Iron in the soul
From lost space child to man of honour and strength
Man of Steel
THE Superman legend began in action comics in 1938 and the character also became a hit on radio shows. In 1948, the superhero’s fame expanded into a movie serial, shown before the main feature.
In 1978, director Richard Donner and scriptwriter Mario Puzo made Superman: The Movie. Christopher Reeve played the title role and it won three Oscar nominations. Reeve went on to make three more Superman films.
Now, 75 years later, writer Christopher Nolan and director Zack Snyder have gone back to the source of the legend. It starts when Jor-El (Russell Crowe) discovers that the planet Krypton is about to explode.
Determined to save his young son Kal-El, he sends him to Earth. His spacecraft lands on the farm of Jonathan Kent (Kevin Costner) and his wife Martha (Diane Lane).
Compassionate people, they adopt the alien child, naming him Clark Kent.
They only really come to understand their son when he saves the lives of people caught up in a catastrophe. Without thinking, Clark races to the rescue, but then experiences flashbacks to his past life and his real family. Clark asks his dad has to tell him the truth about his origins. He takes Clark to the space-pod in which he landed and tells him that he is not really their son. As he grows older, Clark (now played by British actor Henry Cavill) becomes something of a drifter. But, hearing that a spaceship has crash-landed on Earth, he races to find it. Through a hologram he makes contact with the preserved consciousness of his father, Jor-El — a turning point for Clark.
He meets the reporter Lois Lane (Amy Adams), who is researching the Kryptonian vessel for a story. She helps Clark to get a job as a reporter at The Daily Planet, where he works under the editor, Perry White (Laurence Fishburne).
In the meantime, General Zod (Michael Shannon) is planning to invade Earth and transform it into a facsimile of Krypton. That’s where the battle begins — with Superman at dead centre.
Though the story is pretty ordinary, the special effects are impressive and the designers have upgraded the Superman image with great style. His torso is now protected by a metallic “S” that makes him look like a futuristic knight.
Cavill does stellar work. Superman maintains an understanding of his human emotions but this is science fiction and relationships are a side show.
The film’s trump card is the technology, roaring battles and daredevil action that comic-book heroes must deliver — with a lush, surging score by Hans Zimmer.
Snyder is smart enough to know that audiences like the CGI tricks and gizmos, but they are worthless if the story is not rooted in a human sensibility.
The core of this film is about two people who take a lost child into their lives and give him the strength, the honesty and trust that any child needs if he or she is to become a good person.
He may be a “Man of Steel” from a ruined planet but he has a code of personal honour and courage. One can only applaud Nolan and Snyder for transforming a legend that began 75 years ago into a cutting-edge, sci-fi blockbuster.