The Man of Steel

   Holy cow, Henry Cavill is HOT! They definitely kept that part of the traditional Superman stories, though maybe not much else. The way he speaks in this movie even gets me, and that is rare for me. Voices aren't usually my thing, but man, Henry Cavill makes even his voice ooze every bit of his sexiness. O, right, and the actual movie was good too. :)
   This story is much darker than the typical Superman story. He fights with his dad about his abilities, he cannot stay anywhere for long because people are afraid of his abilities, the running theme is that the world is simply not ready to accept someone like Superman. He is held as a prisoner by the military, Lois Lane cannot publish a story about him, and has to keep his secret for his safety. This is not the story we are used to. Everyone loves Superman, he's handsome, he's brave, and he saves the world on a regular basis. There is no fear, there is no distrust, there is no suppression for safety. He hides his true identity to protect himself from his enemies and from fame, not from fear or distrust. This is more real. As sad as it is to say, but I think I like this version better. It's more believable. Though I am not sure why his mother and father could not join him in escaping the dying Crypton.
    I really like Christopher Nolan, though I am a little worried that he just found a formula that works and is going to repeat it over and over again. The Batman series starts with a dark version of the story that develops the hero and sets the stage for future movies. He then broke his hero down in the second movie, just to be able to bring him back up again in the final movie. It produces a nice trilogy, and a great set of superhero movies. It seems as if he is doing the same thing to Superman. The similarities between Batman Begins and the Man of Steel are pretty striking. Now, I know the Batman trilogy closely followed the story-line in one of the Batman comics, but I would like to see something a little different than a successful formula from this great director.
    Even so, I really liked this movie and am excited for the next ones. I loved Amy Adams, Diane Lane, Kevin Costner, Michael Shannon (excellent bad guy!), Lawrence Fishburne, and Christopher Maloney. I really love seeing Stabler in so many more things now! Really all of the acting was great, those are just the names I know to reference. The only complaint I really had about this was that it was no where close to the uplifting superhero movie I was looking for during the summer. It really is a downer.
    In the end, I give this an 8.5 out of 10. It was great, I just don't know how many times I can watch it. :)