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analysis, comic, comics, David Goyer, DC, Man of Steel, movie, movies, review, reviews, sci-fi, science fiction, super, superhero, Superman, Superman movie, Writing, Zack Snyder
It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s– it’s… a tarred and feathered fat kid trying to fly.
It’s no secret that DC’s latest movie about a man wearing his underwear on the outside had all the impact of a limp noodle, but why? And can it be fixed?
1. A Long, Long Time Ago…
The prologue is so standard it’s almost fan service, however there’s a problem. It’s redundant. About an hour later Jor-El provides us with exposition that makes the prologue completely unnecessary. Orson Scott Card says in his book, “How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy”, most prologues can be removed entirely from the story. We can, so we will. Either that or we move it forward to Jor-El’s expositional narrative. Replace it with the prologue– streamlined hopefully– told through his point of view. Redundancy solved. And no more baby penis, something else this movie could have done without (thank you Zack Snyder).
2. Start at the Beginning
Well not the actual beginning. We’ve already discussed the prologue. The story, itself, is the problem. From Kal-El’s crash on Earth, we jump forward thirty years. Then back twenty-five. Then forward again twenty-three. Then back…. See the problem? Start at the beginning. It’s that simple. Starting this story at the beginning and telling it chronologically to it’s logical end solves so many issues this story has. The story won’t be so disorienting– always a problem when jumping between timelines or POVs–, and theming for this story won’t be so hard to find. This way you don’t have to show the audience why certain parts of the story are important or meaningful to the protagonist. We’ve been there. We’ve seen it. We know why it’s important. Set up these character-building moments early, then the story won’t feel like it’s hastily tied together with twine and scotch tape. “Hasty”. That’s a good word for it. The entire story feels this way.
3. Missing the Whole Point
It’s not that I’m saying they didn’t do the research. Unless checking Wikipedia doesn’t count as research which would be ridiculous, right? It seems like all the facts are there, but the impact is gone. And no, I’m not necessarily talking about the Superman killing Zod thing. Like I said, Snyder and Goyer may have gotten their facts straight, but they missed Superman entirely. So much effort was spent explaining what Superman is and how, that they miss the more important questions. Who is Superman, and why?
Since superhero origin stories are often character stories, the actions and decisions of the character need to be believable and reasonable and include a conviction that leads the character to become a hero. Focusing on how rather than why makes Clark Kent feel less human, and Superman unrelatable.
The only change I could recommend for this is a stronger focus on his childhood and early years. The goal is not to make Superman feel alien to the audience. Make us relate to him as a human first–
Better yet, read All Star Superman, Man of Steel, Superman: For All Seasons and Superman: Birthright. After you’ve read all that, you won’t need to read the wiki on Superman. You’ll understand who he is, not what he is.
These are not the only issues I’ve had with this story. More to come.