"Man of Steel"

      One of the most well known superheros, Superman, is brought to the big screen again with a new look and a slight twist to his origin. Krypton has depleted all of its resources and left on the brink of a civil war started by General Zod. Jor-El, realizing that the planet is about to be destroyed, sends his son, the first natural born Kryptonian in centuries, to earth so that he may live. Crash landing in Smallville, Kansas, he is taken in by the Kent's, who treat him as their own son and they name him Clark Kent. As he gets older he starts to exhibit superhuman abilities such as x-ray vision, superhuman strength, superhuman speed and heat vision. General Zod escaping from the phantom zone along with his followers, now searches for Clark aka Kal-El, because he wants the Kryptonian codex which Jor-El infused into Kal-El's DNA.

      Directed by Zack Snyder this film stars Henry Cavill as Superman, Amy Adams as Lois Lane, Russell Crowe as Jor-El, Michael Shannon as General Zod, Diane Lane as Martha Kent, and Kevin Costner as Jonathan Kent. This was personally one of my favorite movies of 2013, I think the story they told in this one was really good! It had a very realistic feel to it (the whole alien thing and all the CGI effects beside the point) that I really enjoyed! I thought it was a good representation of a new Superman for a new age!

   I know this film got a lot of hate, many claiming that it was in their top ten least favorite movies of 2013. Saying the film lacked character development, that the fight scenes lasted way to long and also saying that it lacked a "lightness" that the other Superman movies had. I agree that it didn't have the bubble gum pop feel as the others one did. I however enjoyed this darker version of the story, it reflected the hard choices that a hero, if they were to exist in today's world, would need to make. As far as character development, I agree that they didn't delve into the characters, but it didn't bother me that much as it is the first movie, I mean the first Thor movie had the same flaw but I still loved that movie!

   As you all probably know the new Man of Steel 2 was announced last year at Comic-Con. It will be a Superman Vs. Batman film which will most likely set up the Justice League movie. Zack Snyder will return to direct and Christopher Nolan will return as executive producer. Ben Affleck is cast to play Bruce Wayne/ Batman which I know not to many people are happy about. While I can't exactly blame them after "Daredevil", I ask that you keep an open mind till you actually see the film, because I believe Ben Affleck has come a long way since then. Also Gal Gadot has been cast Wonder Woman, it is not clear in what capacity she will be in the film, but I am crossing my fingers and hoping for the best! 

      I would give this film an 8 out 10 stars! I'm back everybody! Happy New Year! If you want, follow me on Twitter and check back here Sunday for my next blog post!!

Peace,
Jake