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| "I refuse to pose in red underwear." |
After many versions of the same characters, I was really looking forward to Man of Steel's take. While some of it has been redone, such as some aspects of Clark Kent's life as a child, the differences were pretty huge. There are more sci-fi/futuristic themes, especially on Krypton. Superman's story is also different, and I noticed the focus is more on Kal-El, the Kryptonian, and less on Clark Kent, the "human". There's always been the question of which was Superman's real identity: the red-and-blue-uniformed superhero, or the glasses-wearing reporter? And this movie certainly seems to indicate the former.
The best part for me is the bad guy, General Zod.
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| Or his Royal Beardliness. |
I've always loved the complexity of this individual. In his own mind, Zod is a superhero. He's not motivated by greed or corruption. He's simply doing what he was born to do - defend Krypton and its people at all cost. It would have been noble if it didn't also make him into a ruthless killer. There's this one part near the end where Zod gives a little speech that sums up the futility of his circumstances. Very telling and moving, and it made him even more memorable.
There's also his right-hand woman, Faora, who is very terrifying.
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| Terrifyingly awesomesauce. |
One thing a lot of people dislike about this movie is the amount of destruction. Skyscrapers exploding, people dying left and right - some as a result of Superman's actions. But I found it realistic. These are super beings with the power to destroy entire cities. Their fights aren't going to be contained; they'll be messy and awful and even tragic.
In all, a great movie, one I look forward to seeing about 10 more times when it's out on DVD.
