OLIVIA MARNE
It’s official.
“Man of Steel” looks awesome – in fact, so awesome it’ll bring tears to your eyes… and it did.
Kleenex would’ve made a mint if they had been selling boxes of tissues at the “Man of Steel” panel today at Comic-Con.
The words spoken by director and star duo Zack Snyder and Henry Cavill, coupled with footage from the film that suggests the ‘Superman’ reboot will be 2013’s ‘Dark Knight’ of comic book movies, saw the eyes of many Superman fans swell up today.
As fun as “Superman Returns” (2006) was, “Man of Steel” looks to be the Superman epic that many have been waiting for. Profound, epic, topical, deep, moving, rousing and action-packed, it’s clearly a product of its producer, “Dark Knight” main-man Christopher Nolan, more so than its only-sometimes-successful director Zack Snyder (“300”, “Sucker Punch”, “Watchmen”). Proof lies within the teaser footage we were shown, which clearly shows we’re in for a much deeper, more emotional ‘Superman’ blockbuster than we’ve ever seen before – this won’t be just the story of a man who has the ability to magically punch threw walls, it’ll be the affecting story of an illegal alien trying to find his place in the world.. while staying one step ahead of an out-and-out psychopath.
Moments shown from the film, from a barn sequence where Pa Kent (Kevin Costner) shows young Clark the space-ship he crash-landed in, to Clark saving a bus-load of kids from drowning after the vehicle takes a dive into the wet (very ‘Smallville’, actually) and a frightening ‘Zod’, played by Michael Shannon, to an overlay of audio with such words as “My father was convinced that if the world knew who I really was, they would reject me”, hint at a very epic comic-book movie. They’ve gotten as far away from not only the woefully cartoonish “Superman 3” and “Superman 4”, but also “Superboy” and “Lois & Clark”, and predominantly, the romance-centric “Superman Returns” (though to be fair there could also be a fair dash of romance in this one too, we simply only saw a quick glimpse of Amy Adams’ Lois Lane).
The film actually looks a lot like a Christopher Nolan film too, rather than one of Snyder’s. There’s a lot of shaky, handy-cam, as well as some IMAX-friendly super-widescreen shots that’ll make the drool seethe from the sides of one’s mouth.
Yes, I need to see more to truly get a feel for the movie – and that may come in a week when Warners release a “Man of Steel” teaser to all prints of “Dark Knight Rises” – but at this point in time, I’ll declare the film a success.
Cavill, looking very ‘ace’ in the Superman suit, said “I just wanted to bring as much of the modern Superman into the world. You guys know everything about him, but it’s for everyone out there as well who hasn’t experienced what Superman can be. With this, hopefully I bring a modern version which everyone can associate with.”
He admits to being taken back by the trailer himself, “I’ve just been looking at the trailer and… I get to wear that on my chest. I just really, really hope I’ve done everything I need to do to please you guys, because this is 100% for you guys. Thanks for the support.”
Um, what else?
Oh yes, the teaser poster from Comic-Con is now online…
And finally, “Justice League”?
Snyder suggests he might get involved… but let’s wait and see. It’s all about ‘Superman’ at the moment.
