Man Of Steel

Two important points before my mini review:

One: 

My only frame of reference for Superman is The New Adventures of Superman with Dean Cain and Teri Hatcher. I used to watch it every Saturday morning before stageschool (little insight into my childhood there) but I was never a fan of Superman/Clark because I loved Lois Lane so much and thought Dean Cain was kinda gross and smooth looking.

Two:  

I had some pretty serious HENRY CAVILL blinkers on, so I can’t really tell how good it was as a film.  I’ve read 2 reviews on feminist sites – one was very generous and one was incredibly harsh (you really expect progressive feminism from a film about SUPERMAN?) so I feel confident that I didn’t miss anything massive.

So here are my main Man of Steel thoughts:

• This is the first time I’ve seen a superhero/action film and NOT got bored in the middle. (this could be because of Cavill-vision...)
• I only remember seeing one non-white actor in the whole film (Laurence Fishburne as the daily Planet’s editor)
• I’m pretty sure the Kryptonian (is that the word?) leaders imprisoned some rebels in ice dildos and sent them into space
• I feel there were a lot of missed opportunities for developed female characters – Martha Kent, Lara (Superman’s biological mother) and Faora-Ul (General Zod’s deputy and wife, according to imdb)
• It definitely failed the Bechdel Test

• BUT I thought this Lois was pretty kickass. She says “I get writer’s block when I’m not wearing a flak jacket” which sums up this Lois very well. Some people like to criticise Lois (apparently I’m going to talk about her like she’s a real person) for being too obsessed with Clark, but I don’t think it’s unbelievable that a Pulitzer prize-winning investigative journalist would become obsessed if they found AN ACTUAL ALIEN. It’s a pretty good story. I also don’t have much of a problem with Lois being saved by Clark from time-to-time – Superman is a SUPERHERO! He has powers.  No normal human could save themselves if they were plunging to earth in a damaged space pod thing. The real Lois test comes in the next film, when she is, perhaps, over the whole alien thing and Clark has become a part of her everyday life. AND I love Amy Adams so so so so so much.
• And tumblr tells me they’ve turned Jimmy Olsen into Jenny
• I really liked the beginning where Clark is searching for purpose and moving from job to job because it really highlighted how much of an outsider he is. I also liked the flashbacks which I know some people HATED. 
• Henry Cavill was a good Superman. That’s all I’m saying because I don’t want to come across as creepy.........

The optimist in me hopes they will address the issues with female characters and the lack of POC in the next one. The perv in me is looking forward to seeing the next film anyway.