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Man Of Steel

Man Of Steel

" I teach you the superman.  Man is something to be surpassed." 
1883

Friedrich Nietsche 1844-1900



We know the story of Superman right?  The infant from Krypton is sent to Earth, whereby he is looked after by two unassuming individuals who guide him along his quest to find himself as he approaches adulthood whilst acknowledging his extraordinary powers, all to save the world.  I can relate, it is the hero's quest and journey, and I have written about this before and totally understand the path that the hero takes to bring the 'Elixir' home!  The estimated budget was $225,000,000; a huge sum, but not unusual for this type of film.

Henry Cavill encapsulates the sensitivity and power mixed in one that Superman embodies; at times unsure of himself, his place on Earth, the power he has and the force that he can impose when he uses his strength for the good of mankind.  The action in the film is fast, lot's of it and I have to say that the cinematography and colour is quite astonishing.  There are some scenes that win me over, that capture an innocence in Kal El before the responsibility of what he stands for begin to play on his mind.  These scenes set the story, but as far as I'm concerned end the film perfectly well too, when we have a young Kal El, with a deep red cape, playing with his dog, near the clothes line as a young Superman.  

Man of Steel is all action, other than the flashbacks which are sedate and artistic.  It is all Hollywood, and for most of the film it does have the WOW factor, where all the fight scenes end in total destruction of the city scape.  Thanks to Terminator we see this constantly in films, no different here.  
Problem is, the WOW factor disappears during the last fight scene, the pivotal end, when Superman and General Zod fight, not only do these two destroy an entire city during their fight, but when it comes to killing General Zod, all Superman does is break his neck.

I was left disappointed, how can one destroy an entire city with the impact and power of their body, get into uncompromising positions, smash bridges, throw cars around, be thrown around, yet be killed by a snap of the neck, I would have thought the neck could have snapped with an awkward landing...Very weak, and if there is a WOW factor throughout an entire film,  the WOW should definitely be at the end too!  Hollywood owes the audience that at least-for in Superman, man must feel like they are surpassed, a neck snap is too cliche and easy!

Stella Dimadis 2013



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