Man of Steel

Man of Steel
-PG-13

Superman is the next hero whose story is being redone for the big screen.  Man of Steel is an intense, loud, and action-packed retelling of the story of Clark Kent, a seemingly ordinary guy who has never quite fit in, and who has a great secret he's hiding.  This movies focuses on what it was like growing up so different from everyone else, how he has had to carry on his life, jumping from job to job after heroic rescue efforts making moving necessary to remaining unknown.  Superman's character is well-developed, but after his story is set straight, the remaining half of the movie is explosion after explosion after the evils from Krypton come to reclaim the member of their race who was saved.  Except this time, they're not interested in saving him, they're only interested in using him to obtain what is necessary to bring back the culture of Krypton, using Earth as the foundation on which to build it.  Will Superman surrender for the sake of the people, or will he resist- endangering the race which he is very much a part of in an attempt to protect them?  This roaring superhero flick had me on the edge of my seat the whole time.

What I Liked:

On the radio I have heard that there are several very Christian themes present in the Superman story.  He's a man whose origin in unknown, who has a father who is "somewhere else", and who comes and saves the world.  The actual Superman character is a very likeable guy.  I enjoyed his character development, seeing the more "human" side of him, how he struggled, but how he put himself last for the sake of others.  His mom was a good character as well, and the movie's slower, more developmental moments were nice.

Possible Concerns:

Despite enjoying the storyline, the constant blowing up and falling down of buildings in a highly populated city was extremely hard to watch, especially since this was all that was happening for about an hour of the film.  There are a couple of poorly placed, crass remarks which the movie really would have been better without.  As far as the other characters were concerned, Lois Lane was okay, the death scene of Clark's earthly Dad was a bit lame- I wish they had come up with either a more heroic or less dramatic way for him to die.

Overall, I wanted to see it badly, and am happy that I did.  But I will not be purchasing it when it comes out on DVD, because I do not think I would be able to watch the constant, destructive violence often enough to make it worth it.  I would recommend it only to those who are not bothered by constant violence, and would not pay any extra for 3-D or IMAX.  In this case, I just don't think it's worth it.