Ripping Good Yarns: Man of Steel Origin Redux

I have followed the adventures of Superman from toddlerhood, all the way to the present.

My journey with Superman began with  The Adventures of Superman TV series in the late fifties, featuring minimal effects and a barrel chested George Reeves.  The first super hero comic books I read were Action Comics featuring Superman and Adventure Comics featuring Superboy and the Legion of Super Heroes (30th century super powered teenagers from across the United Planets). The Superman movies of the late seventies with Christopher Reeves were the first movies to capture the essence of comic book super heroes.  He still stands out as the best of all those who have portrayed Superman.  The Adventures of Lois and Clark in the nineties played up their relationship and the staff of the Daily Planet.  The recently ended Smallville was a wonderful slow growth view of how Clark Kent became Superman.  Both of these last two shows were wildly uneven in quality, but they did have their moments of greatness, particularly Smallville.

Throughout my life, from the early sixties to the present, I have read Superman comic books.  I have never stopped, and still collect them.  The comics are always at their best when they remember the humanness of Clark Kent, and concentrate on the cast of every day people that surround him.  The comic began in the late thirties with Clark Kent as an investigative reporter very concerned with social justice issues, and he would fight slum lords and corrupt businessmen more often than he would super villains.  That is the Superman I most long to read and see.

Comics, movies and TV tend to reboot the  character every so many years to keep him up to date and fresh.  What that means, in part, is that I have seen the origin of Superman done many, many times.  The Kryptonian origins are explored, enhanced, re-clarified, redone over and over and over.  Although I understand the importance of Superman/Kal-El being of alien origin, fish out of water and all that, I am much more interested in the subsequent stories.

So it is a little disappointing to me that Man of Steel is so heavily focused on the Kryptonian  part of the story.  The world of Krypton is vibrantly brought to life, and the actors portraying the Krypton parts are very good.  Michael Shannon as General Zod may be the best portrayal of a Superman villain I have ever seen.  His sense of menace and fanaticism bleeds though in every frame.

The glimpses of Clark Kent's life are very good, both in growing up and in his early adult wanderings.  But we are quickly thrown into a story that is more cosmic in scope.  There is a strain in the move to try to balance Clark's humanness with the need for big budget action sequences, and I think the human element suffers some. The scope of damage that occurs in the movie is a little bit desensitizing, and Superman is forced into making a decision that suits Batman's nature more than the Big Boy Scout.

Henry Cavill as Superman is excellent, conveying much with his facial expressions, and I think there were other facets of his performance that appealed to Alison, but she has yet to clarify except for giving a deep sigh when I say his name.  Amy Adams as Lois Lane was not particularly compelling.  She played Lois relatively spunkless and toned down.  She is a great actress, however, so I can't help but feel that she was doing exactly what the directors told her to do.  My favorite Lois Lane remains Erica Durance from Smallville.

Even though it was not exactly where I wanted it to go, to be drawn back into the origin story once again, it was a good start, and I am very grateful that the box office was fantastic, increasing the likelihood that more will be made.  I am ready for him to have a confrontation with LexCorp.  I am ready for him to fight for the disadvantaged, the exploited, the underprivileged.  I am ready for the never-ending battle for truth, justice and the American Way!