I have to be honest. I was never a fan of the Man of Steel growing up as a child. My favorite superheroes were Batman and Spider-Man. To me, Superman was a boring character and not that interesting. I thought he was too powerful and couldn’t lose. I remember back in 1998 on Kids WB, there was a contest between Batman and Superman entitled “Who Kicks More Booty?” I’m not kidding. Anyway, kids could call a number and select either Batman or Superman. Batman won in a landslide. But in 2001, I was in a Hollywood Video store and looking for something new to watch. I was surprised that there was a movie made about Superman. So out of curiosity, I decided to give it a chance. Boy, did my views change pretty quickly.
Right away, I remember being hooked into this film. How could you not pay attention to John Williams’s classic score of this movie? This is easily in my top ten lists of classical movie scores. It motivates me every single time that I listen to it. Then we get introduced to the Man of Steel’s home planet of Krypton. Believe it or not, this was also my introduction to Marlon Brando. I hadn’t seen The Godfather yet (I was 12 and just getting into movies, don’t be mad at me reader). I believe that he was very effective as Jor-El. Even though his role is very small, he leaves a powerful impact.
After Krypton, we also see Kal-El’s life as a teenager in Smallville, as the Kent’s adopt him and name him Clark. There is a line in this part of the film that his adoptive father Jonathan tells Clark that is very significant. He tells Clark that he is here for a reason. This spoke to me as I was trying to figure out what my purpose in life was. In some ways, I’m still trying to figure that out.
We then get to see Clark discover his origins, and see him settle in life at Metropolis. This brings me to the best part of this movie, and that is Christopher Reeve as Superman/Clark Kent. Even though there have been many incarnations since he donned the cape, to me he is Superman. He embodies not only the Man of Steel, but Clark Kent as well. Yes, some have argued that it’s a silly disguise because he only uses his glasses, but it is the personality as well that separates the two. I still get teary eyed knowing that he suffered such a fatal tragedy in his life. But he made me believe a man could fly.
The supporting cast turned out to be pretty good as well. Re watching this movie, I thought Margot Kidder was very effective as Lois Lane. She wasn’t as much of a damsel in distress as I remembered her though. With the exception of Superman’s first scene in which he has to save her, she was a pretty strong character. The women’s movement of the 1970s probably influenced this decision to make her a strong independent character, which helped the movie.
Gene Hackman I thought did a great job as Lex Luthor, or as he put it, the “greatest criminal mind of all time.” He played the character really calm, despite his motivations being really out there. Even though there have been many other depictions of this character, I found this interpretation to be very underrated.
As I was thinking more and more about this movie, I came to a conclusion about this film. Before viewing this, I had seen many other movies and viewed them as pure entertainment. But this was the first time I actually took a movie seriously. I was able to appreciate the time and effort that it takes to make a movie. It took it’s time to tell its story, and I found the pacing to be quite effective. Because of this film, I was able to appreciate movies as not just a way of entertainment, but as an art form.
If you’re a fan of Superhero movies, you should thank this movie for being made. Because had this not been released when it was, I don’t think we would have the success of movies like The Avengers or the upcoming Justice League movie. I say give this movie another watch because this is one that I would recommend for any fan of cinema.
Right away, I remember being hooked into this film. How could you not pay attention to John Williams’s classic score of this movie? This is easily in my top ten lists of classical movie scores. It motivates me every single time that I listen to it. Then we get introduced to the Man of Steel’s home planet of Krypton. Believe it or not, this was also my introduction to Marlon Brando. I hadn’t seen The Godfather yet (I was 12 and just getting into movies, don’t be mad at me reader). I believe that he was very effective as Jor-El. Even though his role is very small, he leaves a powerful impact.
After Krypton, we also see Kal-El’s life as a teenager in Smallville, as the Kent’s adopt him and name him Clark. There is a line in this part of the film that his adoptive father Jonathan tells Clark that is very significant. He tells Clark that he is here for a reason. This spoke to me as I was trying to figure out what my purpose in life was. In some ways, I’m still trying to figure that out.
We then get to see Clark discover his origins, and see him settle in life at Metropolis. This brings me to the best part of this movie, and that is Christopher Reeve as Superman/Clark Kent. Even though there have been many incarnations since he donned the cape, to me he is Superman. He embodies not only the Man of Steel, but Clark Kent as well. Yes, some have argued that it’s a silly disguise because he only uses his glasses, but it is the personality as well that separates the two. I still get teary eyed knowing that he suffered such a fatal tragedy in his life. But he made me believe a man could fly.
The supporting cast turned out to be pretty good as well. Re watching this movie, I thought Margot Kidder was very effective as Lois Lane. She wasn’t as much of a damsel in distress as I remembered her though. With the exception of Superman’s first scene in which he has to save her, she was a pretty strong character. The women’s movement of the 1970s probably influenced this decision to make her a strong independent character, which helped the movie.
Gene Hackman I thought did a great job as Lex Luthor, or as he put it, the “greatest criminal mind of all time.” He played the character really calm, despite his motivations being really out there. Even though there have been many other depictions of this character, I found this interpretation to be very underrated.
As I was thinking more and more about this movie, I came to a conclusion about this film. Before viewing this, I had seen many other movies and viewed them as pure entertainment. But this was the first time I actually took a movie seriously. I was able to appreciate the time and effort that it takes to make a movie. It took it’s time to tell its story, and I found the pacing to be quite effective. Because of this film, I was able to appreciate movies as not just a way of entertainment, but as an art form.
If you’re a fan of Superhero movies, you should thank this movie for being made. Because had this not been released when it was, I don’t think we would have the success of movies like The Avengers or the upcoming Justice League movie. I say give this movie another watch because this is one that I would recommend for any fan of cinema.