It is the sixth official Superman movie to be distributed under the might of the Warner Bros. shield. Now on Blu-ray and DVD, some have dared to call it the movie that would both determine the future of Kal-el's filmography, and that would shape the destiny of the DC motion picture universe. Of course, we're talking about Zack Snyder's Man of Steel, produced under the supervision of Christopher Nolan's Syncopy Productions.
When Man of Steel was released theatrically, most insiders described the film as a reassessment of Superman's official backstory in the wake of Kal-el's 75th Anniversary year. Here at KQ5, we found it necessary to share our thoughts about this film with you here because, as always, given that Superman and Santa Claus are practically next-door neighbors at the North Pole, we felt that you, our visitors, have a right to know our beliefs concerning Man of Steel from the perspective of a believer, not just of Santa himself, but also of Superman's continued commitment to Truth, Justice and the American Way.
Like many of you out there, we, the Management of KQ were raised, firstly on George Reeves and The Adventures of Superman --- and later, of course, the Superman movies of Alexander and Ilya Salkind (and for a good many of our visitors, the Christopher Reeve Supermovies were literally our introduction to the Man of Steel per se); and your humble Elf Without Jingles does suspect that there are still those of you who were disappointed by Bryan Singer's Superman Returns. Nevertheless, one cannot deny that the essence of the Supermythos is limited by the simple fact that at its very heart, at its very nature, there is the idea of extreme goodness. So, even with Zack Snyder directing, any attempt to give the son of Jor-el a dark side is doomed to failure almost from the get-go.
The major confrontation in Man of Steel (assuming you've already seen the film) pits Superman against General Zod. We old-schoolers still think nothing beats the Christopher Reeve vs. Terence Stamp, Sarah Douglas and Jack O'Halloran version of this classic conflict; but then, as you know, it's long been our policy to share with you everything Salkind, both good and bad. (We've been at it, in fact, for almost 30 years.) Then, and now, we say it's awesome to rediscover how the reimagined Superman/Zod battle manifests itself --- and if you've seen Snyder's 300, you're obviously of the opinion, which we share, that it's not gonna be painless. No, kiddos, expect tons and tons of hurt. Major ouchies and everything else.
And even though thus far, Man of Steel still has not exactly emerged triumphant (in the eyes of some, anyway), count on Warner Bros.' continuing partnership with the DC Universe to endure for many more years to come, including but not entirely restricted to the seed that eventually gave rise to the Justice League movie, and its eventual follow-up.
Your Elf Without Jingles remembers well the days before, during and after December 15th, 1978, when it seemed to certain others that the Salkinds literally didn't know what they were doing when it came to the topic of making a Superman film. In many ways, the late Tom Mankiewicz was right when he said, "To give the Salkinds credit, they saw, perhaps, the future of making a Superman movie in a way that no one else ever did." Regardless of whether or not the same will be said of Man of Steel, now it's the Justice League's turn to shape the future of WB's DC Movie Universe. Stay tuned!