Trailer Review: Man of Steel

Posted by: Andrew Burns  •  July 23, 2012 @ 6:03pm

Filed under: Reviews

One week removed from director Zack Snyder's advanced teaser at San Diego's 2012 Comic Con (the mecca for comic book fans and geeks alike), Warner Bros Studios officially release the first teaser trailer for next summer's Man of Steel to the masses. The first peak at the red & blue man of tomorrow arrives in theaters in conjunction with fellow DC Comics property, just before The Dark Knight Rises.

If you are one of the few that haven't made it out to see the conclusion of Nolan's Batman trilogy yet, take a look see at what I'm about to make a fuss over:

Goosebumps anyone?

Unless the DC Comics logo at the beginning was a dead giveaway the teaser hides it's premise quite well. Brief images of an unknown bearded man played by Henry Cavill (Immortals), also practically unknown, working on a fishing boat and hitchhiking in the mountains poses more questions than gives anything anyway. Add in a foggy overhead view of a small American farm, while a somber exert of Howard Shore's score from LOTR: Fellowship of the Ring plays and Kevin Costner narrates, and you have yourself an obscure teaser. Not till the images of a young boy wearing a red blanket for a cape matches up with Costner's dialogue is it you realize the teaser is for a new Superman movie. Okay sure there is only a small glimpse of Superman in action at the end, but hell it's a teaser, why would you expect anything more?

Yes, Comic Con attendees were rewarded with their own, longer, teaser trailer which shows much more in-suit action than here. As well as characters other than Clark Kent, but for now this is all we are going to get.

Seeing and hearing people react to this teaser in the theater, just before The Dark Knight Rises began, was mixed to say the least. The vast majority of moviegoers didn't sound like they even know this reboot to the Superman franchise was coming; let alone coming so soon as next summer. Those who weren't cheering by end of the teaser when the newly designed Superman "S" fades in and out of black were quick to vocally express their reservations for Superman's return (pun intended) to the big screen. Since this teaser doesn't explain, well anything really, I'll quickly summarize some key points what to expect and what not to expect in Man of Steel:

• First of all this is another full-fledged superhero franchise reboot. No connection or marriage between the Superman movies of the past like Bryan Singer's 2006 Superman Returns did.
• Second, according to IMDb and all other film related sites, there will not be a Lex Luthor in the story. Instead the Superman's main villain for the film will be General Zod, played by Michale Shannon.
• Third, and probably most importantly, the film's story comes from the brilliant minds of the current Batman film franchise Christopher Nolan and David S. Goyer. So you know it's going to well written, as well as all kinds of awesome.

Fresh off the disappointing theatrical showing that was Sucker Punch, director Zack Snyder is given the holy grail of superheroes for his next project. Some may say Snyder struggles in the story department in his films but no one can deny his talent for producing stunning cinematic visuals. With film credits like 300 and Watchmen to his name Snyder has proven he can make a damn good 'looking' film. So with both Nolan and Goyer attached as Man of Steel's story architects, added to Snyder's unique visual style, this new Superman theoretically as the potential to be an incredible film. I at first thought there should have been more to this teaser to get people excited for the movie considering most audiences are still sour after the last attempt at the iconic character in film (which I won't get into this time around). But after re-watching it and listened to Costner's words as Jonathan Kent, the geek in me was immediately sold.

"You aren't just anyone. One day you are going to have to make a choice. You have to decide what kind of man you are going to grow up to be. Whoever the man is, good character or bad, he is going to change the world."

Come on, with lines like that it's hard not to get romantic about Superman.

Tags: Superman, Zach Snyder, Henry Cavill, Christopher Nolan, David S. Goyer, Kevin Costner, Michale Shannon, DC Comics, Bryan Singer

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Andrew Burns loves film and comics, and can be found writing about when those worlds converge. You can follow him on Twitter at @myAndrewBurns.