Not Exactly Super
- Title: Man of Steel
- IMDb: link
With the box office disappointment of last year’s Green Lantern, the end of Christopher Nolan‘s Batman series, and most of the specifics of 2015’s Justice League still to be determined, DC Comics and Warner Bros. have put all their support behind a new Superman franchise helmed by 300 and Watchmen director Zack Snyder. The result is an often puzzling piece of filmmaking that breaks away from both decades of comic history and the ghost of Richard Donner‘s Superman to create a New 52-ish take on the character (i.e. grittier and largely absent of joy or wonder) that, despite its preponderance of extended action scenes, is one of the most boring super-hero films ever made.
Much like Green Lantern (which is in every measurable way a superior film), Man of Steel decides to redesign its leading man for the silver screen. The muted palette and organic earthy feel of Snyder’s version of Superman’s homeworld of Krypton (where the film’s first 25 minutes takes place) may remind you of Green Lantern‘s version of Oa, but it’s just one of many steps in distancing the character from his rich comic history.
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There should be a law against two-hour comedies as its extremely difficult to keep one continually afloat for such an extended period of time, especially given such a simple, one might even argue flimsy, premise. It’s not surprising that only half of The Internship works, but it is odd that the second-half is much better than the first. However, given that waterboarding would be a preferable form of torture to The Internship‘s first 45-minutes, anything would be an improvement.
The follow-up to director