so it's been almost 80 years since man of still came out in theaters for the first time
and when it originally released it was met with mixed reviews across the board
there were people on one side who like myself really saw the powerful messages and quality
filmmaking behind the project while others found the film too loud too action-packed
and too dark for the character of superman i think since its release many people have changed
their mind on the film after re-watches and in this video i'm going to be discussing what made
man of steel so underrated for its time and why i personally appreciate the film so much
i am covering this film and batman v superman in the build-up to the release of zack snyder's
justice league so don't forget to subscribe to the channel and turn on your notifications so that you
don't miss out on any of this content also if you enjoy this video remember to give it a like
rating but without further ado let's dive into why i believe man of steel was ahead of its time
so man of still was the dc eu's first film and one which laid the groundwork for the larger
shared universe after the disappointment of 2006's superman returns many fans had high
hopes for the movie the dark knights christopher nolan was a consultant and story advisor on the
project and zack snyder who had previously made the phenomenal comic book adaptations
watchmen and 300 was brought into direct the cast was littered with oscar bay actors including amy
adams diane lane kevin costner michael shannon and lawrence fishburne but despite these high
expectations the film received extremely mixed reviews while some loved it many found it dark
depressing and thoroughly disappointing henry cavill was labelled wooden the script bland and
the direction pretentious but was it really that bad in my opinion and i know there will still be
a few people watching this video who disagree it's a film that exploits superman and breaks him down
as a character it does so in thoughtful ways that you can either really appreciate or focus
on the obvious like how much destruction there was to start off with my biggest point towards
the criticism of man of steel being dark is that superman's backstory is depressing it just is the
destruction of his entire planet and species being treated differently from other children growing
up to watch humanity destroy itself and being constantly misjudged for his attempts to help them
so why does everyone expect his story to be an upbeat betrayal and one that is bright in approach
well even though i absolutely love richard donner's superman his films were generally
light-hearted and fun with happy endings for the heroes the great christopher reeve perfectly
brought to life the character in the american way as he was portrayed in the original comics clark
kent was kind intelligent and cow l was strong courageous selfless and heroic the same traits are
present in cavall's version of superman yet for some reason the more realistic portrayal of the
film is seen in a negative light personally i like when comic book characters are brought to life
as real and relatable people they don't have to be the same cheesy cliches that they are on the page
and with man of steel i believes every character on the screen even though we are watching
essentially a god with unbelievable powers more to the point there's henry cavill himself
we all love christopher reeve but nothing about him was physically imposing cavill on the other
hand trained like hell to become the embodiment of strength and power and i had no trouble believing
him when he threw trucks and bent still he truly looked like superman and on top of this
the story and the approach helped to elevate that further this is where we start to go
deeper into the story of man of steel and the directorial skills of zack snyder despite his
aforementioned masterpieces it has somehow become fashionable to hate him within the last few years
sure nobody's perfect and i'm not the biggest fan of a lot of aspects in batman v superman
but he certainly has more hits than misses and his ability to be creative yet also faithful to comic
sources is up there with some of the greatest directors working in the genre he paints almost
religious-like imagery and contrasts it with science fiction and it makes for thought not only
in the story but also in the filmmaking coming to the story and sequences in the film i must mention
krypton's opening which is an excellent dive into this world it simultaneously introduces the main
characters establishes the core conflict and interjects some immediate stakes into the story
while comic book fans were already well versed in krypton's existence casual viewers likely weren't
making the sequence an exciting introduction to superman's homeworld additionally opening the
film on krypton allows the viewer to be introduced to superman's parents while both had minor roles
in previous iterations they receive more screen time here with joe l having an especially key role
in the story later on following this sequence we start to build on cavall's growth as a character
after being sent to earth and his growing relationship with lois lane played by amy adams
like cavill the actress was also considered for previous iterations of the role and brings instant
credibility to lois's performance portrayed as a hard-nosed reporter who is unafraid to
confront issues in her line of work adams allows the audience to feel as though lois is a hero in
her own right though the pair do not share nearly enough screen time their burgeoning relationship
carries weight thanks to the actors performances but it's also the way snyder approaches the
story and these characters realistically that makes you care about what's going on though
understandably not for every movie man of still handles realism well on a couple of different
levels first it keeps superman's core elements intact while giving them plausibility count l must
learn to hone his abilities through practice his powers are weakened by exposure to kryptonian
atmosphere like general zod's ship rather than kryptonite and his suit is given a familial origin
secondly the story asks the question what would actually happen if an alien entered our world
believably the answer is fear jonathan kent realizes this and reiterates to a young clerk
the importance of keeping a low profile this isn't to say that kent is correct to imply
clark shouldn't rescue people in danger but it's accurate to say that his fears are warranted
based on the love for his son i think with snyder and nolan working on the story these are the types
of questions we also saw in batman begins in that you really sympathize but also consider
what the main character is being put up against he has real human choices to make even though he's an
alien who has these ultra powerful abilities and then you start to see the reverse to
these questions with how snyder builds the threat similar to other high profile villains such as say
thanos whose villainy is a matter of perspective general zod isn't strictly an evil character
in fact his sole purpose as a kryptonian is to protect krypton at all costs and ensure
its survival it's literally what he's born to do the arrival of zod's crew on earth is one of the
most suspenseful and visually arresting sequences in the film when his ship appears in the sky
and he begins his broadcast it invokes feelings of an alien invasion or even a psychological
horror movie and the side villains also help to widen this sense of threat such as zod's chief
soldier fiora al for earning her keepers one of the most formidable foes in the superman pantheon
we know that shared universes are so popular now that when making man of steel's self-contained
story it becomes an unexpected breath of fresh air upon many re-watches aside from a couple
of non-distracting teases of the greater dc world this story is a hundred percent superman focused
thanks to its singular focus the main characters have clearly established motivations cow el is
driven by joe l's encouragement to be a leader by representing the best of both earth and krypton
martha and jonathan kent protect the younger clark out of fear for his well-being zod is
motivated by ensuring krypton's survival and lois by her fearless independence
it all adds up on more re-watches and it really shows the audience the story and character-based
focus which is at the heart of most great films let alone one of the biggest superhero characters
other points to mention include the technical aspects of the production scenes and the larger
conversations it creates unlike previous superman adventures which included john williams iconic
superman theme snyder opted to differentiate things and go with a original score as such he
turned to one of the greatest hollywood composers working today in hans zimmer zimmer elects to
avoid the sweepingly operatic and joyful themes of the 70s superman and instead plays to the feelings
of hope and triumph in this iteration tracks such as this is clark kent embrace the quiet emergence
of clark's humanity while flight and what are you going to do when you are not saving the world
exhibit superman's iconography it's powerful and i think over the years it has become a fan
favorite score in cinema that really captures the character the scale and the messages at play and
talking about powerful messages and scenes that really help to capture that effect one of the most
praised aspects of the film is superman's flight and no scene is more iconic than his first attempt
to fly snyder applies just the right amount of restraint in the scene to allow for the moment's
importance to resonate both for cow l and the audience set to zimmer's rousing score cow l
tries and tries again to fly further and faster after a couple of missteps he gets back up and
prepares for his final liftoff this culminates in his propulsion shattering the ground beneath him
illustrating a power that audiences had previously never felt in a superman movie the failing over
and over again aspect before rising is something that is echoed in the film's events and this scene
works in a very important way to establish clark's shift into the character but importantly the film
sets up superman's arc via the relationships he has with his parents and lois which establishes
the core conflict he must face within himself his humanity given he's an alien who has been isolated
and bullied for being different it's believable that he doesn't quite understand his place as
earth's protector until after zod's arrival the third act has many understandable concerns
but those seemingly don't take into account the character elements at play superman's inability
to control the fight in smallville is based on his emotional reaction to martha being threatened
the military's arrival and his lack of experience against zod's trained warriors
in the final showdown zod ensures his own demise by repeatedly taking the fight towards earth's
people and warning superman he'll never stop threatening him as writer david goyer describes
cow elves a novice going against a literal killing machine this is why he snapped zod's neck at the
end of the film he has become so connected to humanity and wants to protect them that's the
minute zod threatens to kill an innocent family he must do the one thing he thought he would never do
it's painful to watch when he screams after doing so but it was an unreversible choice that really
makes you think about the responsibility of someone with that power you don't see it as
much in superhero movies as effectively as snyder made you think about it by the end of this scene
man of steel may only be known to some as the ill-fated kickstart to the justice league
but that detracts from the larger conversations it initiates after all movies that generate
healthy discussions are typically worthwhile to revisit one of the largest discussions it starts
is the inevitable comparisons to marvel while this provides engaging discourse
comparing one to the other based on similar merits doesn't quite hold up another debate centers
around the consideration for human life which is absolutely warranted superman's battle with zod
put thousands of lives in danger something he must understand and to learn from finally there
are questions of tone and character about if the fundamentals of superman were stripped away
this is important to consider whether it's reasonable for cow l to understand who superman is
from the moment he walks out of the fortress of solitude or should he be given time to learn after
all the audience knows who he is but does clark kent we leave on this message which is explored
more in batman v superman but as a singular film man of still is able to make you think
about these centrally important questions for the character in my opinion with all of this focus
and the way snyder constructs and presents it the film is nothing short of being ahead of its time
but that was my video essay for zack snyder's man of steel and why i think the film was severely
underrated it's all subjective and again i'm sure many will disagree and not like the story as much
but that's what i have took away over the years of rewatches i did love the film when it came out
but over time it has only got better and better with more power on every revisit we'll have to
see how justice league turns out on march the 18th but after revisiting man of steel more recently
it definitely gives me the added excitement in the build up let me know down below what your
thoughts are towards man of steel and do you agree with the points i have raised in this breakdown
for more videos on zack snyder's work including batman v superman and the director's cut of
justice league when it releases later this month then subscribe to the channel
and turn on your notifications also if you enjoyed this video remember to leave a like
rating but anyway i hope you guys enjoyed it i've been cortex and as always make some noise
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