And it would seem, they have succeeded fantastically, as the box office worldwide rewarded their efforts to the tune of $662,845,518, a handsome profit on a budget of around 225 mil. Not quite Dark Knight numbers, but easily enough to go ahead with their attempt.
I'm just going to say out front, from my second viewing on Blu Ray, I love this film. It is a very different interpretation of Superman, Man of Steel. I mean, it is still recognizable as Superman. Kal-El, of the House of El, son of Jor-El and Lara, is sent away from his homeworld before its destruction. General Zod, leader of Krypton's military, tries to stage a coup and winds up getting banished to the Phantom Zone. He vows vengeance. Little Kal crashes in the American Midwest and is found by Jonathan and Martha Kent and grows up in Smallville. After a loving but challenging at times childhood, given his alien heritage, he eventually leaves home to try to find himself. His activities eventually attract the attention of an intrepid journalist, Lois Lane, and eventually, Zod is revived and he comes calling.
Some have called this "dark and gritty". I don't think it is necessarily dark. It more reflects the tension of what it would be like if an alien with godlike powers did indeed show up in our midst, how we might react at first until he proved himself to us. Further, how much more difficult it would be if destruction came in his wake, seeminly due to his presence. But Henry Cavil really nails the compassion and the desire to do good. "I'm not your enemy." He goes out of his way to aid those in peril. He experiences joy at learning some of the more fun aspects of his powers, such as flight.
The rest of the cast is solid, too. Amy Adam's Lois is brassy and tough without being obnoxious. Lawrence Fishburn's Perry White is tough, but compassionate, a shepperd hearding cats, ie a major metropolitan newspaper staff. The Kents are terrific, especially Kevin Kostner as Jonathan. I've heard some complain that he didn't hit the role with the unabashed, unapologetic idealism that previous versions of him did. I disagree. I think he successfully portrayed a good man in incredibly difficult circumstances trying to advise his son who is a being in entirely unprecedented circumstances. Trying to give him strong values while impressing him with the unfortunate aspects of parts of reality in this world.
Director Zack Scnyder forgoes lots of his usual hooks, like stylish slo-mo to more emotionally ground this tale, make it more matter of fact, which is all to the good. So when things do go superpowered and beyond normal human movement, it has more of an impact, yet seems more human than some of his other work. It is a stylish choice that succeeds.
Also, there's lots of little Easter eggs for long time Superman fans, of the comics, Smallville and previous films.
The next film will introduce Batman to the DC cinematic universe, and rumor has it we will also get Lex Luthor (though not as the primary villain, all the better) and maybe even Wonder Woman.
I for one can't wait.
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