Woohoo! I watched “Man of Steel” this afternoon and the excitement I had is kept afresh in my mind so I’m trying to write this review as soon as possible (at least I don’t wanna have the same fridge logic I had when I watched “Now You See Me”). “Man of Steel” has become one of the movies listed in my 2013 watchlist. The more it released its trailer, the more excited I became. I’m a big fan of Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight” trilogy and here he becomes the producer. Now you get the idea why this film becomes my most anticipated film in 2013.
SYNOPSIS > Planet Krypton is about to explode. Jor-El (Russell Crowe) and Lara (Ayelet Zurer), however, are expecting their baby when General Zod (Michael Shannon) and his army call for a rebellion to save the people of Krypton from the destruction. But as they are caught and imprisoned, Jor-El sends his baby Kal-El to Earth so he can survive. The baby is then taken care by Jonathan Kent (Kevin Costner) and Martha Kent (Diane Lane) who gives him a new name: Clark (Henry Cavill). As Clark grows up, he reveals that he has extraordinary powers. He then finds out the truth about him, as General Zod and his army tries to catch him and re-establish the rage of Krypton.
 |
| Henry Cavill as Clark Kent. Oh how I wish I had perfect body like that. |
REVIEW > “Man of Steel” got my eyes literally full of tears (but not crying! :D) not because of the sad moments, but because of how I was emotionally involved and attracted to this film. I was so glad with “Man of Steel”. This is a very rare and weird feeling, and I also don’t know where it came from. The big theme of how earth is threatened by some uninvited visitors from the outer space and then defended by a superhero never becomes so touching like this. Epic, that’s the perfect word to describe this film. I have never been so attached in my seat in the cinema. The first minutes when planet Krypton was about to explode was a great epic, and the total two and a half hours I had was a great journey of how a superhero regains his resurrection. I mean, see, I have zero knowledge of how Superman is in his previous movies, comic books, whatsoever. I’m a rookie in this field, so I was trying not to expect much from this film (moreover, the critics gave mixed reviews to it), but finally what I had in the cinema was a great entertainment.
With Christopher Nolan and David S. Goyer from the groundbreaking “The Dark Knight Trilogy”, “Man of Steel” might have a little—very little—sense of “darkness” from the trilogy. But the two are totally distinguishable. Perhaps that’s why Nolan chose to sit just as producer and invited Zack Snyder to direct “Man of Steel”: to give a fresher look to this superhero reboot. Snyder focuses more to the action scenes and put less complicated intrigue in this movie. However, the big theme is still complete and the main character’s development—the most important part—is still achievable (although it is done by the play of back-and-forth timeline or the monologue from a character). There are still flaws. The execution of the ending might be not as smooth as I expected. There are also parts where I expect some more explanations (like the part when baby Kal-El arrived on Earth). However, still, the correlation of each part is perfectly able to be combined altogether, making a big line of story that is not only clear, but also easy to follow.
 |
| Michael Shannon as General Zod. Not really antagonist, actually. |
“Man of Steel” moves so fast that sometimes I couldn’t keep track of what was currently happening. This is the way that Snyder chose to give viewers less effort to focus on details and frown to think about the continuity of the plot. There are parts that somehow reminds me to “The Avengers”, especially the fighting scenes. Don’t you question the visual effect team of this film because, for me, “Man of Steel” might have the top-notch quality of superhero-fighting-scene visual effect. I watched this film in 3D but I think Snyder didn’t put too much effort on maximizing it. Moreover, with the fast-paced editing, sometimes the 3D use was not recognizable. With Hans Zimmer as the music composer, the nuance of “Man of Steel” is almost similar to that of “The Dark Knight” trilogy, except that the score of this film is more memorable for me. Hans Zimmer did a very good job of making this film some more grande and titanic. He knows very well on which scenes he needs to put what music, and he’s the one that gives this film another positive mark. I really want to have the film’s soundtrack.
Thank God for Henry Cavill as Clark Kent. He has charisma that makes such superhero looks more humanist, although in some parts this charisma makes him looks weak. I don’t know if it’s just my ears, but I recalled some parts where he tried to adapt with American accent funnily. Still a little bit rigid, but overall he’s nice. He did a great job to revive such a legendary superhero, and he’s the factor that makes me love “Man of Steel” so much. Michael Shannon as General Zod might be less terrifying and “antagonist”, but I guess that’s how he was characterized. This affects the duel in the final scene, which finally looks not so climaxing. The dramatic part between Cavill and Amy Adams is not really perfect, I think, and so is that of Cavill and Russell Crowe. However, my attention was stolen by Kevin Costner and Diane Lane. They played a big deal of the dramatic part and for that, they did very well.
 |
| #nowplaying "Superman" by Five For Fighting |
CONCLUSION > Finally, “Man of Steel” is a great cinematic experience. I agree that there are flaws—many flaws—that fail this film to fulfill everyone’s expectation, but... well maybe I didn’t pay much attention to them or maybe the film itself that didn’t ask me to do so. Again, I have zero knowledge of Superman from his previous movies or comics, so just by “Man of Steel” itself, I did have a great excitement. I really want to watch it again, real soon. Or, perhaps any sequels, Mr. Nolan? :D
▲ A perfect blend of action and drama, great performance by all actors especially Henry Cavill, top-notch visual effect, Hans Zimmer's music
▼ Some parts need more explanation, not a maximized 3D use
MAN OF STEEL | COUNTRY USA YEAR 2013 RATING Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi violence, action and destruction, and for some language RUNTIME 143 min GENRE Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Sci-Fi CAST Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Michael Shannon, Russell Crowe, Kevin Costner WRITER Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster (character), David S. Goyer & Christopher Nolan (story), David S. Goyer (screenplay) DIRECTOR Zack Snyder MORE INFO
you posted your review already!! i'm still working on mine haha :D
ReplyDeletewhen i watched the movie i was blown away on the sound engineering in one of the dramatic scene, it's Zimmer all over! and i actually enjoyed Shanon (having no knowledge whatsoever about Superman universe), i think he always made a good villain :D
I did! LOL. Perhaps I'm just trying not to get that fridge logic again.
DeleteYep, Zimmer is great! He truly is one factor that makes "Man of Steel" great for me. Shanon played realistically, and I couldn't 100% get him as a villain. Still, he did well.
Am I the one who's not that excited after seeing the trailer. Idk, Directly after I saw Zack Synder's name there i felt like I need to narrow down my expectations. It's that good?
ReplyDeleteI feel the opposite: I got more and more excited as I saw more trailers. For me, it's really good, but some other viewers think that it isn't. Actually I also narrowed down my expectations after the critics gave it mixed reviews, but I really enjoyed this film!
DeleteI knowww! So mixed reviews. Apalagi RT ngasih nilainya parah banget.
DeleteIya, metascorenya juga mixed banget :( Ga tau juga sih, mungkin karena saya ga terlalu ngikutin Superman di film2 yang dulu kali ya, jadinya Man of Steel terasa spesial. Atau efek dari Nolan yang pada akhirnya bikin penonton ngebanding2in ke trilogi Dark Knight?
DeleteTapi ya gayanya Snyder beneran oke kok buat saya, baik segi efek maupun cerita juga berhasil.
Good review Akbar. The trailers really got me all hyped and ready and even though I feel like the movie didn't fully deliver, I still can't wait to see what they have left with this franchise. It only gets better from here really.
ReplyDeleteSeriously, the trailers were epic and the movie itself is a total epic! Yep, I agree that some parts were missing and some others didn't work perfectly, overall "Man of Steel" really amused me.
DeleteWow, you gave a really high score :D it's a good thing though, cause it is actually a much better film than what the reviews suggest. Snyder really accomplished wonders (well, most of the times haha)
ReplyDeleteYep, now sometimes I'm not sure if it deserves 4.5 stars but I recalled that it was a very engaging film. I can't deny that there are lots of flaws but somehow they weren't a big deal. At least for me. :D
Deletekami juga punya review nya loh, coba dicek deh dihttp://www.gostrim.com
ReplyDelete