In Man of Steel, Henry Cavill has lots of obstacles in his way portraying Kal-El/Clark Kent, ... (insert here all the names of the actors who has laid claim to the role). The main things that are in his favorite are incredible good looks, acting ability, a strong persona that commands attention on the screen, and an innovative script written by David S. Goyer (who created a television series I loved called FlashForward) from a story by Goyer and Christopher Nolan (one of my all-time favorite filmmakers) that reimagines a lot the Superman history. Good action sequences were enhanced by the 3D.
I enjoyed the chemistry between Amy Adams and Cavill and thought they made a good time whose futures I want to follow. Michael Shannon (General Zod) is someone whose work I enjoy no matter what role he takes.
If you are a person who has trouble following a movie when things are told out of chronological order, this isn't the film for you. But if you like Christopher Nolan's work (The Dark Knight Rises, Momento, Inception), you'll want to see this film.
I was blown away with Momento (written and directed by Christopher Nolan), where
a man has no memory of what has happened before so that he has to write down
immediately what has happened so he can remember it. The film becomes layers of
onions peeled away to an ultimate core.
But in 1998, the year before Momento was released, Christopher Nolan
wrote, directed and filmed Following, where he experimented with the same
technique. Nolan’s film makes for really cerebral filmgoing, ultimately
exciting and satisfying.
Start as a viewer with the premise that the images you see
are reflections of various times and moments in the main character’s life, but jumbled
as in working a jigsaw puzzle. Nolan does give us all the answers we need, but ultimately we have to put all the pieces together.
The film follows “The Young Man”—who may or may not be named
Billy (Jeremy Theobald)—who tells us that he likes to follow people. Eventually
he follows Cobb, a handsome guy in a suit and tie (Alex Haw) who confesses to
being a day burgler. He takes Billy with
him on some robberies. Eventually, the two even rob Billy’s own apartment (which Billy doesn't tell Cobb because he wants Cobb evaluate him by what he owns). Billy does follow others. Drawn to The Blonde
(Lucy Russell), ex-mistress of a sadistic and dangerous nightclub owner. She has been robbed and Billy becomes obsessed with her.
Filmed in a “neo-noir style” [the rich black and white look of
the 1940s film noir], the film reminds me visually of Laurence Harvey’s Room at
the Top. The clothes even all look sixties. As classic film noir, we know that the
main character is being played and the woman he is involved with can’t be
trusted. But the hows and whys are what we have to wait for.
One of the ideas of the film is an obsession of
investigating the victim’s psyche by studying the clutter of their lives. In
Billy’s case, a large portrait of Marilyn Monroe hangs on his wall and could
easily be the Blonde he falls in love with. At the end she is coiffed and
costumed like the 1960s Marilyn in one her famous later portraits, upswept hair and black
turtleneck. Astute viewers might also smile when they see also that Billy’s door
has a Batman logo on it, a nod to Nolan’s future as The Dark Knight’s director?
This is film definitely worth seeing. I loved the
experience.
Batman is a man of his time period. In fact, as the movie
says, the point of Batman is he could be anyone—there is a hero in all of us.
Each incarnation of Batman since his creation in 1939 by
artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger has reflected the views and concerns of
the world in which he was lives. He has reflected the pop culture of the 1960s
and gone into “dark mode” with the graphic novels of the 1980s and 1990s. This
latest incarnation reflects our present struggle of today’s wealthy versus “the
rest of us”—with Bruce Wayne losing his wealth in a revolution that comes out
of nowhere.
One of the delights of Nolan’s intelligent script is his “quoting”
Charles Dickens’ Tale of Two Cities
plot. As in Dickens, the people rise up in revolt and the world of the wealthy
vs the poor is turned upside down. Catwoman Silena Kyle (Hathaway) even warns Bruce
Wayne: “You think this can last? There’s a storm coming, Mr. Wayne. You and
your friends better batten down the hatches, because when it hits, you’re all
gonna wonder how you ever thought you could live so large and leave so little
for the rest of us."
One friend’s capsule view of the film was “lots of bang
boom.” Ironic, isn't it, since Batman wants to do it all without guns. Certainly there are some loud and spectacular special effects, such as the
bombing of Gotham’s bridges and subway, leading to an entire football field
disappearing as a player runs for a touch-down. [Was that an intention or
unintentional quote of the football stadium scene in The Sum of All Fears (2002),
also starring Morgan Freeman?] But the sweep of all the various fight scenes
was mesmerizing.
Christopher Nolan’s Inception (2010) is one of my favorite
films. He peoples his scripts with talented actors who seem to be part of a
Christopher Nolan repertory company: Tom Hardy, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard, Michael
Caine, and Cillian Murphy (acting as Dr. Jonathan Crane/Scarecrow, the judge
giving the choice of exile or death). Added to these actors are Christian Bale,
Gary Oldman, Anne Hathaway, Morgan Freeman, Matthew Modine, and Liam Neeson
(briefly).
While Christian Bale makes an admirable Batman/Bruce Wayne,
I found myself drawn to Anne Hathaway who remained often the person I watched.
Her intelligent and likeable performance gives depth to the usual Catwoman
character. Plus, being a fan of Joseph Gordon-Levitt, I also found him growing
as adventure hero.
The strength of the acting and the intelligence of the
script can be seen by the response many of my friends had to the ending—tears and
smiles. When everyone raves about a film, it has to be a great communal
experience. Should you see? Today.
