I would frame this as one of the movie’s virtues: that, similar to Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy, Man of Steel has a distinct interest in a certain kind of realism. In this case, it’s a realism in the interest paid to the psychology of an alien isolated on a new planet, a realism in what cosmic battles between god-like creatures would look and feel like on Earth, and a realism in trying to visually depict a legitimate threat to humanity’s global existence.
People have objected that they expect a Superman movie to be fun to watch, and this one doesn’t deliver that in the style they would have hoped for. They would have liked it to be more about emotions, characters and ideas rather than spectacle and existential crisis. But I think even these subjective preferences can be reconfigured by grasping the intended tone and purpose of this movie. The central hero is a figure who is incredibly isolated, alienated as it were, in the world but not of it, and the movie takes on this personality in its style. What would seem more psychologically absurd would be to see Kal-El fit seamlessly into the human world rather than taking a significant amount of time to adjust physically, mentally and emotionally. And yet his relationship with Jonathan and Martha Kent is tremendously touching, and remarkably subtle. Likewise, his encounters with Lois Lane feel genuine rather than oversaturated with romance. If this is an origin story, Clark Kent is still maturing up until the end of this chapter. It will be interesting to see if the tone of the story matures and grows warmer as he does.
Continue reading on the next page…
