Man of Steel - The lovechild of the Avengers and the Dark Knight

Now that Marvel superhero films are stealing the limelight at the Box Office and the only (successful) franchise left in the DC stable was Batman, there was a lot of pressure on to ‘reboot’ Superman (or reboot the 2006 reboot which didn’t really hit the mark with fans).

So, seeing as ‘The Dark Knight’ was a more serious and darker take on the Batman legend, they decided to go the same route with Superman and give him the ‘Dark Knight’ makeover.

And, it has worked to a degree. Henry Cavill was definitely the right choice to play the ‘Man of Steel’ and totally nails it in the role. All the other cast members are good, too, but it’s Henry who carries the film. Yes, Man of Steel is darker than the average Marvel superhero film, yet not as dark as the Christopher Nolan Batman trilogy. Plus, because Superman’s story/powers are more ‘fantastical’ than Batman’s, it has an ‘Avengers feel’ to some of the (many) action sequences.

As a modern and darker reboot of the Superman legend, it definitely works and fans of the comic shouldn’t be too disappointed with the direction it’s heading. A lot of people weren’t happy with the choice in director (Zack Snyder – 300, Watchmen, Dawn of the Dead 2004), but he seemed to handle the big budget and the various – expected – action scenes. My only gripe was that a lot of the action felt quite computer generated. It would have been nice if it looked as gritty and real as the rest of the film was trying to be. But, overall, I’m looking forward to seeing how the franchise continues.

8/10 The Force is definitely strong with this one