Man Of Steel: 3 Things That Worked, 3 Things That Didn't

2. Problematic Pacing

4man-of-steel-jor-el-russel-crowe-goodbye-kal-el.jpg_original We can understand why the film would choose to have us cooped up in a cave on Krypton, considering that it chronicles the birth and subsequent departure of ickle Kal-El. But this really shouldn't take twenty minutes, should it? The basic story, something that would take ten minutes to cover at the very most, is suffocated under unnecessary padding. Do we really need to learn about Krypton's political system and how Zod gradually fell from favour? Just show us the planet blowing up! And then, if this weren't bad enough, Clark unwittingly summons a holographic representation of his biological father Jor-El (Russell Crowe) so that the latter can provide him- and us, lucky, lucky us- with an unabridged history of Krypton. The trouble is, we already know it. We've seen it less than an hour ago- so why are going through it again? It's like listening to a forgetful museum guide. Jor- El then continues to pop up at regular intervals, like an interactive DVD feature you wish you knew how to switch off.
Contributor
Contributor

Yorkshireman (hence the surname). Often spotted sacrificing sleep and sanity for the annual Leeds International Film Festival. For a sample of (fairly) recent film reviews, please visit whatsnottoblog.wordpress.com.