With the release of Wonder Woman, the DC Extended Universe
(DCEU) has finally delivered its first great film, rightly receiving both
critical praise and (at this early stage) serious commercial success, which
will hopefully result in at least one sequel. Wonder Woman proved to be the perfect answer to the missteps of
both Batman V Superman and Suicide Squad and will hopefully guide
the DCEU going forward.
There have been four DCEU films
so far. Wonder Woman; an
undoubted home run and one of the best comic book films out there. Batman V Superman; a trilogy of films
condensed into a tonally chaotic mess that has Batman using guns. Suicide Squad; the lesser of 2016’s two
evils and Man of Steel; the film
you don’t remember correctly.
But don’t worry, you are not
alone.
“Man of Steel is a bumpy
ride for sure. But there's no way to stay blind to its wonders.” Peter Travers – Rolling
Stone
Because quite simply, Man of Steel is nowhere near as bad
as you think it is, if anything, it is guilty by association. Which is being
associated with Batman V Superman. It
may not belong among the genres greats, but does not deserve the derision it
receives.
Before we get to the negative,
lets talk about the positive and the parts of the film that worked
unequivocally, as the later far outweighs the former.
Krypton. Oh, how that sequence
just works, yes there are few strange zoom shots of Jor-El flying a giant
dragon/butterfly creature, but other than that, it just gets it right. The film
treats Krypton seriously and instantly introduces the smaller character stakes
(Jor-El trying to save his son) and the bigger, world stakes (Jor-El trying to
save his planet) and continues to ramp them up, right until the final shot.
Russell Crowe and Michael Shannon bring their characters to life in such
interesting ways that they instil their relationship and the world with so much
history, that when he catch up with them later, interacting with Superman, it
feels like a direct continuation of Kryptons final moments.
“The casting is impeccable,
beginning with Cavill as an uncommonly brooding but refreshingly deep Superman.
The script doesn't give him much to say, but it doesn't need to.” Peter Howell – Toronto Star
While I’ve touched on Crowe and
Shannon and what they brought to the film, it’s hard to find a cast member who
didn’t deliver in Man of Steel. Like Batman Begins and Superman: The Movie, all of the roles are filed with top level
actors and they all bring an immediate history to their roles, especially Kevin
Costner, who draws on similar fatherly characters he has played in the past,
but brings in a confusion and doubt that we rarely in him as he struggles to
come to terms with keeping his son safe, but also helping him become the man he
could be.
“[Cavill is] a superb choice
for someone who needs to convincingly convey innate modesty, occasional
confusion and eventual strength.” Kenneth Turan – LA Times
Henry Cavill takes over the
iconic suit, but is the first person since Christopher Reeve to play the
character on screen in a different way. This Superman isn’t instantly sure of
himself and has doubts over who he is and what he can be. Cavill plays it with
frustrated restraint of someone who knows physically what he can do, but knows
that he has to keep it secret even though he can’t help but help the people he
comes across. Its only when we see him in the suit that he begins to see the
man both his fathers hoped he would become, a man sure in his beliefs and
someone who wants to do good.
“David S. Goyer's screenplay
benefits from Goyer's ambitious script structure, a thing of interwoven
flashbacks and memory-triggered leaps into Superman's past.” Michael Phillips – Chicago
Tribune
Like the best origin films, it
focuses on its central character and keeps the plot under control and Man of Steel does that. After the
Kryptonian prologue, the first half of the film follows Clark/Kal-El through
the years, much like Batman Begins
did with Bruve Wayne, from painful formative moments in childhood, to later
points in time closer to he will become where the character discovers important
information about himself that inform who he is (The Kryptonian ship in Man of Steel and the League of Shadows
training in Batman Begins). The
second half then focuses on the threat from Zod and his army as we finally get
to see the hero cut loose, for good or bad and discover what he is capable of.
“There’s
very little humor or joy in this Superman story.” Richard Roeper
– Chicago Sun Times
The central criticisms that were
raised against Man of Steel from its
release up to know were, the level and depiction of the destruction during the
finale and how Superman didn’t save as many people as he should have and the
lack of fun and joy in a story about a character who traditionally has belonged
on the brighter side of hero spectrum.
“The crowd at a "Man of
Steel" preview the other night exited the theater not excited, not chatty,
but quiet, vaguely shellshocked. Was it the ridiculously loud volume levels? Or
the pounding inflicted by the most protracted action sequences? Or both?” Michael Phillips – Chicago
Tribune
The criticism of the finale is
one I can understand as Zack Synder approached the battle between Superman and
Zod in a “realistic” way. Buildings collapsed, people died and everything was
coated in a ghostly concrete dust, no doubt calling on images and memories from
9/11 and warzones around the globe. For some this imagery could be too much and
while it wasn’t upsetting for myself, it would be stupid and cold-hearted to
not see that some people could be affected by it. It was no doubt intended, but
was it intended to deliberately offend and upset? No. It stayed true to the
tone of the world and the story it took place in.
Let’s not forget that the final
confrontation is two near-invincible beings knocking twelve bells out of each
other in the middle of a densely populated city, where one of the
near-invincible beings has made it clear that he is going to kill a lot of
innocent people, making them suffer along the way, unless the other
near-invincible being stops him. Zod, by this point has lost everything, has
nothing to lose and wants to punish Superman as much as he can by hurting the
people he has adopted as his own, choosing them over the Kryptonian people.
Superman is left in a no win
situation, no doubt deliberately engineered by Zod, he can either save the
people from crumbling remains of Metropolis after the failed terraforming, or
go after Zod, the tangible, immediate threat. Unsurprisingly, Superman Zod,
without much attention given to the people of Metropolis. While this isn’t a
complete misstep, it was a missed opportunity to show off Superman’s full
potential. But the fight shows us that this is all new to him, where an when an
experienced Superman would have acted differently. The moment that stands out
the most for me is the fuel truck that he easily floats over, allowing it to
crash into a building. It would have taken nothing for Superman to stop it, but
he chooses to avoid it, focusing on himself and Zod, causing needless
destruction and putting lives at risk. Even an inexperienced Superman wouldn’t
have made this decision, in this moment, he is angry and wants to stop Zod and
it would have, at least to me, felt more natural for him to use it as a weapon.
But also, this is only second real fight Superman has been in and it is against
a much smarter tactician in Zod. Superman making mistakes and learning from
them was something that we would have seen looked at and explored in a sequel
I’m sure. If we had gotten one that is.
Timing didn’t help this style of
finale, a year earlier The
Avengers had used a very similar style of climax, where the number of
civilian casualties is meant to be dramatically lower, there are several scenes
that show The Avengers saving civilians from the alien invaders. I don’t
remember seeing any innocents being hurt, never mind killed during The Avengers finale, but in Man of Steel there is undeniably a high
body count as the gods do battle in the skies above. I’m not arguing for
against either one, both of them fit the tone of the story that has come before
and feels like a natural progression and culmination of those stories.
As I mentioned before and what
was an important thematic element for the film is that Superman is till coming
to terms with who he is and understanding what he is truly capable of. From his
discovery of the Kryptonian ship through to the end of the battle in
Metropolis, a matter of days pass and while he has tested his powers, he has
never been tested on a scale anywhere near what he experiences in the second
half of Man of Steel.
Putting the timescale into
perspective, within days of finally discovering who you are, an army of your
own people turn up and threaten the planet and people that have taken you in
and where you have made your choice. Every question you ever wanted to ask to
better understand yourself could be answered. Also, there are moments of joy
and fun and upbeat, they are just used moderately, in keeping with the tone of
the story. Clark learning to fly as his father talks to him (also one of the
greatest Superman moments in a film), is a scene steeped in it. Then final
scenes where Clark tells Martha that he knows what he is going to do with his
life and where we, the audience finally get the feeling that Clark knows who he
is and where he belongs.
But in between those moments, is
a man trying to come to terms with what he is and who he is, while the fate of
the world depends upon the decisions he makes. Realistically, not a situation conducive
to a story over flowing with joyful moments, it is a story of inner struggle
(and yes, “Gods” knocking each other about) and self-discovery.
I won’t be so blind as to say
that nothing could have been done differently or changed for the better, there
are few that I regularly think of when Man of Steel pops into my head. I’d have
liked to have seen the Superman and Lois scene in the interrogation room go on
longer, the hand held style at points didn’t work for me, although that isn’t
specific to Man of Steel, it is just a style that I find is very hard to make
work. Although it did give Man of Steel a visual style that sets it apart from
the rest of the genre. Finally, the finally, for me would have been stronger,
if it was a bit shorter, but also if there was more of Henry Cavill and Michael
Shannon fighting practically during the finale. I realise with these
characters, some aspects just couldn’t have been done, but for me the best
parts of the fight is when we get up close and personal with Zod and Superman (like
the construction site and the train station).
I’ll drop into spoiler territory
for this paragraph. But the way that Superman stops the fight came in for a bit
flack, although that was mainly from people arguing “Superman would never
kill”, or “Superman wouldn’t do that”. But this is a new Superman in a new
world and the threat that he and humanity face is unique, spectacularly
aggressive and near unstoppable. The prior battle has shown us what destruction
Zod can and will cause and faced with the situation at the end, between Zod and
innocents. Superman makes the only choice he could. Zod knew what he was doing,
he created the situation, Superman was running out of time and options and made
the choice he felt he had to.
Where the character would have
gone after he comes to terms with effectively killed off the last his species
was a great weight, thread to explore and dive in to in the next film. But it
never truly found out the effect this had on Superman and that is perhaps the
true cost of getting Batman V
Superman, for all the early hype and people exalting that we would finally
see the two greatest superheroes meet and fight on the big screen, was that we
were denied a true sequel to Man of
Steel.
While Batman V Superman may have touched on, or used part of these
questions or ideas in its film, that was such a wide array of directions they
could go in and consequences and developments that could be explored. The ones
that were used, but all to sparingly or prematurely dropped was the
Senate/House hearings, the developing relationship between Lois and Clark and
the world in general adjusting to having a god amongst them. But also, they
could looked at the potential religious angle to Superman appearing and the
forming of a church or belief structure devoted to him, how world leaders and
politicians would respond to a powerful force they can’t control. Hopefully,
one day we will get a sequel that puts Superman front and centre again, it may
be the upcoming Justice League, but I’m not holding out much hope.
Superman, also wasn’t a
financial failure, it made around $668m worldwide, which isn’t bad for a reboot
of a character that needed
bringing into the modern world. Batman
Begins by comparison made $374m and Iron Man $585m, although they both received more critical
praise than Man of Steel, $668m
surely shouldn’t have been that bad of a performance to cause Warner Bros. to
panic and press the Batman button.
Ultimately, what we got from Batman V Superman was a trilogy of films
(Man of Steel 2, a rebooted Batman film and then a Batman/Superman film) which
has kneecapped the Man of Steel series and gave us a portrayal of Batman that
was closer to The Punisher than Batman. Although, it did give us Gal Gadot as
Wonder Woman and that is something to be truly thankful for.
Hopefully, the Wonder Woman team will be given the
time, patience and support that The
Dark Knight team were
given and allowed to make at least one more film that focuses on Diana and her
world, it’s rich enough and unique enough to do that, without trying to jam in any
other Justice League characters.
So go and see Wonder Woman, if you’ve seen it already,
go see it again and let the people in charge know that we want another Wonder
Woman film that puts her front and centre. Then, go and watch Man of Steel again. You’ll be surprised.
