gameragodzilla
Since: Aug, 2010
10/22/2013 00:00:00
That's exactly what I ended up taking away from the film as well. In fact, this was really the main thing that made me say, "Wow, this film is not as dark as I thought it would be." Because this movie, while not the lighthearted heroism of the Reeve era, still managed to show us how Superman BECAME Superman, which is, in the end, a Crowning Moment of Heartwarming.
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The Death of Mandatory Heroism
I am not familiar with Superman. My only exposure to it was Superman Returns, where the real focus was the Two-Person Love Triangle (and Kevin Spacey's wonderful Ham and Cheese). But when I heard that Man of Steel would be a Darker and Edgier reboot, I was skeptical. Superman has always been The Cape, and his moral Beauty Is Never Tarnished. How could this go anything but wrong?
As it turns out, it couldn't have been more right.
The archetypal Superman is an automatic Boy Scout, one who does good and basically cannot conceive of doing anything else; even his villainous Elseworlds portray him as a Well-Intentioned Extremist. He's Born Lucky; he has some quality that makes him virtuous and that muggles can never have, making him the sole upstanding citizen of the world. The Superman presented in this film had to learn to be a good person, the same way all muggles do, and that makes him infinitely more accessible. He's not The Cape, he's The Paragon. His heroism isn't mandatory, it's a choice - and that makes it all the more meaningful.
And that's the Central Theme of the film: choice. Jor-El and Lara conceive naturally to grant Kal-El the chance to Screw Destiny. Perry White at the end decides to stay with his employees rather than be a Bad Boss. Col. Hardy and later Gen. Swanwick elect to trust Superman, despite understandable caution towards Flying Brick Human Aliens. And Jonathan Kent encourages Clark to stay selfish and avoid All of the Other Reindeer treatment, for which some viewers criticize him - myself included. (Despite this, he sacrifices himself the sake of his son. Master of the Mixed Message?)
It's not a perfect film. Faora was unnecessary, and Amy Adams just didn't have enough to do. Henry Cavill brought too much gravitas to the role; he lacks charm and delivers poor Clark Kenting. And the film doesn't dwell nearly enough on the whole Thou Shalt Not Kill thing (Sequel Hook?). But these are minor flaws, outshone by an excellent Decon-Recon Switch and a fight that manages what The Matrix Revolutions tried. I missed this one in theatres, but I won't miss the sequel.
Now if only they'd kept Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Batman...