MovieBob said:
The Big Letdown
MovieBob gives us a spoiler laden glimpse as to why Man of Steel was a letdown.
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I still have to disagree, in a way.
I'm not disappointed by this movie, because I don't view it as done badly. I view it as incomplete. And I think that's by design.
Most
Superman movies, or super
hero movies for that matter, try to get the origin story done in the first movie. The second movie then "challenges everything we know" about that hero, and the third movie is some big showdown that firmly establishes our hero's supremacy after his "greatest challenge ever." (And then the greedy fourth movie does something stupid and ridiculous)
In this case, though, I think the folks behind this movie recognize that Superman large
is origin story. After he's established, everything is either just "being Superman," or it's outlandish attempts to provide believable threats to the guy who has all the superpowers. So, with that in mind, I think they're eschewing the traditional trilogy structure.
I think what we're getting is a three-part
origin story. It's not super interesting to watch Superman spend two movies just... being Superman. Being super strong and super noble and super kind and super "good." He's boring at that point. Yet all the Superman material seems to rush to that point -- "Yeah, yeah, Krypton, farm, Metropolis, SUPERMAN!!!"
We're being given a longer, more detailed view of
how Superman became those things. In this first movie, we're seeing the first few parts of Joseph Campbell's monomyth, the Departure: the call and the refusal, as Clark wrestles with hiding his powers and avoiding the world... while secretly saving it here and there.
And then we see the "supernatural aid" step, when he begins to dig up information about his past. This leads to the "crossing the first threshold" phase, when he reveals himself and steps up to fight Zod... but then we find ourselves in the "belly of the whale" phase -- something occurs that is going to set Clark (now Superman) up for his metamorphosis. He kills Zod.
Superman doesn't kill. Not the Superman we know now. It's just a thing he doesn't do, because... reasons. Well, now we're seeing deeper into that. He doesn't kill, because he
did once, and it happened to be one of the last surviving members of his entire species, and it's a burden he carries with them.
Superman is, at least in large part, a set of principles with a set of powers. Usually, the powers get all the focus and the principles are just assumed. Now we're getting to see him
earn those principles, and the conviction that would make them truly
super principles.
And that's all. That's where we're left at the end of this movie -- Superman is ready for the next phase, but not entering it yet. He isn't entirely Superman yet, as his origin story is not yet complete. This isn't like the Dark Knight Trilogy -- the rise
and fall of a hero. This is just an extended rise. Give it time.