In Defence of Man of Steel

Man of Steel is arguably one of the most divisive superhero films, mustering a 57% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a 7.1 score on IMDB. It acted as the start of the DCEU, aiming to be a darker counterweight to the MCU, sparking furious debate for years. My controversial opinion is that Man of Steel is my favourite Superman film (I haven’t seen James Gunn’s Superman at the time of writing), and I will offer up my defence for the 2013 film.

Man of Steel retells the origins of Superman, about how his birth parents sent their only child to Earth, and encoded him with the DNA of all of Krypton. On Earth, the boy is raised as Clark Kent (Henry Cavill), and he wanders the globe searching for some kind of meaning. When Clark infiltrates an archaeological dig in the Arctic, he discovers the truth of his heritage. However, his discovery also gains the attention of journalist Lois Lane (Amy Adams) and the last remaining Kryptonians, led by General Zod (Michael Shannon).

Man of Steel was a highly hyped film. It came out after the success of The Avengers and The Dark Knight Returns, and Warner Brothers put a lot of effort into the film. The studio drew from the success of The Dark Knight Trilogy and brought in Christopher Nolan and David S. Goyer. Nolan had a story and producing credit, and his production company, Syncopy Inc., worked on the film, whilst Goyer wrote the screenplay. There was an extensive search for a director, with big names like Darren Aronofsky, Duncan Jones, Tony Scott, and Robert Zemeckis being considered, until Zack Snyder was hired.

Man of Steel drew a lot of inspiration from Batman Begins. It was an origin story that went down the dark and serious route, and even used some similar storytelling techniques. Like Batman Begins, Man of Steel employed the use of flashbacks to show their characters as kids and what motivated them. Both showed the relationship of their main characters with their fathers and how it impacted them. In Man of Steel, Clark had to deal with two fathers: Jonathan Kent (Kevin Costner) believed Clark needed to hide his powers because the world wouldn’t be ready for him, and Jor-El (Russell Crowe), who thought that Kal-El should use his powers for the betterment of humanity. It made for an interesting debate, although the film clearly sided with Jor-El.

Batman Begins was partly influenced by the original Superman movie. Nolan stated he wanted an ensemble cast, and Man of Steel did something similar. The cast was filled with big name talent in the form of Amy Adams, Michael Shannon, Russell Crowe, and Laurence Fishburne, older actors for gravitas, i.e. Kevin Costner and Diane Lane, and respected character actors in the form of Christopher Meloni (Law and Order: Special Victims Unit) and Richard Schiff (The West Wing). These actors did treat Man of Steel like it was a serious epic and gave the film a lot of weight.

Man of Steel was a film about a character who wanted to take control of his own destiny. This was symbolised with Kal-El’s birth since he was the first naturally born child in hundreds of years. The people of Krypton were bred for specific roles, and Zod was an eugenics fanatic who wanted to mould a New Krypton in his image. Man of Steel has been considered an objective film since Superman was mentally fighting against people who were trying to hold him back. It made Man of Steel more substantive than other blockbusters. The ideological battle between Superman and Zod gave the film an X-Men feel. Shannon was a fantastic villain as the raging commander filled with bitterness.

Man of Steel went for a revisionist approach. The film went for a realistic look and approach, something that was started with The Dark Knight Trilogy, and followed by the likes of Casino Royale (2006), The Amazing Spider-man, and Fantastic Four (2015), with various degrees of success. Every decision in the film was made to be grounded (or as grounded as possible, involving superpowered aliens), like Superman’s costume being an undersuit for battle armour, his signature S being a family crest, and the Fortress of Solitude being a Kryptonian spaceship that had been buried for over 18,000 years. This revisionism also extended to Lois since she used her journalistic skills to research the mysterious traveller who saved people, and discovered his real identity.

There was one big drawback to the revisionist approach: the ending. Snyder and Goyer were adamant that Superman was forced to kill Zod, which goes against one of the main principles of the character: he never kills. Zod’s death was controversial at the time of Man of Steel’s release, and it’s still a contentious issue. It does sour the film. Christopher Nolan advocated for Zod being exiled into the Phantom Zone, and it would have been a better resolution.

Another criticism levelled at Man of Steel was the level of destruction, and Superman didn’t go around saving people. This criticism was overblown since within the film, Superman was in a life-and-death struggle against Zod, a far more experienced fighter, and he wasn’t able to save civilians. This criticism was taken to heart since Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice made a point that there weren’t many civilians around during the second battle of Metropolis, and in Aquaman, the film made a point about the aquatic hero going out of his way to save residents of a small Italian town.

The revisionist approach led Zack Snyder to change his style. Snyder was one of Warner Brothers’ golden boys due to his work on 300 and Watchmen, and he developed a distinct look due to his use of greenscreen and speed-ramping. Man of Steel stood out from the rest of Snyder’s filmography because he went for a handheld approach, more akin to the work of Paul Greengrass. Snyder showed he could be adaptable, and he could still provide fantastic action. The Battle of Smallville and the Battle of Metropolis were highlights of the film because of the choreography, the visualisation of Kryptonian powers, and the sheer amount of destruction. Superman was outmatched since he had no fighting experience, and he was facing ruthless Kryptonian soldiers. This was enhanced by Zod and Faora-Ul (Antje Traue) made speeches about their intentions and indifference to human life.

Due to the use of the prominent role the military were given and the damage caused by the characters, it did make Man of Steel feel like a Michael Bay Transformers film, but much better because of the character, plot, and not giving in to Bay’s worst instincts.

Man of Steel came out in the wake of Superman Returns. Superman Returns aimed to replicate the style and tone of the first two Superman movies. It was well received, outlets like Empire and the BBC gave it a perfect score, but the audience reaction wasn’t so positive, and it disappointed at the box office. Criticisms levelled at Superman Returns were the lack of action and feeling outdated. A reboot was needed, and Man of Steel aimed to be the opposite of Superman Returns by being a much more action-packed film.

Whilst Man of Steel aimed to be different from the previous Superman movies, it still took some inspiration from the first two films. Man of Steel showed the destruction of Krypton and had General Zod as the main villain. The Battle of Smallville felt like a modernisation of Zod’s landing on Earth in Superman II. In both films, Zod had similar lieutenants: a cold and ruthless female Kryptonian and a hulking male Kryptonian who wasn’t very bright but made up for it with his brute strength.

Time has been kind to Man of Steel. It was ambitious with its scale and themes, and whilst there were some questionable choices by the filmmakers, Man of Steel was an exhilarating superhero movie. It was one of the best films in the DCEU.