Ok, let's talk film. Man of Steel leaps tall, best when grounded By Jeff Cooper Early in the new superman movie when young Clark Kent begins to feel his heightened super senses; he tells his mother that he perceives the world as too big. His mother, delicately played with by Diane Lane, tells the young superhero to simply make the world small. As Zack Snyder’s new take on the superman approaches its final act, relying on big sets and cartoonish action, it becomes obvious that the movie works best on a smaller scale. The film opens on Krypton where like the previous films have shown is about to be destroyed by an exploding core and the only hope for the race to survive is to send Jor-El’s newborn son to earth. British actor Henry Cavil takes on the cape and is very convincing and likable as the new Superman. Like the great Christopher Reeve, he brings much humanity to the role and sells the duality of superhero and small town boy. Its part of the core cannon that remains unchanged, writers David Goyer and Christopher Nolan of the new Dark Knight series have taken liberties with the material like they did with Batman have instilled more thinking man intricate details to the core story, but left many common denominators, like Clarks upbringing and his relationship with Lois Lane intact. Man of Steel works best as a smaller film. The Kansas backdrop and small, intricate scenes with down to earth parents in the form of Kevin Costner and Lane give the film its heartfelt foundation. In fact all the dialogue scenes in the film make the 2 and a half hour experience watchable. But, like any big blockbuster summer film, small doesn’t fill theater seats. That’s when the high-flying action breaks the mood of the film and leaves most interesting scenes on the ground. Most good hero films, super or normal Joe, gains their strength from a worth adversary. Here, its hard to argue against Michael Shannon as General Zod, a surviving krypotinan, who along with a small gang of red sun dwellers are hell-bent on finding the son of Jor-el. Its safe to say as soon as the confrontations begin, the movie has only one place to go- mass destruction and chaos. Director Zack Snyder is a hit or miss director who last efforts were the very good Dawn of the Dead remake to the serviceable 300 and Watchmen and include the lackluster Sucker Punch. There is no doubt from his filmography that he, like Bryan Singer, is best with smaller, focused material. Here, Man of Steel has both, though less would be more here.

Ok, let's talk film. The marketing buzz for M. Night Shyamalan’s After Earth have inundated social networks and media, although for fans who keep up with movie news, it’s not hard to notice that something has been missing. Shyamalan’s name is not mentioned in any trailers. To movie buffs that’s not surprising since the films that Shyamalan have made in the past, (other than the Sixth Sense) have been viewed with the after taste of bitter disappointment. Shyamalan dreams big ideas; however, the execution of those grand ideas, such as his idea of a superhero with unbreakable limbs or a ghost story with a lady in a swimming pool, lack compelling storytelling. His films play out as feature length trailers. Hope for a better movie lingers within the runtime, but sadly the credits roll with little desire to watch again. So apparently Sony and Columbia pictures have caught onto this fact and removed Shyamalan’s name completely from marketing, avoiding the inevitable, groans and curses which would mumble through cheeked popcorn in the theater. Apparently, Columbia Pictures excitedly supported their choice of director from the beginning. Doug Belgrad, president of the studio, said "Night is an outstanding filmmaker who has a tremendous vision for this science-fiction adventure story (originally titled 1000 After Earth) and we couldn't be more excited.” So, if Belgrad is proud of his choice, why hide his involvement on the marketing level after the fact? Is Columbia Pictures doing the walk of shame? The answer in the fan boy universe is obvious, even though, no one on the Columbia lot may be outright telling. The reason is two-fold. One, they are embarrassed and don’t want to drive away their core sci-fi audience, and two, they simply don’t need to bring him up at all. Will Smith is the box office draw. His name is more than enough to sell the film in order to get a high return on opening weekend. Peter Jackson could be directing and Will Smith would still be enough. Not to mention the first reason, Columbia Pictures is onto the fact that Shyamalan’s name can “cancel out” some positive reaction to the trailer. In support of M. Night, his films make money. Both The Happening and The Last Airbender both made back its money within the first couple weeks. In fact, Airbender grossed back half of its 150 million budget over its first full week in theaters. That’s based on U.S. receipts. That reason alone may have prompted his hire as director of After Earth. Heck, some studios still hire John Singleton. IMDB states on its website that,” Sony (who owns Columbia) is choosing not to remind audiences of Shyamalan's involvement in the movie”. So, the question remains still, why bother in the first place? Andrew Niccol or even Alfonso Cauron would have been better choices if the other edge of this business deal is embarrassment. It is rumored also that Smith has always wanted to work with Shyamalan. Will can work with whomever he wants. Exibitor Relations’ tweet states: “I'm pretty sure Sony wants you to believe it's an Alan Smithee film”. It’s still not too late.