Man of Steel

Man of Steel is a 2013 superhero film based on the DC Comics character Superman. Produced by DC Entertainment, Legendary Pictures, Syncopy and Cruel and Unusual Films, and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, it is the first installment in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU). A direct sequel entitled Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice was released on March 25, 2016.

Plot[]

With the imminent destruction of their home planet Krypton, Jor-El and his wife seek to preserve their race by sending their infant son to Earth. The child's spacecraft lands at the farm of Jonathan and Martha Kent, who name him Clark and raise him as their own son. Though his extraordinary abilities have led to the adult Clark living on the fringe of society, he finds he must become a hero to save those he loves from a dire threat.

Why It's Great[]

This movie takes all the of the various elements of Superman's character and origin and makes them feel cohesive and grounded in a way that a wide variety of modern viewers can believe and relate to. It goes through great pains to show how Superman starts his journey toward becoming the noble icon he eventually does, instead of simply stating that he's inherently so good he can never do wrong.
Henry Cavill does a great job as Superman.
The action scenes are very entertaining. This movie properly adapts the speed and power the Kryptonians display in the comic books, and their fights are powerful brawls that cause massive collateral damage.
Majestic score by Hans Zimmer.
Beautiful cinematography.
Russell Crowe and Michael Shannon both make memorable performances as Jor-El and General Zod respectively, with Zod generally being considered one of the better DCEU villains.
Jonathan Kent's death is a very emotional and touching moment.
Superman's internal struggles and insecurities before he finds his way to a nobler heroic outlook are explored quite nicely.
Zod's "I will find him!" yell is memorable.
Great visuals.
It keeps a lot of the Superman mythos intact, but it also adds a lot of new elements (or elements borrowed from modern Superman comics) that make the story fresh and new for modern times.
The film treats Superman as a Jesus allegory with excellently done Christian symbolism. Some examples include:
1. Superman turns himself over to Zod to save humanity, and before doing so he talks with a priest while sitting behind a clearly visible mural of Jesus.
2. He undergoes torment while imprisoned and is tempted by a vision.
3. He makes a cross pose when he escapes from the ship.
4. He reveals himself to the military by slowly floating with a beam of sunlight behind him.
Epic final battle.
Superman's first flight is absolutely breathtaking.
Lana Lang is actually made into a sympathetic and likeable character courtesy of Jadin Gould.
It jump-started the DC Extended Universe which is still ongoing today and getting back on track after a few bumps on the road.
"You think! You can threaten! My mother?!"

Bad Qualities[]

While the visuals are nice, they don't match with the movie's rather washed-out color pallete template.
The Kryptonian civil war in the beginning ends almost as quickly as it begins, despite it being shown to be a planetary scale rebellion, looks to be worth a lot of exploration.
It follows Batman Begins' steps way too closely, as it not only imitated said film's path for its hero (such as traveling the world to find one's self) but also elements such as the anachronistic order, the well-intentioned villain who attacks the hero's home (Gotham/Earth) with a device that alters the environment, the function of Lois Lane and Rachel Dawes and the relationship between the hero and the Government (specially between the trustworthy Gordon/Hardy and the skeptical Loeb/Swanwick), along with hints of the archenemy in a future installment.
Just like the old films, Jor-El has too much bearing on Clark becoming Superman, with the added complication of Jonathan Kent's unconventional portrayal. Traditionally (even as far back as the 30's), it is the Kents' upbringing which gives Superman the morals and responsibility needed to use his abilities for good, but despite them having tender moments with Clark, very little of this moral, earthly upbringing is seen. Thankfully, they did downplay Jor-El and Krypton in later films.

Reception[]

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, Man of Steel has an approval rating of 56% based on 332 reviews, with an average rating of 6.23/10.

Box Office[]

Man of Steel grossed $291 million in the United States and Canada, and $377 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $668 million, making it the highest-grossing solo Superman film ever, and the second-highest-grossing reboot of all time behind The Amazing Spider-Man (although it did beat The Amazing Spider-Man in North America).