Man of Steel - The Krypton Factor

The year was 2006 and fans were eagerly anticipating Bryan Singer's foray into the Superman franchise. Having abandoned X-Men 3 in favour of doing it, this only served to make the wounds fester even deeper when the film turned out to be a flop of monumental proportions. Having seen what Christopher Nolan and his team did to re-energize the Batman franchise, Nolan is at the producer's helm attempting to do the same for Clark Kent and co. With Watchmen and 300's Zack Snyder in the director's chair, save perhaps the second installment of Peter Jackson's Hobbit trilogy this has to be the most anticipated movie of 2013. So with Batman, Spider-man and now Superman all having gone through a rebirth in the film world recently, how does this stack up? Pretty darn well, actually.

Much like Nolan's 2005 Batman Begins, Man of Steel is very much a genesis story. The film begins on Kryton with Russell Crowe's Jor-El embroiled in a battle with Michael Shannon's maniacal General Zod, who has staged a coup on the rapidly imploding Krypton. In an attempt to save his son as well as the Krypton race Jor-El dispatches his son Kal to a safe and inhabitable planet; Earth. Once on Earth, Kal is rescued and taken in by the Kents (Kevin Costner and Diane Lane) and is henceforth to be known as Clark Kent. Forced to grow up hiding his superhuman abilities Clark must eventually confront his true heritage when Shannon's evil Zod shows up on Earth determined to destroy him and establish a new Krypton under his rule. What this makes for is a highly interesting and delicately crafted narrative that is also buffeted by some truly amazing special FX sequences. The depiction of Krypton and Jor-El's confrontation with Zod is particularly impressive.

In terms of cast, does Henry Cavill measure up to his famous predecessor Christopher Reeve (forget Brandon Routh and Dean Cain)? In short, spectacularly so. Visually, he is the epitome of Clark Kent/Superman and in some shots even looks like a carbon copy of the late, great Reeves. Cavill's immense training regime in preparation for the role also has to be commended, sporting a physique that puts Christian Bale to shame in the Batman franchise. Aside from being the necessary hulk of meat though, Cavill gives a wonderfully subtle performance as we see the character emerge from shy loner to the saviour of mankind. Amy Adams, forever wonderful, is also perfectly suited to the dogged seeker of truth, Lois Lane. Kevin Costner and Diane Lane, although not in a great deal of the film, excel as Clark's adoptive parents. The two most interesting performances however come from Russell Crowe and Michael Shannon. Ever a fan of Shannon since HBO's fantastic Boardwalk Empire, Shannon is perfect for the evil and deranged General Zod. Perhaps a bit 'hammy' on occasion, this only serves to highlight the complete psychotic nature of the character. Russell Crowe, on the other hand gives a wonderfully understated performance as Jor-El. The beginning of the film shows he still as the ability to 'kick ass' that we witnessed in Gladiator, yet the film also displays his ability to give a great dramatic performance, as the father willing to make the ultimate sacrifice in protection of his child.

So, all in all is this latest rebirth of one of our favourite superheroes been a success? It would have to be a resounding yes. Unlike the recent Spider-man reboot for example, unlike Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker, Cavill is a highly believable candidate for the role. With Christopher Nolan and writer David S. Goyer, not to mention the master of the epic soundtrack Hans Zimmer, you can see that the goal of the film was to very much emulate the formula and structure of the Dark Knight trilogy. And why not? Despite not quite measuring up to Nolan's incredible trilogy, what the film does is give us a Superman for a new generation and I wait with almost baited breath for the next installments in the franchise.