Man of Steel – Film Review

With the imminent destruction of Krypton, their home planet, Jor-El (Russell Crowe) and his wife seek to preserve their race by sending their infant son to Earth. The child’s spacecraft lands at the farm of Jonathan (Kevin Costner) and Martha (Diane Lane) Kent, who name him Clark and raise him as their own son. Though his extraordinary abilities have led to the adult Clark (Henry Cavill) living on the fringe of society, he finds he must become a hero to save those he loves from a dire threat.

Ah, the memories.

The first time I ever watched Zack Snyder‘s Man of Steel was on its release day back on June 14, 2013, but believe it or not, it wasn’t a planned event. On that day, I was celebrating a birthday party early since we were going to be relatively busy on my actual birthday.

My best friend and I decided to do laser-tag in our city which was a total blast, but we ended up only booking it for two hours. By the time we were done laser tag for the day, it was only 2pm, and we knew we didn’t want the party to end so early. We wanted something else to do that was fun.

That’s when my parents come in.

They suggest that we go see Man of Steel at 4pm, and the idea blew our minds. How did we not think of going to see the new Superman movie? My parents rushed to get us both to the theatre, and we arrived just on time. We were seated to watch what is, in my opinion, the best Superman film ever made.

That statement may be a boiling hot take since many people adore Christopher Reeve‘s first outing as the iconic superhero – and understandably so – but there’s just a certain quality to Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel that no other Superman movie has been able to replicate to this day.

Right from the opening scene alone, we understand just how technologically advanced Krypton is, and how hectic Superman’s origins are. Turns out, his home planet is full of dangers and an evil general named Zod who has superpowers that just so happens to want to murder Superman.

The events of the film essentially chronicle key moments in Clark Kent / Superman’s life, all leading to a hugely intense finale that’ll leave you exhilarated. This movie is almost ten years old and yet it looks better than most superhero movies today. The last fight scene is absolutely staggering to witness. It literally feels like you’re watching something tangible despite how otherworldly Superman is.

Henry Cavill makes for a phenomenal Clark Kent and Superman, managing to portray both in such a unique and rich way. He has that boyish charm that makes up Clark, and then when he’s on-screen as Superman, he feels unbelievably intimidating. What a flawless casting choice.

There’s also Michael Shannon as the genuinely terrifying General Zod, who gets quite a meaty role here. His character is impeccably written and fleshed out. Amy Adams also works wonderfully as Lois Lane, a reporter for The Daily Planet and also the love interest for Clark Kent.

Lots of people like to give Snyder a hard time for his films, and I will never understand why. His films are always going to be incredibly bold, daring, and intensely stylish. I’ll take a dozen of his films rather than one more bloated, comedy-filled superhero movie that we seem to be getting plagued with these days.