Superman, sans the red underpants ....

Breaking news! Superman’s red ‘jetty’ is missing in ‘Man Of Steel’! That, I am afraid, is the most exciting bit about the new Superman movie, from the House Of Christopher Nolan!

The good news first:

The naya Superman, Henry Cavill, who impressed in ‘The Tudors’, looks like he was born to play the boy from Krypton, unlike Brandon Routh, who was a pale shadow of the superhero! The curly locks & rippling body help, though, pardon me, but at times, I felt the chest needed some support!

I was apprehensive about Amy Adams, playing the iconic Lois Lane, because Ms Adams has a history of sickeningly sweet & meek roles like in ‘Enchanted’ & ‘Doubt’. But she surprises, with her strong portrayal of a tough woman journalist, whose goes on to meet our superhero, break the fantastic story about him and about the tribe of exiled rebels, from the now extinct planet of Krypton, who want to destroy the entire human race & inhabit Planet Earth themselves.

We are treated to a guided tour of a fantasy, very futuristic looking Krypton, by Papa Russell Crowe, who then steels his heart & dispatches little Baby Steel, to Planet Earth, to protect him.

Disconcertingly, Baby Steel fast forwards, to being Man of Steel in minutes & we get glimpses of his growing up years & adopted parents, Kevin Costner & Diane Lane, in bits & pieces - where his dad teaches him to control his strength & not use it, to avoid drawing attention to himself.

Oh, I forgot, my dear readers, no more good news.

If I have to find one solo reason as to why the modern day Superman fails, it has to be that Clark Kent, the movie & whole concept, seem very dated. Quite ironical, since Superman was the original superhero on the screen, but the franchise has failed to keep up with the times! Man of Steel unfortunately, lacks the cool quotient of the superheroes of today, like Iron Man, Spiderman or all the Avengers – they are all so hip, with so many witty one liners, have their quirky, comical moments, that in comparison, Superman ends up looking like their dull, old fashioned cousin! Just shedding the red underpants ‘aint enough for a makeover – yeh dil maange more!

Laborious time is spent introducing Krypton, then explaining why Superman has to keep the super stuff hidden, so as not to be spotted & then, the never ending fights – apparently, we need to send a fight master from Bollywood to teach ‘em a few moves, because in the climax, in the supreme battle between Superman & Gen Zod, all they do is fling each other violently against huge skyscrapers, forever & we were worried that there would be no buildings left in New York! After all that, Superman calmly kills Gen Zod, by wringing his neck – why the heck didn’t he do it earlier & save us all that agony?! That & for many other pertinent questions to be answered, I need a tête-à-tête, with the director, Zack Snyder.

When Lois Lane spots the ‘S’ sign, on Superman’s outfit, she wonders what it stands for. The Man of Steel flashes a rare smile and replies that in his planet, it is a symbol of hope. Which is what I went for the movie with, ‘hope’ in my heart for a great Superman experience, from the dream team of Nolan & Snyder – they almost got it right – just forgot to add that final dash of seasoning of a few laughs, some modern times, a hint of romance & that extra something, to make the viewer soar with Superman!

A friend of mine who heard that the red underpants were missing, asked a logical question –
“So what does he wear instead?!”

This being a family platform, I don’t dare answer that!!!