Man of Substance

Not very often a story which has been told many times over manages to enthrall the audience, think of one which has been told to you since your childhood, one which you have grown up living through comic strips and television cartoons. The last half century has been a witness to the fact that beyond a point it becomes impossible to sell a story of an alien in blue- swooping down on enemies in his awkward red cape- with unmatched and infinite power, and living the life of a recluse amongst a weaker breed, one which he can easily make to succumb to his God like powers.

But that’s not what Man of Steel did, despite goofing up on a few occasions this reboot packaged in a new-sans the conspicuous red underpants-wrapping, breathed in new life in one of the oldest franchises in superhero history.

Being an avid Batman follower which happens to be one tough guy to deal with when you are making a superhero movie, I was always going to enter the theatre holding umpteen prejudices in my mind. How was Clarke Kent going to match the suave Bruce Wayne, how was an invincible Kryptonian going to be an answer to a susceptible yet unrelenting vigilante, how was the light going to stack up against the knight(sic) when the audience already sees darkness as its ally?

The Man of Steel team too must have beaten their head against the wall thinking of how to handle the already ensorcelled Batman fan bewitched by Nolan’s genius.

The answer which might have occurred to them is that there is no need to draw any parallels; the two are distinct stories of two different men. While one’s desire to fight crime is fuelled by the absence of his father, the other takes on evil because he is raised with a direction and purpose by his genetic and human fathers. They are two men who from a distance might indicate similarity but an in depth view brings about a different picture of them.

Superman is an incorruptible soul; Batman needs a symbol to turn into one.

And still if you find yourself housing a few lingering biases and questions then the movie successfully shifts your focus on to a different theme, and teleports you to a new world. The effects and sounds are brilliant though the latter gets over the top on a few moments. And how can I not mention the real life square-jawline bearer in Henry Cavil, if in real life one could come as close to appearing how I imagined Superman to be it would be Henry. Superman is not much about acting skills but an on stage presence, the chin, the arms, the jawline all have to be just right and Henry has a delicate balance of all of them. Plus with that envious beard of his I won’t even mind watching a bearded Superman for a change.

But the show stealer for me was the early life of Clarke Kent/Kal-El.

We see in Superman a story about a person blessed with an unfathomable, god like strength and abilities that will forever place him beyond the level of understanding of mortals. Imagine how easy it would be for such a person to simply conquer us or wipe out our existence altogether. It would have been much easier than living a life of service and sacrifice, yet he doesn't. We have a person who is different, mostly because he was raised right.

In Jonathon Kent we see a father who was willing to sacrifice his life so as to endorse what he had taught Clarke since his childhood, in Jor-el we see a father who engrains in Superman the idea of his significance to the future of his new home. There are a few brilliant sequences of a young Clarke being handled majestically by his on earth parents. It exemplifies the belief that extraordinary people in household are tantamount to superheroes.

We all love fiction, we all at some point in time wanted to be Superman, but despite being a superhero movie the point that stands out from Man of Steel’s storyline is that Superman is more than someone possessing a superhuman anatomy, above all he is a man of strong character, a man of substance.

We don’t have to depend on a yellow star to turn into someone special, all it takes is strong faith and conviction in our abilities.

If we can do that, then that ‘S’ would stand for ‘HOPE’ on our planet too.