I've always been a big fan of the Superman portrayal in the movies and TV through the years. I don't read comic books but I've absorbed the Clark Kent/Superman world through Lois and Clark, Smallvile, the 70's movies and the one from 2006. Each version of Superman is just a wee bit different and it creates so many flavors of a character that, at its core, can be overwhelmingly bland.
It's like adding pepper to plain yogurt...it'll taste like something but will that something taste good.
Now Man of Steel comes out June 14 and I have mixed feelings about this movie.
Two Reasons I'm Excited
1. The lack of a huge romance plot.
What I'm getting tired of is the seemingly gratuitious romantic plotlines that get inserted into action movies that are far too complicated and distracting. Action movie romances should serve a point to the story. They either raise the stakes (a la the whole Maggie Gylenhaal gets blown up section of Dark Knight) or they add some kind of relief from the intensity of fighting (parts of Spiderman, lots of other older action movies).What they shouldn't do is distract the main character from his own storyline. An action movie is supposed to have action, not quibbles about who is pregnant with Clark Kent's baby or who Superman has a crush on. The problem with Clark Kent is that he can easily be a dry character that needs spicing up and that's usually done with a dash of Lois Lane.
Now there is a Lois Lane in this iteration but, from the promo materials, I'm seeing her more as a support system and not a source of exhausting melodrama.2. More about the action
That being said, the melodrama just detracts from the momentum of an action movie. Your kick ass hero should be always moving like a shark. You slow him down so he can pick out wedding linens or decide whether Lois Lane looks cute in that dress and the enemies win. I don't think Lex Luther gives two craps about whether he's got a fulfilling love life. He's got a goal and the man is going for it.
This movie has action out the wazoo in the trailer. It seems like the major plot is Clark's transition from childhood hero to adult hero and the drama that ensues with being a HERO. Being a hero involves doing amazing action stunts and I feel comfortable that if Superman is in handcuffs than he did something epic to deserve it.
My Worry
Back story problems
Doing the whole origin story thing again makes me nervous. Superman's backstory is straight-forward and easy. If you slow it down and really examine it then it starts to get cheesy. When stories get cheesy directors freak out and try to make every word that comes out of everyone's mouth mean something.I'm worried that Kevin Costner and Diane Lane won't be able to contain themselves as Ma and Pa Kent. I really don't need an hour of "You're a winner, Clark. Everything you do is super" only to make Clark extremely dull and the Superman character just as dull. I want the origin story to zip on by and only show up to give the adult character some stakes and motivation to get a move on and save the freaking world.
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