MAN OF STEEL

Superman carries Lois Lane to safety, naturally

MAN OF STEEL (2013). Director: Zack Snyder.

Shot to Earth as an infant from dying Krypton by his father, scientist Jor-El (Russell Crowe), Kal-El (Henry Cavill) is adopted by the Kents and faces his greatest challenge before he's even begun his career as Superman proper: General Zod (Michael Shannon), an evil Krptonian despot, has escaped from the Phantom Zone and wants the codex that can make Krypton live again. Unfortunately, this will result in Earth and its inhabitants being destroyed. Superman sets out to stop him with the aid of the military, but it's an uphill battle. There's the germ of a good idea in Man of Steel, but its execution is highly disappointing. The story isn't told in a linear fashion but is interrupted with frequent annoying flashbacks, giving the whole project a disjointed continuity that pulls you out of the story instead of pulling you in. There are also some pretty stupid moments, such as when Jonathan Kent (Kevin Costner) simply allows himself to die so that Superman won't reveal himself too soon (even though Superman can move super-fast, and the awful effect Kent's death will  have on his wife)! The prologue on Krypton is overlong and relatively uninteresting, and dead Jor-El (or rather his "consciousness") seems to pop up all the time, more to make use of Crowe than for any other logical reason. The movie has a kind of Marvel X-Men flavor to it, especially in Superman's uneasy relationship with the authorities. 

Handsome Cavill strikes the right note as a Superman at the very start of his career, but the rest of the casting is problematic. A lady reporter doesn't always have to be aggressive and perky to a fault, but Amy Adams is a bit too drab as Lois Lane. Laurence Fishburne as an African-Amerrican Perry White is adequate, but he wasn't that great as a leading man, let alone a character actor. Crowe, Costner, and Diane Lane as Martha Kent are okay, but Christopher Meloni quit Law and Order: Special Victims Unit for only a small role as an Army man? You don't really see enough of Ayelet Zurer to judge her performance as the evil Krptonian Lara Lor-Van. As Zod, Shannon isn't terrible, but he's somewhat lacking in dramatic flair but for a couple of sequences (after all, this is a comic book movie, not a drama, and a little overplaying is allowable). The best thing in the movie -- and virtually the only time it really comes alive -- is when Zod and Superman take to the skies and have a lively, protracted fight to the death. Otherwise, this Man of Steel rarely flies. The original Christopher Reeve version may have had its flaws, but it was better than this. Man of Steel is about on the level of the equally disappointing Superman Returns. As I predicted Man of Steel is much less entertaining than the excellent animated feature, Superman vs. the Elite.  Cavill reprised the role of Superman in Batman vs. Superman, and played Napoleon Solo in the terrible big-screen version of The Man from U.N.C.L.E.; he was also in the crappy Immortals.

Verdict: The really great Superman movie has yet to be made. **1/2.

DISAPPOINTING NEW MOVIE: THE FLASH

THE FLASH (2023). Director: Andy Muschietti.

Justice League member the Flash/Barry Allen (Ezra Miller) wants to go back in time to save his mother's life after she was murdered and her husband, Barry's father (Ron Livingstone), unfairly arrested for the crime. (I believe this development is taken from the long-running Flash TV series). Although Batman (Ben Affleck) warns Barry not to mess with the timestream, he does it anyway, but finds that he's now in a parallel universe where Batman (Michael Keaton) is a lot older and there are no other super-heroes. Barry also encounters a younger version of himself, but when his younger self gets his powers, Barry loses them and may not be able to return home. Worse, the entire planet is threatened by an invasion of General Zod (Michael Shannon of Man of Steel) of Krypton. The two Flashes, plus the Senior Batman, team up to find Kal-El, who has not yet emerged as Superman, but find an imprisoned Kara (Sasha Calle) -- or Supergirl -- instead, Can their combined forces save the world and get Barry back where he belongs? 

Ezra Miller as the Flash

Oy vey! The character of the Flash has a rich history that was exploited by the TV show, but this movie pretty much ignores all that and comes up with a plotline simply borrowed from the comic book mini-series (and the resultant animated film) Flashpoint. There are so many ideas, villains, and plots that could have made for an enthralling movie, but while The Flash has its entertaining and exciting moments (such as our hero saving a bunch of infants that are thrown out of a maternity ward window high in a skyscraper) and is often visually striking, it is way too long and often too silly -- as well as featuring too many fairly dull battle sequences -- for this to be a contender. I think Ezra Miller [We Need to Talk About Kevin] is a fine, sensitive actor and he gives a very good performance, and Keaton certainly makes his mark in his first appearance as Batman in decades -- he comes off better than he did in the first Batman. Calle, Shannon, and others make little impression, however.  

Michael Keaton as Senior Batman

In this movie The Flash is an amalgam of Barry Allen and his nephew Wally West, who took over the role of Flash after Barry's (temporary) death. (It is Wally who has to keep eating to keep his energy up, not Barry.) A weird touch has quick CGI images of all of the actors who have played Superman -- George Reeves, Christopher Reeves, and even Nicolas Cage, who wanted to play Superman but never did -- flying across the time stream (??) -- and a really stupid post-end credit sequence has Barry encountering Aquaman who is on a drunken bender. (Presenting the dignified Aquaman as a drunk, which makes no sense at all, is similar to the way Marvel movies have turned the equally dignified Thor into a Las Vegas lounge act!) Ultimately The Flash seems pointless because -- SPOILER ALERT -- he not only doesn't save his mother but the alternate earth he winds up on is obliterated by Zod! (In the final moments of the film the Flash doesn't seem particularly disturbed by the deaths of billions -- WTF?) Then Batman shows up again only this time he's played by George Clooney! Wonder Woman also gets a brief cameo. 

Verdict: Some may think the movie is fun, but it's also a badly-plotted mess. **1/4. 

NOCTURNAL ANIMALS

Jake Gyllenhaal

NOCTURNAL ANIMALS (2016). Director: Tom Ford.

Unhappily re-married Susan (Amy Adams), who works for an art gallery specializing in "junk," hears from her first husband, Ed (Jake Gyllenhaal) when he sends her a copy of his novel, "Nocturnal Animals." As Susan reads the book we see scenes from it played out, depicting how the wife and daughter of "Tony" (also played by Gyllenhaal) are kidnapped off of a highway by three threatening predators, and the awful aftermath of this event. Interspersed with these sequences are flashbacks to Susan's relationship with Ed both before their marriage and after their divorce, as well as present-day sequences involving her second husband and her co-workers. Is Ed's successful novel and its violent plot meant to be his revenge on Susan for leaving him for a more ambitious fellow and aborting their child? Will you care by the time the movie is over? If you can get past the credit sequence, which shows the "junk" art Susan works with and which features jaw-droppingly repellent, obscenely obese naked women, you may discover a movie that is only sporadically interesting at best. What we have here is a perfectly average "thriller" that borrows elements from countless other movies, tricked up with the flashbacks and flash forwards and the device of most of it being a novel, an idea that is itself not that original. Too many modern-day movies eschew linear story-telling and go in for a low-key approach that is the antithesis of drama. When this ends, you may wonder "is that all there is?" Over-praised, as usual, by some critics, and foolishly called Hitchcockian (which it is not), by others, it serves to prove that Tom Ford is no Hitchcock, (For one thing Hitch would never have let that opening highway scene, which is initially tense and well-done, go on for so damn long). Amy Adams' [Julie and Julia] performance is nothing special; Gyllenhaal [Source Code] is much better, and there are several flavorful supporting performances, especially from Michael Shannon [Man of Steel] as a dying lawman. This probably worked better on the printed page than as a movie. I would call this style over substance, but it's not even that stylish despite director Ford's background as a fashion designer.

Verdict: Like the exhibits in Susan's art gallery, this is pure kitsch. **.