I happened to catch the stars of the new Superman film, Man of Steel on The Graham Norton Show recently. They were pretty good and they sold the film well so I had high expectations when I went to watch it.
The first thing I would say is that this film is loud. There is CGI destruction on a massive scale in glorious surround sound. Frankly, there was a little too much destruction; it began to get gratuitous. Secondly, it is rather humourless. If you go expecting an Iron Man one-liner fest, you will be sorely disappointed. I registered one joke and even that was near the end. Having said that, in the graphic novels, Superman is written as a very earnest, always looking-to-do the-right-thing superhero and definitely not a one-liner type of guy. I guess the lack of humour was not surprising but I do wish there had been a little more fun.
The film examines the circumstances of Superman's birth and subsequent escape to earth in some detail. You also get some insight into what it was like for him growing up with Kevin Costner and Diane Lane playing the Kents, his adoptive parents. Russell Crowe turns in a solid performance as Jor-El, Superman's biological father; though you feel he can handle this type of role standing on one leg with one hand tied behind his back! Henry Cavill's earnest manner is ideally suited to the role of Superman for which he undertook a frankly insane fitness regime outlined in detail on Graham Norton’s show. The new Superman suit is a shimmery blue onesie affair and gone are the trademark red underpants. Apart from the slightly too long cape, I would say that it is definitely an improvement on the original (cue shocked intake of breath from DC Comics fans).
Louis Lane is feisty and confident and I really liked Amy Adams’ take on the character. Michael Shannon plays the villain, General Zod with the right amount of single-minded derangement. I could totally see where he was coming from even though I was against his plan to annihilate the entire human race (because that would just be wrong)! There is laser vision galore and even though there is no kryptonite, there is 'krypton-y' stuff going on which has much the same effect. The ending sets it up nicely for a sequel which I will definitely go and watch. I give it 3.5 stars out of 5.
Mrs Osafo