Men of Steel

I say men for a reason. Friday reintroduced the world to an old friend we've known on the silver screen for over thirty years. This time, however, he wasn't bogged down by an over-whelming cheese factor or campy dialogue nor was the plot somewhat boring, predictable, and convoluted. Christopher Reeves may be the first filmed incarnation of Superman, but for the love of Krypton, I couldn't take him serious enough to re-watch any of the oldies. Brandon Routh pretty much captured Reeves' performance and recycled it for Superman Returns. Henry Cavill, on the other hand, took the role into his own element. I didn't see Reeves, Routh, or Tim Daly in this performance. Zack Snyder, David S. Goyer, and Christopher Nolan did what needed to be done to the Man of Steel: a complete over-haul set in a realistic universe (in this case, the literal universe). So few elements from the Superman lore were mentioned on the account that we all know his weaknesses, love interest, secret identity, etc. This reboot didn't go as far as completely rehashing Superman 2, but established the franchise in a believable setting. 

Man of Steel, starring Henry Cavill as Kal-El/Clark Kent and Amy Adams as Lois Lane, refreshes the long-beloved character for another generation. The seventies had the unfortunate cheese-riddled series that kids now couldn't possibly bear to watch. Hell, I can barely watch Christopher Reeves stumble over himself as Clark. In the time since, Dean Cain, Tim Daly, and Tom Welling have all lent their charm to either filmed or animated renditions with the best of all, of course, being Superman: The Animated Series. I can still remember watching both Superman and Batman cartoons every Saturday morning back in the nineties. Oh, childhood...must you pass by so fast?

Fast-forward to 14 June 2013, after the 'meh' that was Superman Returns, and we finally have a film involving Kal-El that not only makes sense, but is entirely enjoyable and bad-ass. Man of Steel takes influence from Mark Waid's 2004 Superman: Birthright. This twelve-issue series (now found in trade paperback at your local comic shop) spins a fresh origin story for the 'man of tomorrow' without stepping over already tread-upon ground. Krypton is in its final hours and a sorrowful Jor-El and Lara make the fated decision to launch baby Kal-El into the vast universe. I really don't want to get into particulars only because the book is an amazing read. While reading the trade first is a recommendation, you can easily skip over it and watch the movie without ruining/spoiling anything. 

First, let's talk acting. Right at the start, we're on Krypton with Jor-El (Russell Crowe) and Lara (Ayelet Zurer) awaiting the birth of their son, Krypton's first natural birth in centuries (hence the title 'The Last Son of Krypton). SPOILER ALERT: The planet core starts becoming rapidly unstable giving its inhabitants only mere hours. Having foreseen this fate as a result of unnecessary tampering on behalf of the Council, Jor-El urges an evacuation. His effort is cut short once the infamous General Zod (Michael Shannon) attempts a coup for the protection of Krypton. 

Crowe and Shannon played their roles quite well. No offense to Marlon Brando (his speech to Kal was memorable, I'll give him that), but given the script and serious acting chops of Crowe, I found him to be more believable and grounded. Snyder's use of Crowe as Jor later in the film allowed the story to continue flowing without any unwanted choppy breaks or drawn out sequences involving Superman's humble abode. We, along with Clark, had a backstory clearly explained which then helped to connect who and what, where and when, and how and why.

I was pleased with General Zod as the villain of choice especially under the plot's circumstances. Shannon's portrayal as the iconic nemesis wasn't evil by decision, but (as just stated) by the circumstances in which he encounters. And when Zod gets pissed...oh, does he get pissed. Now, the villain formula is easy:

Planet destroyed - Codex of Krypton's population + having his ass shipped to the Phantom Zone = one pissed-off Kryptonian general and subordinates (yes, Faora's back. Smiley face.)

Shannon had also filmed Iceman prior to Man of Steel, so seeing him go from notorious serial killer Richard Kuklinski to General Zod wasn't difficult. His madness and desperation to capture Kal-El lent more to his increasing villainy. Shannon was never even for a second out-paced by anyone else on screen. I will, however, say that Crowe and Costner (Papa Kent) make a case for show-stealing in their respective scenes. On one hand, you have the biological father explaining to a son where he comes from and the other a loving adoptive father helping his son come to terms with being 'different'. With Father's Day this weekend, the message is clear: the son becomes the father and the father becomes the son. 

In regards to Kal-El himself, as I said above, Henry Cavill doesn't borrow or steal from those before him. His Superman is very much his own. Granted, he's the first non-American to tackle the coveted role, but he brings out a ghost-like quality with Clark Kent. How does an individual with such extraordinary gifts come to live in a basic society? Easy, blend in and then disappear like a ghost. Leave no traces behind. What I loved most about Cavill's performance was that we didn't see the bumbling Daily Planet journalist. We saw Clark Kent re-discovering his name and becoming Superman. Snyder, Goyer, and Nolan made sure Cavill wasn't going to be seen as yet another Reeves clone. 

Amy Adams did something with Lois Lane I never thought possible: she brought out the red-head within and struck out with such ferocity. From the second we meet up with Lois, she's in no position to be f*cked with in any means. She's feisty and I'm loving it. I also found the slow, but inevitable spark forming between her and Kal well played. It wasn't "Oh, Superman, you're so handsome and...nah, you couldn't be Clark Kent at all. That's just silly." Instead, she learns of his dual-identity while the rest of the world might as well be Ray Charles or Stevie Wonder. OPEN YOUR F*CKING EYES, PERRY WHITE! YOU JUST HIRED SUPERMAN! 

There are a few easter eggs throughout the film, so keep your eyes peeled. Just don't hope to catch Jimmy Olsen anywhere. He's someone else and of the...female persuasion. 

Take Man of Steel with pleasure or a grain of salt. One of two ways makes you a hard cookie to crack with comic book movies. I award Kal-El's latest origin film a ranking of "Get the f*ck off the couch and see this damn film". 

You didn't think I'd leave THIS out did you? Well, sit back in the chair and keep scrolling, dear readers. Naughty Dog delivered once again with a hefty one-two knockout punch with The Last of Us. I bought my PS3 over a year ago strictly because of this game. In the past twenty-four hours or so, no regrets have surfaced. Survival horror hasn't been this entertaining, tear-jerking, or brown-pants inducing since The Walking Dead or even the original Resident Evil games. The first twenty minutes alone are worthy of enough praise most games can only dream of receiving. And when I mean that, I mean as in "Holy f*ck, that just happened" or "How the f*ck did I just survive that shit?". 

All I'll say on the story is that most of the US has been overtaken by a parasitoidal fungus known as ophiocordyceps unilaterlis. In plain English, there's some virus that has infected a majority of the population with zombie-like tendencies. Joel, our main protagonist, feels and looks like an older Nathan Drake with a little Booker DeWitt thrown in (who, coincidentally, is voiced by the same actor, Troy Baker); a no-nonsense, no mercy gun-runner/smuggler. Here's a man who had your normal American life-style in the nation's greatest state...Texas. In his late twenties when we first meet him, Joel comes home to his daughter, Sarah, after another average day at work. Little did he know that the evening had other plans in store. Twenty years pass from when we met Joel and nature has reclaimed what was wrongfully taken. Buildings, roads, homes have all been covered with moss and vines. The virus itself evolved or grew worse in some cases. Clickers formed a hardened fungal face-plate over their eyes rendering them blind. Echo-location and heightened hearing allow them to traverse the wasteland US. Make too much noise or get close without means of execution means game over. 

The crafting system plays into the amount of scraps found throughout the world. Firearms are useful in sticky situations, but ammunition is scarce. Every shot counts and alerts everything in the area to your location, so choose your shots wisely. Melee comes into play for stealth take-downs or ammo conservation. By crafting or upgrading, you'll have access to shivs, molotovs, nail bombs, spiked baseball bats, and a variety of unpleasant things for all of your mutilation needs. Spare parts serve to upgrade firearms including a pistol, revolver, shotgun, rifle, bow, and a weapon I've yet to acquire. Meds act as currency to trade for skill upgrades like decreased weapon sway or increased healing. 

Apart from crafting and upgrading, the overall gameplay is easy to get. Controls might seem a little weird at first, but I adapted pretty quickly. Don't get too comfortable, though. Just because you stopped to craft some medkits or shivs doesn't mean clickers, hunters, or other baddies did. You're a sitting duck unless you legitimately pause the game. Clear an area, use a medkit, craft more, and keep moving. Enemy AI is smart enough to know how to flank, yet surprisingly not so much as to notice when Ellie, a fourteen year-old girl living in the Boston quarantine zone, is in plain sight. I'm not kidding. A hunter will walk right past her with not even batting an eyelash, yet as soon as I peek my head up, it's shit hitting the fan time. This, along with a few pops and minor framerate issues, are not even worth complaining over in the grand scheme of the game. 

Graphics...holy mushroom men, Batman. If The Last of Us and Beyond: Two Souls are the last songs for the PS3, then I say hails to you, Sony! Bow out the PS3 with a gusto. And while you're at it, just go ahead and kick all the other publishers in the nuts. Gearbox who? I regress, where was I? Ah, yes, visual presentation. Might as well throw in audio. The sights and sounds of The Last of Us are mesmerizing. Walking around Boston and Pittsburgh is enough to get lost. From the blood spatter on Joel's shirt to the ambient sound of nature dominating industry in the form of birds chirping or a gentle breeze swaying the trees, Naughty Dog made sure to show how video games can be works of art. The landscapes are truly stunning. You'll go from downtown Boston, an area now ravaged by bombings and left for nature's reclamation to dark, flooded basements, and vibrant forests untouched by the virus. 

It's hard to describe a game like The Last of Us without ruining the spectacle. Troy Baker and Ashley Johnson give Joel and Ellie the spark of life they need to bring the story alive. Ashley's portrayal of a female teenager unaware of the world before her is at times hilarious and saddening to know some people take what they have for granted. Music, comics, movies, and every form of entertainment is gone or was never finished. Ellie's naive, of course, but this world's the only one she has ever known. Baker, however, gives Joel the right amount of gruff and no-bullshit attitude a character like his needs. Someone who's been witness to endless tragedy is almost demanded to be withdrawn, shut out, and emotionally disconnected in order to cope with such a traumatic world. This is the tone of The Last of Us: desolation, desperation, devastation. Baker and Johnson perform admirably in roles almost written specifically for them. 

If you've been needing a true survival horror game, then The Last of Us is where to go. Don't expect ammo to be every time you kill an enemy. Don't expect cover to be your best friend or the enemy AI to be dumb as a f*cking rock. And don't ever think of running-and-gunning your way through an area. Be afraid of Mother Nature...be afraid.



Don't think I'm done there. The Last of Us released in three editions: Standard, Survival, and Post-Pandemic. The Survival Pack comes with a limited edition coffee table-sized artbook of concept art for characters, weapons, and locations. For $100, it's a solid buy. However, if you're like me...a sucker for gamer goodies, then get ready to shell out an extra $60 for the Post-Pandemic Edition. Featuring a 12" statue of Joel and Ellie, this $160 package is a must-have for any collector. And I just happen to have the unboxing process in photographic form.

This is, by far, the largest box an edition's come in

Variant issue #1 of the prequel comic, American Dreams

I'll have a review up in the next few days

Front of the steel-book case featuring Ellie

Back featuring Joel

Interior with game disc and Sights and Sounds DLC

Custom interior case art

Box art for the statue

Joel and Ellie.

The attention to detail is none I've seen in many statues lately

Close-up of Joel

Close-up of Ellie

A pack of Naughty Dog stickers comes with the edition as well. In summation, The Last of Us is an incredibly beautiful game with a powerful story led by amazing actors. Naughty Dog losing Game of the Year will be the biggest upset unless Beyond: Two Souls way out-performs. For right now, at least until September, this will be my mainstay game. I have zero reservations awarding The Last of Us a Crashed Moose award.

The Last of Us is this intense. Trust me. 

The moose is fine, but you're left wondering what the f*ck just happened. 

There's been too damn much going on at E3 this week for me to include any bit of news. If you've been watching, then you know the fanboys are flocking to Sony. I don't give a damn regardless of what Microsoft does with always online or anything else on the matter. I have a viable internet connection and have no issue being connected 24/7. As of right now, current gen is perfectly fine the way it is. A year from now will have both next-gen consoles in my possession. That's my stance. Microsoft has a majority of the exclusives this time. Sony needs to get their heads back in the exclusive market rather than beating a dead horse with a broken record. Final Fantasy XV, anyone? I regress. Both systems will have their exclusives and the fanboys will shout with glee. 

In the coming months until GTA V, I will do my best to post reviews of the current and upcoming films/comics. I declare the spring gaming season over. The holidays await...

Catch it late or on time only at The Late Duck.