SMALLS DONS THE RED CAPE FOR MAN OF STEEL

DC has A LOT riding on Man of Steel, as does Zach Snyder. The future of the Superman franchise and of a possible Justice League film rest completely on this film's shoulders, same goes with Snyder's career which plummeted after the god-awful passion project known as Sucker Punch. The most recent Superman film, Superman Returns, was met with boos from general critics and audiences, and was so bad  that Clark Kent had to hang up his cape for 7 years. The Superman franchise and the popularity of the character seemed to be in peril. Now, Dc, Nolan and Snyder have teamed up to craft one last hail mary for Kal-El. Is the film able to live up to the hype, or will it succumb to TDKR syndrome?

Man of Steel is yet another origin story for the man with the jaw of steel and the flowy red cape. We start out on the planet Krypton (a crucial part of the Superman mythos that has never been fully explored....until now), where the Kryptonians find themselves the cause of their un-doing, plundering their planet's core for natural resources and in the process making the whole planet unstable. Meanwhile, Jor-El (Russel Crowe) and Lara Lor-Van (Ayelet Zurer) have played host to the first natural birth on Krypton in centuries....a mortal sin (Krypton society is built on each child being genetically engineered to fit a specific role on their planet). With the planet weeks away from total annihilation and the ruthless General Zod (Michale Shannon) launching a violent Coup for control, Jor-El sends his newborn son, Kal-El, off to a distant planet...hoping that he can make a difference somewhere else. Zod's coup is quickly squashed, and him and his military team are sentenced to space time-out in the phantom zone. After Kal-El's creft lands on Earth we fast forward to Kal's adulthood as he searches for the truth to who he is and finds himself on a collision course with his dad's old friend/enemy.

The first 20 minutes or so of the film are spent on Krypton, as vast amounts of background info are dumped onto the audience. we are expected to keep up, and to be honest it's hard not to find your head spinning. I've never been a huge fan of Supes, so I just had to trust that Snyder was staying faithful to the source material. This is Krypton as I never dreamt about it. Krypton is beautifully realized here, and Snyder treats us to a complete and fully realized world...it's pretty fantastic. I really like seeing how different yet somewhat similar Krypton is to Earth (Like Krypton, we are drilling Earth for it's natural resources and this similarity can't help but feel like a slight environmental message that never feels over-bearing and never takes over the plot of the film....thank God).

Henry Cavill doesn't just portray Superman....he IS Superman. Superman here is an alien, but he is also human and these two sides often war with each other to great, powerful effect. A large part of the film focuses on Supes internal struggle about who he really is and where he ultimately belongs, and when Zod rears his bearded face it only serves to re-ignite that infernal question inside Kal. I really dig how the film handle's Kal's childhood with the Kents. This part of his life is shown via numerous flashbacks (every actor that plays Supes in the flashbacks is great, though teen version as portrayed by Dylan Sprayberry stands out the most to me), and I love getting to see how Kal grows into the man we all know and love, and how his legendary ideals are instilled into him throughout the course of time. There are numerous occasions where Kal goes out of his way (both when he is a teen and an adult) to save lives, and numerous occasions where he is tempted to beat someone's face in but resists due to his superior strength (he would very likely knock a person out, maybe even kill them with one blow). This is the heart of who Supes is, resisting that temptation to do bad and doing what is necessary to save lives...no matter what tyhe consequences may be.

Michael Shannon is a pretty great Zod, and he makes for a real threatening villain, although I feel that his Zod won't be remembered for as long as the filmmakers hope. He's a furious outcast who only wants to save his people, unable or unwilling to see that he has already failed his mission before he has even started. Him and Supes do have a no-holds barred final fight that is just superb in all the right ways, and the way that fight ends....well, it left me shocked and speechless. I do like Zod here, and I even sympathize with him a bit. I wish he was more memorable here, but I don't think he really holds up to the original Zod (as portrayed by the great Terence Stamp). Oh, and he also never says the classic line in this film, although I don't think it would really fit here....Zod's aim in Man of Steel is not to enslave but to terraform Earth and wipe out all of humanity. He doesn't want us to kneel, he wants us to perish. It's nothing personal, but it's got to happen if he is going to bring back Krypton.

Russel Crowe is simply fantastic as Jor-El, Kal's biological father and guide in adulthood. He has a surprisingly lengthy amount of screen time and is a pretty large part of the story here. He is completely lovable, bad-ass and great and Russel Crowe slips easily into his role....becoming  what is, in my opinion, the definitive Jor-El. He mourns for the monster that his old friend Zod has become, he has hope that Kal will spread hope, and he sacrifices himself for what he believes in (kind of). My eyes lit up whenever he was on screen, and he elevates the film to a higher level here. Man of Steel deals with his holographic self in an interesting way that I had never seen before....the holograph has been instilled with Jor-El's conscious and memories so for all extents and purposes...it's kind of still him (also loved the part where he tells the history of Krypton to Kal...like a moving comic book). I also thought Ayelet Zurer (good luck pronouncing that one) was just lovely as his wife Lara. They both had good chemistry together, and I believed they loved each other.

Kevin Costner and Diane Lane were great as Ma and Pa Kent. Pa here is handled a little differently, as he encourages Kal not to reveal his true self to the world, believing that we are not ready yet. Despite this, he is still able to instill his own personal values into Kal and he is host to a sad but fitting twist that had me tear up a bit. I also greatly enjoyed Diane Lane as ma Kent, I liked the mother/son parts she brought into the film and really loved her character. The film shows us that she will always be there if Kal needs her, and I liked that. 

Amy Adams portrays Lois Lane, and fits the role pretty well. She never really stands out here, but is likeable and spunky. Adams is far from the damsel in distress, and actually does a good deal to assist Supes in his quest to bring down Zod. I liked her, and hopefully if there is a next film it will expand upon her role and her and Supes romance.

What most surprised me about this film is that for most of it, I had completely forgotten that Zach Snyder was at the helm....and then the action reared it's head. There is no super slo-mo that I can remember, but the action is some of the most insane, balls-to-the-walls stuff i have seen in a long time. Stuff gets blown up real good. Buildings and cities are completely leveled, gas stations and power plants are blown up, cars are flung thru the air, etc etc etc (also, some of the CG in the fight scenes is a little obvious). It's definitely Zack Snyder's brand of action, except cranked up to 11. Now, it never really bothered me...I felt it actually fit here and the action is of a high quality/high caliber. The last hour is pretty much non-stop action, we never really get a chance to catch our breaths. I could see how this may bother some, but I personally liked it....it was fun. The first hour of the film is all build-up, and Snyder handles these parts exceptionally well for a man that has been known to shun this kind of stuff. Even in-between the action Snyder still manages to squeeze in moments of human spirit and bravery  (one of which had me tear up real good). Snyder clearly knew that a good part of his career rested on this film, and he pulled out all the stops to deliver his best film yet.

Man of Steel had a lot of hype and hope built onto it, and surprisingly it lives up to it all. It's a film that isn't all action, and isn't all origin either. It manages to strike a pretty good balance between these two, and the result is something beautiful, touching, inspiring and awesome. It's clear that a large reason why this film works is because Nolan, Snyder, Goyer (The writer for the film...he does a pretty fantastic job) and Cavill all instinctively "get" who Superman is...and they insert this knowledge into the film. I couldn't be happier with the product they have brought us. This is not only the best Superman film to date, I'm going to go so far as to say that it's THE DEFINITIVE SUPERMAN FILM. That's right, I went there. Man of Steel is easily in the top 5 of the best superhero films list (not THE best, but ONE of the best). With enough action and heart, and with the best Superman seen on the big screen yet, Man of Steel easily soars into the ranks of best films of summer 2013. If you want a Justice League film, or more Superman films, SEE IT (I would also gladly crusade for Cavill to step back into the role for another film or 2 or 3)!!!

4.5 Stars

Be sure to keep an eye out for a nod to Lex Luthor and Wayne Enterprises.

The score is also fantastic

Also, No Kryptonite to be found here....maybe it will appear in the next film?

SMALLS GETS TANGLED UP IN V/H/S 2

If you've already read my review of V/H/S you already know that I was a huge fan of the first film. Now the mucho hyped sequel is out, and I went in with some pretty lofty expectations since just about everyone has been saying the sequel easily outshines the first. So, how did this second outing fare? Bear with me as I browse through the lost VHS tapes and give a rating to each.

First let's explore the main plot of the film, entitled Tape 49. The over-arching story this time around is that of a male/female amateur sleuth team that has been hired to find a missing person. They break into his house and find that it appears to be abandoned, inside it is a room full of discarded VHS tapes. The male sleuth decides to explore the rest of the house and leaves the female sleuth to wade thru the VHS tapes in the room. Naturally, we join her in her quest. The over-arching story is stronger this time around, and it has a satisfying ending to it unlike the previous film. It's also aided by a new element, apparently if the viewer watches these VHS tapes in the correct order it should have a certain effect on the person watching them. Personally, I prefer the over-arching story of the first VHS due purely to the cool mystery element it had going for it. However, Tape 49 is still the better of the two. 4 Stars

The first VHS our female sleuth pops in is called Phase 1 Clinical Trials. A man has injured one of his eyes, and so is given a brand new mechanical one that comes equipped with a camera inside it so that the company that built it can test the quality of it. Naturally, things go wrong as the recipient of the eye begins to see ghastly images that terrorize him. Yes, this film is essentially an update of the film The Eye. It does have quite a few scream-worthy moments in here (In fact, I think that this was the only segment I actually screamed in), however since I have seen The Eye the story of this one feels been-there, seen-that to me. I do like the idea of an eye camera, pretty cool, however this one still gets 2 stars from me.

The 2nd VHS we view is called A Ride in the Park. In this one we follow a biker as he is attacked by zombies, turn into one of them and proceeds to terrorize other park goers. It's an interesting premise that has some nice gore effects in it, and some parts of it do have a slightly comedic tone...however, it's really just a sequence of events, it's not scary, and there is zero plot. I'll give it 1.5 stars because it is a somewhat original idea, and it is entertaining however the lack of a plot or any real scares hurts this segment. It's a disappointment considering the directors of this segment helmed The Blair Witch Project.

The third VHS is called Safe Haven. A documentary crew has gained admission into a creepy cult facility, and films the goings-ons inside. Little do they know, they have arrived there on the day that the cult believes to be their salvation. Naturally, freaky shit goes down. It's a toss-up between this film and the last one for craziest, most bat-shit insane segment. This one is filled with gore, blood, and genuinely freaky shit. This segment was partly directed  by the great Gareth Evans, of The Raid: Redemption fame and luckily he does not disappoint. 3.5 Stars

The fourth and final VHS is called Slumber Party Alien Abduction. Mom and Dad leave their fancy lake house, entrusting it's safe-keeping to their kids. Of course, this is a stupid idea as the kids invite their friends and proceed to party it up. The fun doesn't last long as a whole slew of evil aliens land at the house and try to abduct the family and friends, messing with their heads along the way. This segment is super-fast paced insane fun, it never once lets up once it starts. It also helps that the kids here remind me of myself and the kind of chaos I would wreck with friends. This would probably be my favorite VHS in the whole bunch, is it any surprise since this segment is directed by Hobo With A Shotgun director Jason Eisner? Yeah, naturally he doesn't disappoint.. 4 Stars

Whereas VHS seemed to be focused on "pure" horror, VHS 2 is more so concerned with campy, super-gory, silly fun. It does have a few good scary parts to it, but this outing's main goal seems to be to show audiences an over-the-top, super-insane and off the rails good time. There's more blood, more gore, and more cameras (to a level where it seemed a bit much to be honest). There are significant less breasts in this one, and the nudity we do sample here seems forced and unnecessary.  While I do feel that I enjoyed VHS more and that it is the better film out of the two, VHS 2 still succeeds at its main goal (to be the craziest, most insane horror film of all time) and I'll be damned if I wasn't tempted to fist pump when it was over and that pounding rock score kicked in. I would gladly recommend it to any horror fan looking for a crazy, fun time.

3.5 STARS