[mredskins]

Nerd Tears (n) – what one weeps at cinema that is too epic to comprehend.

- Note: “Man of Steel” was NOT shot in 3D or IMAX, though the IMAX theatre speakers really do enhance Hans Zimmer’s score. His score is a leading character so I would recommend 2D IMAX if you can find it. If not, stick with the 2D and save yourself the $3 to $6.

“Man of Steel” almost became my first five-star rating of 2013, but it has some flaws (which I’ll cover later) that made me drop it to a 4.5. A five on my scale means to drop everything you are doing and run to the theatre. I’m not saying it’s on the level of classic films, but it’s mind-blowing enough to see right away. There are only a handful of films in recent memory where I wished the projectionist could have re-started the film immediately after it ended. Off of the top of my head those films would be “The Dark Knight,” “Inception” and “Drive.” “Man of Steel” belongs on that very short list. Never before have I seen action so brilliantly combined with a film score. It was like watching an artist paint his masterpiece. Zack Snyder perfectly used Hans Zimmer’s epic film score as a leading character which lead to many sessions of real tears and nerd tears.

Over the years, I’ve tried to come up with a way to explain how I feel when I get so geeked-out over a film. There are just times where I get so geeked-out during a sequence that I don’t know what emotion to feel. My brain gets confused with the epic nature of the film and doesn’t know whether to cry, laugh, scream, etc. Therefore, I just find myself getting teary-eyed with joy and I call those Nerd Tears. That happened dozens of times throughout “Man of Steel.” At one point, I actually started punching the air in happiness during an action scene.

What made “Man of Steel” extra special was that those Nerd Tears were joined with emotional tears as well. Snyder really did a phenomenal job of grabbing you emotionally before delivering the all-out action of the third act. Through non-linear storytelling, Snyder did a brilliant job of capturing the vulnerability of Superman, which then helps the audience relate to him. It was these emotional flashbacks that helped me understand what he was going through in the present day. I was very surprised to see the emotional sequences Snyder brought to the table with Russell Crowe’s and Kevin Costner’s characters. There is a sequence with Kevin Costner that is one of the most emotional moments I’ve seen in cinema in a long time.

We are so used to stories being told in order, whether it be the “Spider-Man” films or “The Dark Knight” trilogy. It was refreshing to see a story flip around throughout the thirty-three years of Superman’s origin story. We start on him as a baby and then jump to him in his thirties and then paddle back to his childhood. Through this non-chronological storytelling, Snyder was able to keep the characters interesting and it gave us a better understanding as to what they were going through in that present-day sequence.

Snyder, like J.J. Abrams and Christopher Nolan, does a great job of allowing the film score to be a leading character in the film. In “Man of Steel,” I think Zimmer’s score is actually the best character in the movie. The arc and weight of that score completely elevate the flick to unimaginable heights. The score has the ability to lift each and every scene to an emotional level that is off the charts. I found myself already crying my eyes out in the first ten minutes of the film before I had even started any real connection to the characters.

This was the first movie I have seen where I felt as if I was floating in my seat. There was this euphoric feeling any time Snyder combined the action and Zimmer’s music. It felt like a drug that I just wanted to take over and over again. It’s almost hard to explain in words how I felt during these action scenes. I was completely lost in the film (except for the product placement shots).

Like “The Dark Knight,” Snyder has developed a superhero film that completely transcends the genre. The film leaves the superhero universe and becomes a film that anyone can relate to. Henry Cavill’s version of Superman is very vulnerable and has insane insecurities. Simultaneously, he delivers a great amount of confidence during his action scenes later in the film. I loved that arc for the character. Even though he’s an alien from another planet, I found myself understanding everything he was going through.

The question I keep toying around with in my head is, “Is ‘Man of Steel’ better than ‘The Dark Knight’?” The short answer is no. But there are a lot of factors to look at. In some ways and areas, “Man of Steel” does deliver better than “The Dark Knight.” The overall action, while using heavy amounts of CGI, is more engaging and more enjoyable. Nolan is known for his use of heavy practical effects vs. CGI (i.e., the 18-wheeler truck flip in “The Dark Knight” or the 150-foot spinning hallway in “Inception” for the zero-gravity fight sequences). In that regard, Nolan is one of the best action directors around. Strangely enough, I usually side with practical effects, but what Snyder did here is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. A lot of that had to do with the fact that the film has many hand-held shots. It almost feels like you’re watching a $200-million documentary about Superman. I loved the way Snyder would zoom the camera in and out during the flying sequences.

Even though “The Dark Knight” is a masterpiece, it is flawed. The Maggie Gyllenhaal casting was terrible. Batman’s voice is annoying at times and the film did have pacing issues. The one aspect “The Dark Knight” will always have that will be tough to beat is the performance from Heath Ledger. Ledger’s Joker is one of the greatest villains in the history of cinema and elevated that film to almost unreachable heights.

Another great positive of the film, much like “The Dark Knight,” is that Snyder doesn’t allow the PG-13 rating to hold the film back. The film feels very gritty and the violence feels R-rated. They get away with all the epic punches and hand-to-hand combat because they show little blood. Once you show all the blood, then you start venturing into the R-rated territory. Look at “Kill Bill Vol. 1,” where Tarantino had to turn that House of Blue Leaves scene black-and-white because he had too much red blood. He would have received an NC-17 rating had he not turned that scene black-and-white.

“Man of Steel” comes with plenty of flaws, though, the biggest being the product placement. Reportedly, the movie has already made over $160-million alone in cross promotion and product placement with Walmart, Sears, Gillette, etc. There’s nothing I despise more in films than blatant product placement. I’m sure directors hate it, too, but it helps when you have a $200-million budget. I just really despise when you can feel the film becoming an advertisement. There were a couple of shots that felt completely unnecessary to the story. I was taken out of the movie completely to the point where I was thinking about the meetings these clients were having about how long their product should be shown on screen.

I could see the marketing team from Nokia saying something like, “Okay, make sure that shot lasts at least two seconds so we can see the Nokia logo. I’m not saying that actually happened, but it sure felt like it! You’ll notice a lot of this in “Man of Steel,” whether it be Lois Lane perfectly placing her Nikon camera in the shot or Lane answering her Nokia cell phone perfectly on screen. Those placements took me out of the film and made me think of the product.

You could argue that Snyder lets the action go on for far too long in the third act. I would disagree with that statement except for maybe one five-minute scene. You can feel the film become a bit off-balance during this one particular action set-piece, though that becomes forgettable once Snyder wraps everything back around with an emotional and clever ending.

The product placement did bother me a ton, enough to drop my rating from a 5 to a 4.5. The film delivers and overdelivers. Everybody in the cast is strong, including Cavill, Costner, Lane, Adams, Crowe, and more. I was very surprised to see how large of a part Russell Crowe had in the film. While he does deliver a bit too much exposition, he really has a great emotional core to the film. On top of that, Cavill’s American accent was perfect! I also really enjoyed how Snyder didn’t make Lois Lane a damsel in distress. He gave her character purpose and made her a badass. In her opening scene, she defines her character and really holds her ground throughout the film.

The film really does fire on all cylinders and truly is a visual and epic masterpiece. Snyder did NOT shoot the film in 3D or IMAX. Skip both of those formats and see the film in 2D digital. The only reason I would recommend the IMAX is for the louder version of the Hans Zimmer score coming through the speakers. I’ve seen the film two times now in 3D and the depth of field doesn’t add anything to the film. The 3D doesn’t hurt the film, but it’s not worth the money.

On a geeky side note: pay attention to how Snyder shoots the Superman flying sequences. He said that he wanted the camera to shake a lot during those scenes because those should be hard shots to film. He said that it shouldn’t be easy to capture Superman flying.