8. White Krypton People Problems
My knowledge of Superman is limited. Every version I've seen or read about Superman's origin story comes to the same conclusion: the people of Krypton - or at least its leaders - had the whole planet blowing up thing coming. In Man Of Steel, they really have it coming. This Krypton isn't destroyed by random chance. It's on the road to ruin - a shrinking empire full of apathy and shortsightedness. I know planetary destruction isn't supposed to be fun - unless, of course, there's a Death Star involved - but this version of Krypton's fate is particularly grim. I like what Goyer and Snyder are going for in their opening act, that Kal-El is leaving one world at its self-inflicted end and arriving at a new world that's on the crossroads of deciding its fate. I don't mind the changes, but the problem I have is this: the film loses focus on the heart of Superman's origin story. It's about the sacrifice of two parents to give their son a chance for life. That's still there, but it feels like the thing that Goyer and Snyder have to do, around all the action and plot exposition they want to do. There's a surprising amount of political allegory for a summer blockbuster. Oil depletion and fracking, caste systems and class struggles, and population control - all these real world issues are out there on the surface, plain as day. And like Christopher Nolan's other superhero franchise, I have absolutely no idea what Nolan, Goyer, and Snyder are trying to say about the world we live in. Are these messages purposefully vague so we'll draw our own conclusions, or is it simply a shotgun blast of topical issues to make the film feel relevant? As with the last two Dark Knight movies, there are plenty of great scenes and excitement, but the only message I take away from these films is "Boy, we sure can be crappy to each other, huh?" That's the problem: Snyder and Nolan are both very strong storytellers in their own way, but neither are very good at getting below the surface of topical issues. Like The Dark Knight's "spying on people is wrong... unless you have to - but only once! - to find some crazy guy who's about to blow something up," it almost sparks a challenging debate, but it never really challenges the audience. This really is a pretty dour film. From the film's opening allegories of an alien world with problems not unlike are own, to Pa Kent's rather crappy worldview, to the wanton destruction of Metropolis, to Superman using a spy drone as a warning shot against the U.S. Army, here's what I kept coming back to while watching this film: Are we really worth saving? I don't mind that question being asked from my sci-fi/fantasy/horror, but is that what we want out of a Superman story?