Man of Steel Trailer Review

So Warner Brothers gave Superman fans a yuletide treat by releasing the first trailer for 2013’s Man of Steel. Supes has been off the big screen since 2006. Smallville isn’t around anymore. So Man of Steel will finally give us a much needed Superman fix.

And what do I think of what I’ve seen so far?

It looks alright.

Honestly, I wasn’t exactly blown away by it. It’s one of those trailers that really doesn’t reveal too much of the story we can expect to see. It’s more designed to indicate the tone of this particular Superman movie. It’s going to have some drama along with the action. I think the Enya-type of singing is supposed to really help point that out. Supes is going to be carrying some heavy burdens that will be haunting him throughout the movie. So it doesn’t look like this Superman will be smiling at the camera much.

Kevin Cosner’s Jonathan Kent telling the young Clark to keep his gifts a secret. And a line I really like when Clark asks him “What was I supposed to do? Let him die?” and Jonathan replies “maybe”.

It doesn’t seem Costner will have as warm and optimistic attitude that we would typically expect from Pa Kent.

It appears us humans aren’t too welcoming of Superman, as we see him handcuffed being escorted by guards. Not only will he have to be dealing with Michael Shannon’s General Zod, flashing back through another retelling of his origins with Russel Crowe’s Jor-El, but also all us Earthlings will be giving him grief. Luckily he’ll be getting some sage advice from Diane Lane’s Ma Kent. I’m sure there will be some problems with Amy Adams’ Lois Lane as well.

Everyone will be talking about Christopher Nolan’s involvement and the influence his Bat-films will have on Man of Steel. Gritty. Darker. We’ll be hearing all of that. If this trailer is accurate it does show that this will be the case for this Superman.

We get some glimpses of some action, shots of the cast and nice carefully designed visual shots of Supes flying standing, looking.

I’m still not sure what kind of Superman Henry Cavill will be though. It seems all the footage we’ve seen so far from the movie focuses more on young Clark and a bearded Cavill. Maybe they’re trying to keep him wearing the cape close to the chest for now and just want to tease us. Is it just me or does Cavill’s cape look really long. Looks like he’ll trip on that thing. I still can’t get a clear handle of how he’ll look in his full Superman outfit.

There looks to be some cool Superman action. Some nice visuals of destruction raining down on citizens and some potentially interesting obstacles, both physical and mental, that Cavill’s Superman has to overcome. All that sounds great.

I have two big concerns with Man of Steel. Amy Adams. I just don’t see her as Lois Lane. I thought she was an odd choice when she was first cast and I still think something is off about her in the role.

Granted we only see one fleeting shot of her in this trailer, but I don’t know. She seems very far removed from the Lois Lane I picture in my mind. Maybe they’ll have a different slant on the character or something, but for now she’s the one cast member that doesn’t work for me. And that’s a pretty major part! I don’t think she’s as bad a choice as Kate Bosworth was though. 

Second, is Zack Snyder directing. I am not a huge Snyder fan. I usually think of him as focusing more on spectacle, visuals and action than the characters involved in all of it. There’s a bit more style over substance with a lot of his flicks. I know he has a lot of fans, but I’m not really in that camp. Although I did really like Dawn of the Dead. But that wasn’t for the memorable characters.

I am looking forward to seeing Man of Steel, I’ll go see it. Who am I kidding? Of course I’ll see it. It would be nice to be surprised and maybe the next trailer will really send my hopes soaring. But so far I’m keeping my expectations on the ground with it.