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Man of Steel Movie Review

Man of Steel

Man of Steel is a 2013 American superhero film directed by Zack Snyder, produced by Christopher Nolan, and scripted by David S. Goyer. Based on the DC Comics character Superman, the film is a reboot of the Superman film series that portrays the character's origin story. The film stars Henry Cavill in the title role with Amy Adams as Lois Lane,Michael Shannon as General Zod, Diane Lane as Martha Kent, Kevin Costner as Jonathan Kent, Laurence Fishburne as Perry White, and Russell Crowe as Jor-El. Man of Steel is intended to launch a shared fictional universe of DC Comics characters on film.

Development began in 2008 when Warner Bros. Pictures took pitches from comic book writers, screenwriters and directors, opting to reboot the franchise. In 2009, a court ruling resulted in Jerry Siegel's family recapturing the rights to Superman's origins and Siegel's copyright. The decision stated that Warner Bros. did not owe the families additional royalties from previous films, but if they did not begin production on a Superman film by 2011, then the Shuster and Siegel estates would be able to sue for lost revenue on an un produced film. Nolan pitched Goyer's idea after story discussion on The Dark Knight Rises, and Snyder was hired as the film's director in October 2010. Principal photography started in August 2011 in West Chicago, Illinois, before moving to Vancouver and Plano, Illinois.

Man of Steel's red carpet premiere in the U.S. was attended by its principal cast members in New York City on June 10, 2013. The film was released to the general public on June 14, 2013, in conventional, 3D and IMAX theaters. The film has grossed more than $635 million at the worldwide box office, despite a polarized response from critics. Some critics highlighted the film's narrative, acting, visuals and reinvention of the titular character, while others were critical of the film's pacing and lack of character development. A follow-up featuring Batman will be released in 2015, with Snyder, Goyer, Nolan, and most of the first film's main cast set to return.

The planet Krypton faces imminent destruction due to its unstable core, the result of years of depleting Krypton's natural resources. The ruling council is deposed by the planet's military commander General Zod and his followers during a military coup. Scientist Jor-El and his wife Lara launch their newborn son Kal-El on a spacecraft to Earth after infusing his cells with a genetic codex of the entire Kryptonian race. After Zod murders Jor-El, he and his followers are captured and banished to the Phantom Zone. However, Krypton explodes some time afterward, freeing them.

Kal-El's ship lands in a small Kansas town. He is raised as the adoptive son of Jonathan and Martha Kent, who name him Clark. Clark's Kryptonian physiology affords him superhuman abilities on Earth, which initially cause him confusion and ostracism, but he gradually learns to harness his powers to help others. Jonathan reveals to a teenage Clark that he is an alien and advises him not to use his powers publicly, fearing that society will reject him. After Jonathan's death, an adult Clark spends several years living a nomadic lifestyle, working different jobs under false identities, while saving people in secret as well as struggling to cope with the loss of his adoptive father. He eventually infiltrates a U.S. military investigation of a Kryptonian scout spaceship in the Arctic. Clark enters the alien ship, and it allows him to communicate with the preserved consciousness of Jor-El in the form of a hologram. Jor-El reveals Clark's origins and the extinction of his race, and tells Clark that he was sent to Earth to bring hope to mankind. Lois Lane, a journalist from the Daily Planet who was sent to write a story on the discovery, sneaks inside the ship while following Clark and is rescued by him when she is injured. Lois's editor, Perry White, rejects her story of a "superhuman" rescuer, so she traces Clark back to Kansas with the intention of writing an exposé. After hearing his story, she decides not to reveal his secret.

Meanwhile, Zod and his crew seek out other worlds that the Kryptonian race colonized. However, the colonies did not survive long after Krypton's destruction. They eventually pick up a Kryptonian distress signal sent from the ship Clark discovered on Earth. Zod arrives and demands the humans surrender Kal-El, whom he believes has the codex, or else Earth will be destroyed. Clark agrees, and the military hand him and Lois over to Zod's second-in-command, Faora, at Zod's request. Zod reveals that he intends to use a terraforming"world engine" to transform Earth into a new Krypton and use the codex to repopulate the planet with genetically-engineered Kryptonians. This transformation will result in the destruction of mankind. After Clark and Lois escape Zod's ship with Jor-El's help, Clark defeats Faora and Nam-Ek, convincing the military that he is an ally. Zod deploys the world engine and initiates the process inMetropolis and over the Indian Ocean.

Clark, now being called "Superman", destroys the world engine, while the military uses the spacecraft that brought him to Earth in an aerial strike on Zod's ship over Metropolis, sending Zod's forces back into the Phantom Zone. Superman destroys the ship that carries the Genesis Chamber, the pivotal technology to restore the Kryptonian race with the codex. Only Zod remains, who engages Superman in a destructive battle across Metropolis. When Zod attempts to murder cornered civilians in revenge for his defeat, Superman is forced to kill him. Some time later, Superman continues to try to earn the U.S. government's trust, though evading their efforts to uncover his secret identity. To create an alias that gives him access to dangerous situations without arousing suspicion, Clark takes a job as a reporter at the Daily Planet.

Screen shoots:

Man of Steel

Man of Steel

Man of Steel

Man of Steel

Man of Steel

Cast:

• Henry Cavill as Clark Kent / Kal-El:

A Kryptonian whose parents sent him to Earth as an infant to escape the destruction of his homeworld Krypton. He is raised in Smallville, Kansas, by farmers Martha and Jonathan Kent. Raised under the moral guidance of his adoptive parents and inspired by the holographic message from his late father, Clark becomes Earth's greatest protector, Superman. Superman is depicted as being 33 years old, at least from the moment he was found, in the present timeline of the film. Cavill is the first British actor to play the character. He was previously cast in Superman: Flyby, which was ultimately shelved, and was considered for the role in the 2006 film Superman Returns, but lost out to Brandon Routh. Cavill has stated that "There's a very real story behind the Superman character", explaining that everyone's goal has been to explore the difficulties his character faces as a result of having multiple identities – including his birth name, Kal-El, and his alter ego, Clark Kent. Cavill also stated that "He's alone and there's no one like him," referring to Superman's Ashlin. "That must be incredibly scary and lonely, not to know who you are or what you are, and trying to find out what makes sense. Where's your baseline? What do you draw from? Where do you draw a limit with the power you have? In itself, that's an incredible weakness." In an interview with Total Film magazine, Cavill stated he had been consuming nearly 5,000 calories a day, training for over two hours daily and plowing protein to pack on the muscle mass. Dylan Sprayberry was cast as the 13-year-old Clark Kent while 11-year-old Cooper Timberline was cast as the 9-year-old Clark Kent in June.

• Amy Adams as Lois Lane:

Reporter for the Daily Planet newspaper and love interest of Clark Kent. Adams was selected from a list of actresses that included Olivia Wilde and Mila Kunis. "There was a big, giant search for Lois," Snyder said. "For us it was a big thing and obviously a really important role. We did a lot of auditioning but we had this meeting with Amy Adams and after that I just felt she was perfect for it." Adams has auditioned for the role three times, once for the unproduced Superman: Flyby, and the second time for Superman Returns. Adams was confirmed to play Lois Lane in March 2011. While announcing the role, Snyder said in statement, "We are excited to announce the casting of Amy Adams, one of the most versatile and respected actresses in films today. Amy has the talent to capture all of the qualities we love about Lois: smart, tough, funny, warm, ambitious and, of course, beautiful." On portraying Lois Lane, Adams has stated that the film would feature a Lois Lane who is an "independent, feisty woman... but set in a more identifiable world." Adams also stated that "She has become more a free ranging journalist, someone who likes to be hands on. The nature of the newspaper business has changed so much. There is so much more pressure."

• Michael Shannon as General Zod:

A Kryptonian general and megalomaniac with the same superpowers as Superman. Viggo Mortensen was considered for the role. Snyder stated, "Zod is not only one of Superman's most formidable enemies, but one of the most significant because he has insights into Superman that others don't. Michael is a powerful actor who can project both the intelligence and the malice of the character, making him perfect for the role." When Goyer was asked about why Zod was chosen as the villain, he stated, "The way (Christopher) Nolan and I have always approached movies as well is you never say, 'Hey, which villain would be cool for this movie?' You start with the story first. What kind of story? What kind of theme do you want to tell? So we worked that out. Then, usually the villain becomes obvious in terms of who's going to be the appropriate antagonist for that. When you guys see the movie, the only villain we could've used was Zod and the Kryptonians. I mean, when you see what the whole story is, nothing else would have even made sense." Shannon also commented on his portrayal in comparison to Terence Stamp's original take on Zod, "To follow Terence Stamp's iconic performance in the original, it is a daunting but I just focused on one day at a time. It's interesting that when we started with this, we did a lot of training together and I think that kind of helped loosen things up a little bit. It is a very physical movie at the end of the day. That's a good way to find your way 'into it' [as an actor]."

• Kevin Costner and Diane Lane as Jonathan and Martha Kent:

The adoptive parents of Superman. Snyder explained his reason for his casting the on-screen couple is solely for the realism: "I think the thing you realize when you look at Diane and Kevin, in our decision to cast them so far, you sort of get a sense of how tonally we're looking at the movie, and what you realize is that those guys are serious actors, and we're taking this movie very seriously in terms of the tone of having those guys. You're talking about having a situation where whatever the action is or whatever the drama of the movie is, our first priority is to make sure it's rendered in the most realistic way we can get at." Lane was the first cast member to join the film since Cavill. "This was a very important piece of casting for me because Martha Kent is the woman whose values helped shape the man we know as Superman," Snyder said in the release. "We are thrilled to have Diane in the role because she can convey the wisdom and the wonder of a woman whose son has powers beyond her imagination."

• Laurence Fishburne as Perry White:

The Editor in Chief of the Daily Planet and the boss of Lois Lane. Fishburne is the first African American to play Perry White in a live-action film. Fishburne stated that he modeled his character after Ed Bradley, stating that "my inspiration really is the late Ed Bradley, who was a CBS correspondent on 60 Minutes for many years." Fishburne continued, stating that "[the] Legendary Ed Bradley... was a friend, a mentor, and a role model for me. Particularly because he worked in journalism, and he was the kind of guy who walked with kings, but he had the common touch. And so he was my inspiration for Perry."

• Russell Crowe as Jor-El:

The biological father of Superman. Sean Penn and Clive Owen were also considered for the role. Crowe incorporates how his own fatherhood informed his reading of the script to portray Jor-El, stating that "...it was one of those things where that's how it was connecting me. That's the question that Jor-El faces, that's the situation that he's in." Crowe also comments on his preparation for the film stating that: "When I signed on... well, one, I didn't realize that I would be wearing Spandex—'cause you know that's Superman's costume—I didn't realize that I'd have to fit into it as well," Crowe says. "But, I also didn't realize the type of organizer that Zack Snyder is, 'cause this was really old school prep. This is sort of David Lean level preparation, and I really appreciated him. And I was on the movie for three-and-a-half or four months before I even got in front of the camera."

• Antje Traue as Faora:

Zod's Sub-Commander and a commander of the Kryptonian military who is completely devoted and loyal to General Zod. Ruthless, cold, and brutal in her methods, Faora's military training and skills make her a very dangerous opponent to Superman. Faora is an expert in close quarters combat and melee weaponry.

• Ayelet Zurer as Lara Lor-Van:

The biological mother of Superman and loyal wife to Jor-El. Julia Ormond had previously been announced as cast, but dropped out. Connie Nielsen was in negotiations for the role before Ormond was cast.

• Harry Lennix as Lieutenant General Swanwick
• Christopher Meloni as Colonel Nathan Hardy
• Richard Schiff as Dr. Emil Hamilton
• Mackenzie Gray as Jax-Ur.
• Michael Kelly as Steve Lombard

Man of Steel Movie Review