Theater Review: Man of Steel

I don't usually talk about my theater experience, but this was a bit different for me so I will start out with that. I live in a small town - it is very rare when a theater is even half full when I finally get out to the movies. I like the intimacy though - it bothers me when I am near anyone really, unless I go with someone.

Well, I went and saw this movie in a larger area - and the theater was packed. We had to sit in the front portion of the theater, which I am not a huge fan of. But, despite being so close and not having the greatest view of the screen, the movie itself went off without a hitch. Until, the theater received a power surge and we lost sound for a key part of the movie. But, I got over it - then the movie shut off completely. Finally, they restarted it (not completely but about 10 minutes before the sound went out) - I used this opportunity to use the rest room, then finished the movie. To my surprise - as we departed we got free movie tickets - not bad for a few minutes of problems.

Now onto the actual movie.

Man of Steel is yet another reboot of the hero Superman. After four Christopher Reeve-helmed films in the late 70s and part of the 80s (not to mention many other versions like Dean Cain's on 'Lois & Clark' and Tom Welling's on 'Smallville') we received the new Superman Brandon Routh in Superman Returns - and although it did extremely well box office wise, it bombed with critics and fans alike.

So, seven years later, we get yet another reboot.

After the success of the Marvel films and Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy it was only logical for DC to get its favorite (possibly second) hero back onto the big screen - and we got him in the form of Henry Cavill.

I have to admit, I have only seen the original Superman film starring Reeve, and it wasn't until a few years ago. Honestly, I wasn't that big of a fan. So, the reboot is pretty much my first real look into Superman.

Krypton is about to explode because of  years of depleting natural resources. For years, the only children born on Krypton have been manufactured - except the brand new baby of Jor-El (Russell Crowe) and Lara (Antje Traue). In order to maintain the race - and save their son - they infuse his cells with a codex of the entire Kryptonian race and ship him off to planet Earth.

General Zod (Michael Shannon), though, was banished from the planet along with those who worked with him and was able to survive the destruction of the planet. And, he promises to remake Krypton and track down Kal-El.

Kal-El, renamed Clark Kent, is raised as a regular child by Martha (Diane Lane) and Jonathan Kent (Kevin Costner). Because of the sun, Clark becomes extremely powerful and needs to learn to control those powers in order to blend in.

But, after his Earth father was killed and Zod has located him on the planet, it is up to him to protect his adopted planet before it gets destroyed.

This movie was far from perfect, but it was pretty darn entertaining - and the absolute best Superman film I have ever seen. It is also a great starting out point - I can definitely see how this film sets up so many more great films in the future.

It was a pretty good origin story, but that is the problem with new movies, the origin story - most people already know how Superman came about, but it still must be told to reboot the franchise. And, it was done well - and as much as I enjoyed it and was entertained, I do think the next set of films will be even better. Including the much anticipated Justice League film.

I actually thought the acting in the film was pretty great. Crowe and Costner stand out, and Shannon was great as Zod. Cavill is pretty new to me - but I thought he looked the part of Superman and balanced his strengths with his struggles. Even the secondary characters were great - with Christopher Meloni, Harry Lennix, Laurence Fishburne and Richard Schiff all being great actors.

I have really come to like Amy Adams, and I feel she will be a great Lois Lane, but I felt in this movie she just wasn't given that much to do. And, honestly, the romance between her and Superman felt sort of forced.

Tons of action. I mean tons. Which in a Superman film about an almost unstoppable alien race fighting on Earth, that should happen. And it was great.

Grade:

46/50x2: Ray

Ray Charles was obviously a talented musician, but there aren't too many of his songs that really jumped out at me. I am sure I like a few of them, but I was never a huge fan of his music.

But, the same can pretty much be said of Johnny Cash before I watched Walk the Line and I definitely came away from that movie enjoying more of Cash's music.

So, Ray is a biopic about the life of Ray Charles (Jamie Foxx). We learn through flashbacks in the film that Ray wasn't born blind, and that he had a brother. While playing one afternoon in a very poor neighborhood, Ray's brother slipped and fell into his mother's laundry bucket and, while Ray watched, he couldn't get out and ended up drowning.

Not long after Ray developed some sort of eye disease which slowly ate away his sight. Soon, he was completely blind and his mother stayed away from helping him as he started to develop a reliance on his other senses - which would help him later in life.

Before his brother's death, Ray snuck into a local store where a man was playing the piano in the back - the man notices Ray watching him and soon begins to show him how to play the piano - which would obviously become a trademark for him.

The rest of the film shows his rise - fall - and eventual rise again to one of the best musicians in the world of music, especially incorporating gospel into his music.

The story was definitely interesting. As I had not really been a huge fan of Charles' music, I was not really aware of his life story.

The few things I did know about Charles before watching this film: his performance of American the Beautiful, him being in The Blues Brothers, and his Diet Pepsi commercials (You Got the Right One, Baby!).

Well, Charles fell in love with a young women named Della Bea (Kerry Washington), with whom he married and he had a couple of kids with. But, he also had a bit of a side relationship with Margie Hendricks (Regina King), who he also had a child with.

Wanting to be one of the guys, and not just he blind piano player, Ray also joined a couple of his band mates before he set out on his own and started using drugs. Something that he continued to do for years, and something that his wife found out about. He, of course, felt he wasn't addicted - but eventually he went down hill fast and went to rehab, which was the start of his resurgence.

One thing is for sure, this movie had a ton of talented actors playing some great parts. The one that obviously sticks out the most is Foxx's portrayal of Charles. He really committed to the role and pretty much became Ray Charles through the entire film.

Washington was very good as his wife and King also stood out as his mistress. I always enjoy seeing David Krumholtz in films, and he does another bang up job here. Two others that I thought were excellent were Curtis Armstrong and Richard Schiff - who played record producers that first began to produce Charles on his own and may be the ones responsible for him finding his sound.

A great biopic that really helped me learn more about Charles' life and struggles - and how he became such a talented musician. Not gonna run out and grab his music still, though. I enjoyed the film, but it didn't grab me as much as Walk the Line, if I were going to compare it to something.

Grade: