My husband and I recently went to see the new Superman movie, Man of Steel. The young actor who portrays Clark/Superman, Henry Cavill, is a handsome, muscular specimen of manliness. Visually, he is definitely a super man. But there is something missing.
It may be that I loved the Clark that Christopher Reeves played – mild-mannered, humble, polite, soft-spoken. Sure he was a little nerdy but that was his charm. The new Clark is unsettled, doesn’t seem to know what his role is, thrashes about saving people on a whim rather than because he feels compelled to do all he can to make the world a better place.
Reeves portrayed the bumbling Clark perfectly, but he also embodied the steel-bodied Superman with a subtle gentleness. He wasn’t really human but he lived among us as though 
he were. He cared about the people in his life and even worried about strangers in the street.
The new Superman saves people but he seems to do it because he can, rather than because he truly cares. He’s too caught up in the differences between himself and humanity rather than the similarities. This makes the character seem detached from what is going on around him. Instead of having an emotional connection to those he’s saving, he seems above it all.
Man of Steel definitely has all the bells and whistles of an action flick. Even to the point where I was wishing for the world to explode just to get it over with. Too much blurred action video, too many explosions, too many bad guys to connect with, and way too much total destruction. It’s a cartoon, people! Superman is supposed to save everyone, not one random female reporter he hardly knows while the entire city of New York is crushed and millions of city dwellers are buried in the rubble.
Over all I enjoyed the movie. I’d give it 3.5 stars. I think with a little editing it would be a lot better. Cut some of the fight scenes down and that looonnngg beginning on Superman’s home planet before it explodes, maybe throw in a little more humor. Why do all these new improved super heroes have to be so dark all the time? Anyway…
I guess I’m still living in the past but I’m pretty sure that Superman would never stop to kiss the girl before the war was won. He’d wait and take her to his little ice palace at the North Pole.
Barbara
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