The release of MAN OF STEEL coincides with the 75th anniversary of Superman, the world’s most iconic superhero. Launched in 1938 by Toronto-born artist Joe Shuster and his Cleveland-born writing buddy Jerry Siegel, Superman first appeared in Action Comics #1 in June of that year. In 2011, DC Comics re-launched Action Comics along with its 51 other titles under the logo The New 52. Superman for the 21st century still kept his cape and tights but lost the red shorts and yellow belt, which had been the butt of countless jokes about red underwear worn over blue tights. The trademark “S” on his chest remains, although the “S” is now the Krypton symbol for ‘hope.’

Warners is betting heavily this time that they got it right with MAN OF STEEL.

In a renewed attempt to reboot the movie franchise, MAN OF STEEL is the second film to come after the original four (1978–87) starring Christopher Reeve and Margot Kidder as Lois Lane. The 2006 SUPERMAN RETURNS – directed by Bryan Singer and starring the charismatically-challenged unknown Brandon Routh, a Christopher Reeve knockoff, and Kate Bosworth as Lois – did respectable business and was generally well received by critics, but with a budget close to $250 million it ‘only’ returned $400 million worldwide, making it, in the eyes of Warner Bros., a failure.

Plans to make a second one with Routh were immediately scrapped. With The New 52 reboot, a brand new comic book series, Superman Unchained, launched in June by DC, and the prospect of a Justice League film. Warners has not officially confirmed this, although it’s rumoured that pre-production has already begun on a JL film starring Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash and The Green Lantern. Warners is betting heavily this time that they got it right with Man of Steel.

…he takes to wandering the Canadian north […] a confused alien in an alien world.

I’m happy to report that for the most part, they did. Superman is now decked out in a fashionable monochrome gunmetal blue one-piece suit with a deep-red cape (although the comic book version maintains the original blue-and-red colour scheme, with an odd Edwardian collar that resembles a turtleneck). After the misstep with Singer, Zack Snyder (300, WATCHMEN) was hired to direct, and Warners turned to Christopher Nolan (who made a ton of money for the company with his Dark Knight trilogy) to oversee production. Nolan also co-wrote the script with David S. Goyer, who had a hand in penning the Batman trilogy.

MAN OF STEEL is an origins story, which surely everyone is familiar with by now. However, for those living in a Bat Cave, the newborn Kal-El, son of Jor-El (Marlon Brando in the 1978 original, and now played by Russell Crowe), is launched into space as his world, Krypton, implodes. The set-up scenes are impressive and for the first time on film, Superman’s home planet is given the full royal CG treatment. Not only is Krypton a dying planet, but General Zod (well played with suitable menace by Michael Shannon) is planning a palace coup. His plans are thwarted at the last minute by Jor-El. As he’s exiled into the Phantom Zone in deep space, he vows revenge.

After the slow build, this epic battle among alien titans is truly spectacular…

Baby Kal-El crash lands in Kansas and is brought up human by his loving Earth parents (played by Kevin Costner and Diane Lane). This part of the story is told in a combination of flashbacks and flash forwards as Clark Kent (Cooper Timberline at nine and Dylan Sprayberry at 13) grows up unaware of his origins, which his father tries to keep from him, knowing that his powers will make him an outcast. As he grows into a strapping, powerful young man (a convincingly muscled Henry Cavill from the TV series The Tudors; he was on the short list for Bond before Daniel Craig snagged the plum role) he takes to wandering the Canadian north, picking up odd jobs while trying to figure out just who he is, and what his purpose on Earth is – a confused alien in an alien world.

In the meantime, ace reporter Lois Lane (in the original four movies a cub reporter for the Daily Planet; here, promoted to a gutsy Pulitzer Prize-winning writer played by Amy Adams) has stumbled upon the story of an alien ship buried deep in the ice on Ellsemere Island in the Canadian Arctic. There she crosses path with the troubled Man of Steel, who does not conceal his true identity from her. This encounter has the unintended consequence of releasing General Zod and his nasty band of henchmen from their prison in deep space, and immediately Zod comes looking for Kal-El as promised.

If MAN OF STEEL has a weakness, it’s the recurring references to our hero as a modern-day embodiment of Jesus.

All this takes about an hour to unravel. Finally, after a long wait, Cavill appears in the revamped suit, ready to protect Earth from the invaders. What transpires over the next 75 minutes is two drawn-out battle scenes, first in Smallville, home to the Kent family, then on a much larger scale over the skies of Metropolis. This is where MAN OF STEEL comes to life and overwhelms the screen in IMAX 3D with as many exploding, crashing and banging CG effects as Snyder and Nolan can throw at it, with Superman and Zod duking it out to the death, destroying half of Metropolis in the process. All this to the pounding score provided by Hans Zimmer. After the slow build, this epic battle among alien titans is truly spectacular and should thrill even the most hard-to-please fanboys.

If MAN OF STEEL has a weakness, it’s the recurring references to our hero as a modern-day embodiment of Jesus. In one not-so-subtle moment, when he finally comes to grips with who he is and what he has to do, the scene is played out in a church with a priest and a stained glass window of Christ appearing over his shoulder. And, although Lois Lane has been re-imagined as a brainy kick-ass heroine, there’s little chemistry between Adams and Cavill. When they kiss, it’s cold and unconvincing. Gone is the innocent charm that Reeve and Kidder brought to their respective roles.

On the whole, Warners must be pleased with this reboot. At a cool $125 million, its North American weekend box office set a record for June, easily surpassing SUPERMAN RETURNS, which opened at $52 million. Expect a sequel with Cavill, and all systems should now be on ‘go’ for the Justice League film in the foreseeable future.

Wyndham Wise is a Canadian film historian, critic and publisher. Coincidentally, he founded and edited Take One: Film & Television in Canada, a Canadian magazine, which published from 1992 to 2006.

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