Why Man of Steel (2013) Is A Masterpiece

By: Emmanuel Naicker

Zack Snyder is one of (if not THE) most Divisive filmmakers alive today. Some may hate his films, while others absolutely love them, I fall into the latter category. From what I have seen, he is one of the most unfairly hated directors I’ve seen. All you need to do is go to Twitter and see the toxic reactions people have toward him just because they are not fans of his movies, going as far as to personally attack him and disgustingly poke fun at his family tragedies, while others see his movies and are struck by them, in the best way possible. This man has made a career out of using breathtaking visuals to convey his stories in the most provocative way imaginable. His first film was a remake of George Romero’s horror classic, Dawn of The Dead. This put him on the map and led to him getting offers to Direct adaptations of beloved graphic novels, 300, and Watchmen, that would catapult him to new opportunities, those being taking creative control of the 2 most iconic characters in all of fiction, Superman and Batman. Here I will review and analyse his 2 DCEU Films Man of Steel and Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice.

Background In 2013, Snyder released Man of Steel, a much anticipated reboot to the Superman franchise, starring Henry Cavill, and the first film to feature the character since the 2006 film, Superman Returns. After the overwhelming success of Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy, Warner Brothers decided to move forward on bringing Superman back to the big screen. However, Nolan did not feel comfortable directing it and he soon found the perfect man for the job, Zack Snyder. From the offset this film was meant to be a more realistic telling of the classic superman story, set in our own world, full of paranoia, scepticism and a 24-hour news cycle.

Story The film starts on Krypton where we see the natural Birth of Kal-El, on a planet where all life is made in artificial birthing chambers with predetermined roles for each citizen. We see his father Jor-EL, played by Russell Crowe, track down and retrieve The Codex, the genetic template for all Kryptonian citizens, he implants the codex into his infant son, filling him with the potential to be anything he wishes to be before launching ship and sending him to Earth. Before the ship takes off, Jor-El says a line taken Verbatim from All Star Superman: “They will Race Behind You, they will Stumble, They will Fall, but in Time they will Join You in the Sun, Kal”. During the launch sequence, General Zod, played by Michael Shannon, arrives to confront Jor-El and retrieve the codex, so he can use it to create more Kryptonian life in order to populate other worlds after Krypton’s impending destruction. Zod kills Jor-El in a fit of rage, stabbing him with a retractable arm blade built into his suit.

The film shows us the growth of Kal-El and him adapting to his emerging powers through flashbacks. General Zod and his forces find their way to Earth in search of Kal to extract The Codex from his DNA, and in a response to this ultimatum we witness the first appearance of the Superman to world. In order to stop General Zod and his army of Kryptonian Survivors from Terraforming Earth into a New Krypton and driving humanity to extinction, Superman devises a plan to trap them all back in the Kryptonian Prison Dimension known as the Phantom Zone. He manages to launch their ship along with almost all of them into the Phantom Zone, only leaving General Zod himself behind. Zod then gives a monologue, telling him that with the destruction of the other Kryptonians and his ship, there is no chance to save Krypton, in a burst of Anger he promises Superman that he will kill every last human on the planet out of vengeance and spite. Unable to find another way to imprison Zod in the Phantom Zone, the 2 of them duke it out in a Visually Stunning Fight Scene as buildings topple over their clash, their fight takes them flying all around Metropolis, into space and back down to Earth, all for it to end with Superman breaking Zods neck to prevent him for killing more innocence. After Zod is killed, Kal drops to his knees, visibly shaken before letting a scream of