Hate is a strong word. And I don't use it about people. But I have to quote the late, great motion picture critic, Roger Ebert who wrote the following..."I hated this movie. Hated, hated, hated, hated, hated this movie. Hated it." Ebert used those words when he commented about the 1994 film, North...starring Bruce Willis and Elijah Wood.
I am not reviewing North, but Man Of Steel - the Zack Snyder flick from last year - which was billed to be the "new" Superman. I recently saw Man Of Steel on a rented DVD...and it is by far the worst movie of 2013. I hated this movie. Hated, hated, hated, hated, hated this movie. Hated it."
As a child - and in to my early teenage years - television's Adventures Of Superman...starring the incomparable George Reeves...was my favorite show. It was in syndication during the sixties...when I glued myself in front of the television set...to focus my attention on the "Man Of Steel" and his friends from Metropolis...every afternoon at 5 o'clock. To this day...I can still watch episodes of the classic Superman series - which I have recorded on VHS video tapes - and I continue to love, love, love, love, love these shows. Love them.
George Reeves as Superman/Clark Kent...Noel Neill (not Phyllis Coates) as Lois Lane...Jack Larson as Jimmy Olsen...John Hamilton as Daily Planet editor-in-chief, Perry White...and Robert Shayne as Metropolis Police Inspector Bill Henderson...made the best Superman cast ever. I wish that MeTV - the cable network that presents "Memorable Entertainment Television" - would add the 104 episodes from the 1952 to 1958 Superman series...to their already superb line-up of classic TV shows. There isn't a day that goes by... that I don't watch one of the masterpieces from television's past...that MeTV has brought back for "me" and many millions of others to enjoy. I encourage you to check out the MeTV programming schedule at www.metvnetwork.com. And if you grew up during my generation - or you are older - and you lived throughout the fifties, sixties, seventies and eighties...I guarantee you that MeTV will quickly become a daily staple in your television watching diet that will satisfy your hunger for great law enforcement dramas, westerns, sitcoms and overall family viewing. And if you're a young adult, teen or kid of today... you should change the channel to MeTV...and like "me"...you'll love, love, love, love, love it.
Now...back to Superman and the film fiasco...Man Of Steel.
In Superman - the first of the four Superman movies, which starred the extraordinary Christopher Reeve...Superman saves Lois Lane - played by Margot Kidder - from falling from a crashed helicopter. Lois asks..."Who are you?" And Superman replies..."A friend." 
But for some reason...Man Of Steel's screenwriter, David S. Goyer...and director, Zack Snyder...wants audiences to ask if Superman is a good guy or a bad guy. Is Superman our friend...or is he our foe? Those are questions that should never, never, never be asked when thinking of Superman. Superman is to always be our friend.In Superman II - where Christopher Reeve wore the cape and tights for a second time...the film ends with Superman defeating General Zod and his two Kryptonian criminal sidekicks. But Superman does not physically kill the trio. Superman movies and television shows should not promote endless violence... but Man Of Steel does just that. It's a cinematic super slugfest. In Man Of Steel...Superman and Zod pummel each other until Superman finally crushes Zod to death with his bare hands. What were Man Of Steel screenwriter, Goyer and director Snyder trying to prove? Don't they know that Superman isn't supposed to kill anybody - not even someone as horribly evil as Zod. In no other Superman movie or TV show has that happened...and it shouldn't have happened in Man Of Steel. It was disturbing to see. Superman is not ever to be a killer.
Director Snyder seems to be completely consumed with special effects. Oh I understand that dazzling the viewers' eyes with computer-generated visual imagery is important to do for a filmmaker...but a motion picture production... with a budget that exceeds millions and millions of dollars to showcase the glitz and flashy action...but that lacks a story that touches the moviegoers' minds and hearts...makes for a very bad movie. Man Of Steel is a very bad movie.
And where is Clark Kent in Man Of Steel? In the main title of the George Reeves...fifties television series, Adventures Of Superman...the announcer - as part of that opening sequence - says..."And who, disguised as Clark Kent, mild-mannered reporter for a great metropolitan newspaper"...yet Clark Kent hardly appears in Man Of Steel. Superman's secret identity is virtually absent throughout most of Man Of Steel.
As for the actors in Man Of Steel...I won't even comment about them... because the entire film is miscast. Bring back Brandon Routh. When Routh starred in the 2006 blockbuster, Superman Returns...the movie earned about 400 million dollars...making it one of the highest grossing films of all time. But Warner Bros. shockingly scrubbed a sequel with Routh; someone who was as near perfect in the roles of Superman and Clark Kent as were George Reeves and Christopher Reeve. Yet the studio decided to make a change - not only with the actor playing the part - but with the entire concept of Superman.
The images to remember from a Superman motion picture should include the vivid colors...along with the trademark theme music by legendary, Oscar-winning composer, John Williams. Williams' music is terribly missed in Man Of Steel...as are the lively, red and blue colors of Superman's costume. Henry Cavill's Superman outfit is way too dark. But then...Man Of Steel is way too dark...way too ugly. The sets are dark...the lighting is dark... the story itself is dark. Superman - as a character...and as a movie - needs to be light and bright.
When I think of Superman movies and TV episodes...there are, of course, dramatic
and action-packed storylines with tense, nerve-racking moments for
Superman himself...for Lois, Jimmy, Perry and others. But Superman on
the big screen...or on the little screen - at numerous points throughout the productions - gives smiles to the audience. In Man Of Steel...there are no smiles. There are no big grins...no laughs...no chuckles. Man Of Steel
provides no fun...no happiness...no joy...and no good humor
whatsoever. Plus...where's the romance? Whether it's merely a hint of
flirting or downright true love between Superman and Lois...or whether
there's enchantment and passion among other characters...Superman
movies...television shows...and the comic books that started it all when the character was created in 1933 by then high school students Jerry Siegel - the writer - and Joe Shuster - the artist... always brought us a relationship of the heart. In Man Of Steel, however... there are no warm and fuzzy moments. In fact...there is no warmth at all in this film. Man Of Steel lacks the charm of Superman...and I can guarantee you that Siegel and Shuster are turning over in their graves with anger about the way Man Of Steel was written, directed and produced.And that's The Controversy for today.
I'm Gary B. Duglin.
"We'll talk again."
The Controversy is a publication of GBD Productions. Founder and Editor-In-Chief of The Controversy is Gary B. Duglin.
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