1. Clark Kent Gets The Bruce Wayne Treatment
Whether or not you're a fan of Christopher Nolan, you can't deny that the numbers speak for themselves. And so if anyone could be trusted to bring a celebrated (arguably the most famous) comic book hero to the forefront of our collective consciousness, then it's him. Like Bruce Wayne, Clark Kent is a man with the weight of the world on his impossibly broad shoulders. He knows that our planet isn't ready to accept that there is a god walking among men, yet the longer he keeps up the façade the more lives will be endangered. So what's a guy to do? The message YOU ARE NOT ALONE must ring especially hollow for Clark as his alter ego(s) have forced him into a nomadic wilderness, shuffling from job to job, hiding under one false name after another. He is provoked into fights but doesn't react, knowing that even the tiniest touch would send the world's media swarming towards him. And so, rather than land a punch, he channels his frustration into passive-aggressive acts of revenge; such as impaling a pick-up truck with telegraph poles as though some form of automobile acupuncture. But everyone has a breaking point, and you wouldn't want to be around when Clark reaches his. The first time we get a glimpse of his superhuman abilities, he's on fire. Literally. He's shirtless, rugged and seriously ripped ( hasn't Wolverine already cornered this market? Perhaps there's a Super Studs calendar I'm not familiar with), and, if we look past this slightly ridiculous sight, we can see that he is making the rescue of a group of workers from a burning oil rig look like the most natural thing in the world. For a man gifted with x-ray vision, this is quite an accomplishment. But this is a typical portrait of the modern superhero: complex, troubled and buckling under the burden of morality. Who was it who said Kryptonite was Superman's only weakness? It is these scenes that provide the film's heart; a quality we've since come to expect to find, still beating, on Nolan's cutting room floor. Click 'Next' for three criticisms of Man Of Steel...