'Man of Steel treks Into Darkness' - A Review

Now that I'm into a writing halt for quite a while, I am actually reading and not skimming through every other blog, selected at random. This is me, figuring out how even the most elite class of bloggers get out of a writer's block. And I think I'm finally getting the answer.

Either I should devote myself into writing about cellphones and apps and tablets and throw big words like 'SEO' and 'Microblogosphere' here and there. Or, I could write romantic poems that don't rhyme. Instead of ending each paragraph with 'the touch of his lips' type phrases, I end up with a 'the smell of his underarms' kind lines. And then I met the third kind.

Movie reviews!

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Although frequently referred to as a dependable movie connoisseur, (within some secret underground niche) I have been deprived of a movie-watching experience of any kind after that of Kai Po Che. It was all about All Work and No Play making me a douche-bag  Thanks to a couple of unfinished novels that kept me sane and a decent print of Spielberg's epic cinema Lincoln, which was an instant sleep-inducer. I used it again and again to fall asleep at night, and also kept count.

Twenty-three. 23.

So, among all the chaos that my dedication towards lab-work brought on me, me and my friend Noelle mutually promised to watch a movie together one weekend. We wanted to catch a show of 'Star Trek Into Darkness' in IMAX. Both of us are huge fans of the original series, of the SpocKirk Xeno-bromance, of U.S.S. Enterprise and of Benedict Cumberbatch. But none of that budged our respective professor's resolve of making us work only harder. So both of us kept mum on that plan.

While both of us thought the movie would 'live long and prosper' it was soon replaced by one of our Bollywood's 100-Crore-Club entry within a couple of weeks!

By the end of that month, the internet chatter was already abuzz over a new movie. The third trailer of 'Man of Steel' was out and BOY! IT INDEED IS ONE OF THE MOST AWESOME TRAILERS EVER MADE! Of course, the buzz in town was Nolan's involvement - "Snyder kaun? Bhencho, Nolan ka hi movie hai!!"

Indeed, i was eager to watch it ever since I was made aware of Christopher Nolan, David S. Goyer and Hans Zimmer's involvement in the Zack Snyder team, with the first two being essentially involved with the story development and script. Plus, there were Academy Award winners and repeatedly nominated actors all over the trailer! Even in small roles. Amy Adams! So many movies, so few time to mention each. Russel Crowe, Gladiator! Kevin Costner, JFK! I was drooling. Biggest impact, still was Nolan's shadow over the project and Zimmer's background score.

So, me and Noelle decided to make one more promise!

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Before I finally got to see Man of Steel, or MoS like I'll be referring to here onward, I managed to sneak into one of the shows of the sequel of the popular sci-fi series rebooted in the 2009 movie with JJ Abrams at its helm. I've seen only two JJ Abrams movies earlier and loved both of them - Super 8, which although had kids as its main characters, was certainly not for kids and Star Trek, which was more of a good start to a rebooted franchise. Star Trek Into Darkness however, was awaited because of other reasons altogether. One of them being Benedict Cumberbatch.

And the other, his British accent.

Star Trek Into Darkness had a strong script apart from the SFX, something that the likes of Ironman 3 (or any other Marvel comics-turned-movie) always missed! In short (as its now an old movie, it'll be no fun reviewing it now that everyone's seen it!), it not only lived up to the expectation of the fans, it also revived memories of a deadly sinister villain long forgotten for 300 years. No really, how many from the current generation would remember the tyrant, Khan Noonien Singh? Although I was always confused about Khan looking like an over-tanned British sailor, despite his Indian nomenclature, I set that thought apart to fit Cumberbatch in. And he did not disappoint!

I especially liked the precision that Cumberbatch's character employed in carrying out a plan. Something I'll except a superhuman to do quite well. Some positives from the movie were the scene where the half-human side of Spock lets go of his Vulcan mannerisms to let out a cry of rage, 'KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-AN!!', the plan to replace the torpedoes, the otherwise-doomed plan to warp away from U.S.S. Vengeance, the character Scotty and how, for a major part of the film, the focus shifted away from Khan while his shadow still loomed large anyhow.

Oh, and also how they killed off Captain Pike in the very beginning. Killing off important characters always work wonders! History is proof: remember Santino Corleone, Godfather? Sardar Khan (or Sardar Single), Gangs of Wasseypur? Apollo Creed in one of the Rocky movies? Billy Costigan, The Departed?

I can swear by this formula!

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Well, MoS is one movie where that formula didn't work.

Why? Because there's really never been a tragedy with this Superhero (of course his entire planet got squished, but that's a different story altogether). Superman is the sugar-daddy of the DC universe, notwithstanding the true meaning of the word. He is the soft spoken man with awesome powers who saves the world every time, but also has a sense of humour. He is easily more 'super' than all his friends as his sole weakness is kryptonite, can become a total stranger by just putting on a spectacle, and can even carry off a bright coloured brief over his costume without being raped in New Delhi.

Oh TheDarkKnight, what have you done? 

But much like the curse of Tutankhamen all the upcoming superhero movies of the DC universe need to be equally dark, deep and insightful like that of The Dark Knight. That is what happened here. In a story needing no tragedy, quite a few were introduced in many places. Also, Superman doesn't brood! That's Bruce Wayne/Batman's job!!

The story was faulty, wrong and abrupt. After introducing the story to quite a few issues like 'Fight Global Warming to save Krypton!' and 'Let Kal El choose his own destiny!' and also the case of an alienated extraterrestrial kid's 'ET go home!' they suddenly hurried everything into Clark's conversion into Superman. And why the cliched quarrel with his foster-dad just before he dies unnecessarily? Leave that to Spiderman!

Even the other actors disappointed big time! Except perhaps Kevin Costner. Also Russel Crowe can do nothing wrong when he's wearing the Hound's get-up from the Game of Thrones! Biggest disappointment was Amy Adams. She rendered the character dumb! A better Lois was the Kate Bosworth or the best, an evergreen Margot Kidder with the best-suited superman we ever came to know - Christopher Reeve!

SFX was pretty good, but also it was nothing that we haven't seen!

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However, this no-chaddi Superman is super good-looking! That, and with all the British accent, I think I know why the girls are loving this movie, way more than guys!