Brace yourselves: its time for a DC/Warner Bros. awkward phase. After reaching its creative, experimental hey day with
The Dark Knight trilogy, they've graduated from that horizon expanding realist school and now face a difficult stage in the big wild world where miscommunication, unemployment and meeting targets are requirements: not a shock that people will celebrate. Warner Bros must throw down the gauntlet and do battle with Marvels movie-churning machine and their first manoeuvre is
Man Of Steel.
Why It Could Be Awesome:
An ultra-realistic take on the biggest superhero in the world penned by the writer of
The Dark Knight Rises and directed by a beautiful visual and slow-motion enthusiast? What could go wrong? Nerves will be jingling in the executive's office about the success of this film following the ending of Nolans Batman trilogy and the relative failure of Bryan Singers
Superman Returns. You know, then, that Warner Bros. will have pulled the stops out to grant audiences the absolute best Superman experience possible. Aside from the importance of this movie in the Warner Bros cannon, it also just looks incredibly brilliant. The visuals look amazing (very low key for a Snyder film) and the reinvention of Superman and the Batman-esque take on him as a symbol living up to his father expectations looks like it will bring an emotional punch as severe as a steel boot to the scrotum. Probably.
Why It Could Suck:
Well, the story appears very
Dark Knight-esque. Whilst its fine for companies to follow a blueprint, building it all exactly the same but putting a different cape on it will not fool audiences in to loving a film for originality: it could just come across as tired. That being said, there are plenty of other developments bubbling under the surface: Kent's coming to terms with being a hero, deciding if its even right for him, is something we havent yet seen from Warner Bros. and a twist that could give this movie a keen edge. Another concern is Zack Snyder. Whilst Im sure executives would have kept a close watch on his final output to make it more palateable for a mainstream audience, all fans of Superman have had niggling doubts about him since he was employed. Will he control the slow motion? Can he perfect a story (
300 was too bland,
Watchmen too dense and slow,
Sucker Punch too pointless)? Can he resist the lure of a slow motion sex scene? Similarly Henry Cavill is a question mark. Whilst his apprenticeship on the Tudors has received excellent reviews, his film career has been somewhat questionable, often seeing hum struggling to muster more than the expression of pure disgust and anger he maintained throughout
Immortals since that film came out. Whilst we hope he has saved his best for
Man Of Steel, I just hope he hasnt taken the title too literally and adopted it as an acting style. Check out the trailer here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVu3gS7iJu4
Predicated Star Rating: 4/5
A stunning trailer has brought with it high hope and expectations for a film people have harnessed concerns for. The question is whether this film can get itself out of Batmans considerable shadow and earn its place in cinema's pantheon.
Like this article? Let us know in the comments section. You can also check out the series so far here: Gangster Squad, Oblivion, Iron Man 3, The Great Gatsby, Star Trek Into Darkness.