The “Man of Steel” has been around for many, many
extravagant, entertaining and extraordinary years certainly longer than you or
I. He was originally conceived by teen agers Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster in
1938. Within his unique history he has been envisioned in every possible medium
since his comic book birth; radio, theatre, novels, games, toys, music,
television and film. He is certainly the stuff of legend both as a character
and as a production icon of society. Ask anyone if they remember being introduced
to Superman and overwhelmingly people will answer that they can’t recall “The
Man of Steel” as a new concept. We learn about Superman as we learn of language
itself. With so much history and saturation into the American psyche and hearts
it is next to impossible to change or revamp the temperament and tone of the character
for our contemporary times. Batman his partner, foil and diametric opposite is
much more flexible for rewrites and reworks. Spiderman, Dare Devil, Iron Man
and even Hell Boy are crafted for our dystopian modern existence. Superman; the
“Grand-Daddy” of them all is in most ways just that; the “Grand-Dadd
“Man of Steel” opened this weekend in theatres across the
country and world-wide. The reviews are mixed; the consensus at this point is
“Man of Steel” is at best a descent effort but nothing special. This is the fourth
big screen incarnation for Superman. Christopher Reeves set an impossibly high
bar for anyone to reach in the Donner films. They will never be surpassed.
Reeves personified Superman on screen and he proved to have an amazing amount
of courage and resilience in real life. Reeves was an inspiration. This new film
comes to us over blown, dark and repetitive. These days the source materials
for the super hero “Block-Busters” are known as Graphic Novels. Originally the book’s
genre was classified and considered Comic or Funny Books. There has to be a
sense of humor; a joyfulness in the equation for anything relating to a comic
book creation like Superman, again he is the original. Superman doesn’t need to
imitate the kids. He only needs to be himself.
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