Man of Steel!!!!

Man of Steel.

Superhero or sci-fi film?, the age old daily debate I have with people when it comes to the "Superman" re-boot Man of Steel directed by Mr Zack Snyder. 

Starting off with the birth of Kal-El you see his father Jor-El (Russell Crowe) and his mother Lara Lor-Van (Ayelet Zurer) holding him for the first time. As Jor-El talks to the elders of Krypton General Zod (Michael Shannon) bursts in kills some elders and promises to take back Krypton from them and save the race. As all out chaos ensues and Jor-El takes the codex skull used for all new life on Krypton, Zod follows and asks for the codex from him. Already placing the codex into their sons blood cells they send him on a pod to Earth to be kept safe and away from Zod. With Zod and his crew being captured and sentenced to an ice pod and sent into the phantom zone Kal-El is safe to travel to Earth for a new life.

As the white foamy water crashes up against the side of the boat we see a tall dark haired, bearded man bringing in and sending out some fishing nets and cages. The next thing we see is an oil rig on fire and with Clark also on fire and holding up a huge metal rig to save his colleagues it shows us his superhuman powers for the first time. Travelling from town to town he works different jobs and sometimes leaves on bad terms, ending up in an Arctic place at a military exploration base be finds a Kryptonian ship and learns about his home world and creation.

Soon enough Clark's world is invaded by a now free general Zod who threatens the people of Earth and asks for Kal-El /Clark to reveal and hand himself over. Clark now has a decision to make about what to do, reveal himself and be declared an Alien and stand up to the criticism and save Earth or stay quiet like he always has done. With flashbacks of his life with his Earth parents Jonathan Kent (Kevin Costner) and Martha Kent (Diane Lane) we learn about how Clark kept his powers a secret and how his adopted father told him about his true existence on Earth.

Lois Lane (Amy Adams) is also in search of Clark and wanting to know about where he came from and also how she can possibly help tell his story. Of course their is the imminent threat of Zod and his gang of rebels who threaten to take over Earth and destroy it along with Clark, what will happen?

The film is of course packed full of action and fighting scenes which try to show off all of his superpowers, strength, laser eyes and of course flight are all shown. A small criticism is that the fight scenes can be a little too everywhere at times and if not watched quickly it can be seen as one massive blur on screen. I honestly think the correct amount of action was used and kept it to a minimum and was only used when necessary.

The actors portray their characters really well, Cavill as Clark/Kal-El is just scary as he looks like he was born for the role and he brings a vulnerable and conflicted side out of the character. Shannon as Zod is a nice touch as he brings a very militarised and stern character out and he sticks with it with tenacity. I have to say I'm unsure about Amy Adams as Lois but in this film she is shown to be a strong intelligent woman which is a change from her previous ditzy version on the Supe's TV show. The blossoming close relationship between the two is not explored too much which is a shame, add in a few close intimate moments between the two and it'd be a perfect film.

Some things I really liked is the origins of Superman's "S" symbol on his chest, deciding to say it is a symbol for the house of El which means hope is clever. And that every other Kryptonian's like Zod have all different chest symbols to represent the house they belong to on Krypton. Even starting on Krypton this is the first film to tackle that historical Superman event of his world being destroyed.

Of course the film had alot of hype mainly because the Dark Knight super team of David S Goyer, Emma Thomas and Christopher Nolan worked on the film and of course Zack Snyder was at the helm directing. With Batman being such a massive hit this film had alot to live up to and needed to be something special which to me it really is.

To me this is not a superhero film it is more of a sci-fi film about an alien sent to Earth which is how the film should be viewed. Yes the film is dark and is nothing as bright as the comic books but it is a modern remake and the start of a Superman franchise that we have all been waiting for, "welcome to the planet".

9/10.

Les Miserables!!!!

Les Miserables.

If there was one film I vowed last year I would avoid seeing it would have been Les Miserables mainly for the reason I particularly avoid musicals and any type of musical style film. I went into this film like a blank page, not knowing anything of the story of the film, I was open to everything and certainly kept an open mind as well.

From the very start of the film you see the sheer size of the production of the film as Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman) along with other prisoners are seen hauling a massive sailing ship into port as Javert (Russell Crowe) looks down on the men. As Valjean changes his ways, becomes a model citizen and mayor of a small town and breaks his parole he vows to change his life for the better. Of course the ever present Javert is always around and still searching for Valjean. 

With Fantine (Anne Hathaway) thrown out of Valjean's factory she turns to prostitution where Hathaway tackles what is one of the films most iconic songs 'I Dreamed a Dream'. It has to be said that her vocal performance is one of pure perfection and she is able to lead you down a path of misery with a certain fragility ringing out in her voice. The pure emotion that comes out of her voice is mesmerising and it certainly had me welling up and on the verge of tears. 

What follows is of course a story of Valjean vowing to look after Fantine's daughter Cosette. With the inclusion of the Thenardier's (Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter) they bring a sense of fun and liveliness back to the film especially after the previous emotional scenes from Valjean and Fantine. 

Of course there has to be a story of love as delicate Cosette (Amanda Seyfried) and strong Eponine (Samantha Barks) both fall in love with Marius (Eddie Redmayne). With Marius involved in the student uprising it sees Valjean take their side and fight the French army, cue plenty of gunfire and some big cannons. As the film progresses you see the aftermath of the rebellion, the result of the love triangle and of course the culmination of Valjean and Javert's cat and mouse relationship. 

If you were to strip the film down and take away the singing the film would suffer as some of the best emotional performances are poured out through song. The only downside being that of Seyfried's voice it can be at times a little bit too trilly and Russell Crowe's voice has a certain rock feel to it.

But credit goes to director Tom Hooper who decided for the actors to sing and record vocals live during the filming which brings out an authentic feel and shows off the true potential of the actors. Especially Hathaway and Jackman as they both shine and impress with strong vocal performances.

Overall I would say Les Miserables is truly an emotional, staggering film. The storyline that runs throughout the film has you emotionally up and down, the actors performances are stirring and mesmerising at the same time. Even if your like myself who avoids these types of films, once you become immersed in the storyline you will truly enjoy it.

9/10.