Thoughts on the ubermench

Thoughts on Man of Steel...in purely rambling form...

Spoilers abound...

 

I am intrigued by the idea of Lois Lane finding Clark's identity on her own and so early in the story. There's no more game playing there, no more Clark playing the fool in front of here.

Instead, are we going to get an open, honest romance between Clark and Lois? That could be appreciated, especially since it adds a new dimension of her understanding why he disappears or has to run out with little notice.

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I dug all the actors in all the parts - Cavill, Adams, Larry Fishburn, Crowe, Diane Lane, Costner. All seemed perfect in their roles.

Cavill is an absolute stud. In his bearded, shirtless, running out of the ocean after rescuing the oil platform workers, he's stunning. Christopher Reeve was great, but he wasn't nearly as physical as was Cavill. And the change from grungy, hiding Superman to clean-shaven, open to the world Superman was impressive. Acting!

Adams showed a risk-eager, smart, capable Lois. She's willing to push Perry White, but she's also human enough to keep Clark's secret. The finding out of Clark's real name and history seemed achievable as it was presented.

I had no idea how large a part Russell Crowe was going to have. I knew he was Jor-El, but I assumed that once Krypton went kaput, so would Crowe. His presence on Earth - a ghost in the machine, as it were - worked well and let Kal-El learn his history understandably enough.

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Whatever actor played Zod nailed his performance, too. He carried a fierce, terrifying menace even when not fighting. He constantly had a threat in his voice, his demeanor, his stances even. And his final speech - that Kal-El had stolen his soul, that Zod had been bred to protect Krypton and now had no reason to live - was chilling.

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I am getting tired of the Superman-as-Christ imagery. Yes, we get it, he's a possible savior. Let that come through in the story without the ridiculously unsubtle forced symbolism.

Having Clark speak to a priest while sitting in front of stained glass of Christ...

Seeing Superman 'fall' out of a satellite and pause with his arms outstretched while Jor-El talks about him being able to save both species...

Theses were the only two missteps that I felt the writers made, and they were as ham-handed as the CHrist imagery in Superman Returns. Luckily the rest of the story here was worth the few missteps.

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So, Superman killed.

That's a big step. It's one of those near absolutes that define the character of Superman. It's sort of the 'Batman doesn't use guns' thing for Superman.

In the course of seventy-some years of Superman stories, though, Superman certainly hasn't killed very many folks. There have been imaginary/alternate universe stories in which he's killed the Joker, Mr Mxyzptlk, and even a possessed Lois Lane. In the canon, he's killed Doomsday - but  Doomsday came back. In the pre-New 52-days, he's even, sort of, killed some Zod analogs escaped from the Phantom Zone with green kryptonite.

Even the end of Superman II - the one with Christopher Reeve and Terrance Stamp - the three villains are depowered and chucked into the ice canyons of the Fortress of Solitude. Yeah, there's no overt mention of the three dying, but there's certainly no overt mention of anybody saving the, either.

Plus Superman has sent dozens of Kryptonian bad guys to the Phantom Zone where they're pretty much left to rot. It's not death, but it's fairly solidly in the neighborhood. It's sort of the Suped-up version of Batman throwing criminals into Arkham only there's no aging, no food, no life, no death, no nothing. It's kind of sending them to hell but with a window back into the normal universe.

So, did Superman killing Zod bother me? Nah...

I've long ago given up any sort of high ground on what a character is or isn't supposed to be, is or isn't supposed to do.

A Superman who kills at the end of a good story is in a story I want to read. A Superman who doesn't kill at the end of a bad, boring, lame story isn't.

The writers here gave Superman a reason to kill, and I'm curious to see where they go with his feelings from here. I'm assuming the next film will deal - at least tangentially - with the killing. If it's treated like no big deal, if it becomes a habit, if it just gets dealt with in a hand-waving fashion, I'll be skeptical. Until then, though, I'm willing to give the writers some leeway because they told a good story, and that's about all that matters.

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In the end, I enjoyed the movie. Fun times...