How to fix Man of Steel (Part 1)

"What are you doing Zod? This is madness."
"What I should done years ago,
these lawmakers with their endless debates had led Krypton to ruin!"

The Man of Steel has polarized fans around the world. Either you absolutely loved it and feel that the film is already perfect and doesn't need any fixing, or you are disappointed with it that you find it really difficult to embrace the new film. I fall on the latter side. I didn't like the film as much as I want to. But after viewing it several times, I learn to accept with what we got and keeping my fingers cross that we'll get a definitive one in the near future. The next Man of Steel sequel would hopefully hit the mark, but it wouldn't retell its origin story and Year One story again which had a lot of potential to make a good story. Ever since I came out from my first viewing of Man of Steel, I have been thinking of how in the world could they fix the movie. I would actually love to see a complete rewrite of the whole story but right now, here are my thoughts... of what little tweaks here and there that I think could make this a better Superman movie. Let's go through this part by part.

 

Move the Krypton Scenes to later
I would begin the movie with the scenes of Clark at the rough seas, working as a fisherman. There's a reason why I skipped the whole of Krypton scene for the beginning. It's not that I didn't like it, I actually loved the Krypton scenes, but I felt it would serve better when it is played out during the conversation between Jor-El's ghost and Clark when he has to explain about Krypton's fate and Clark's origin. Have Jor-El narrate during the scenes. This not only makes Jor-El's exposition less boring but I felt we could relate a lot better to Clark in his journey of discovering his identity, rather than knowing all along where he comes from and who he is before Clark had any clue about it.

 

 

Have Jor-El narrate or provide exposition during the Krypton scenes when he explains everything to Clark in the Fortress.

Having the movie begin with Clark at the seas also gives a shroud of mystery around him to the audience. Who is he? Why is he at sea? Is he running away from something? This works well for those who knows nothing about Superman because then, we are introduced to his powers, especially his superstrength and invulnerability when he does his heroic save at the oil rig. As the oil rig explodes and smokes and the helicopter flying away, we hear the pilot asking the men, "Who was that guy?" Then we cut to Clark sinking/semi-floating in the middle of sea and have the title sequence begin with the amazing Hans Zimmer Superman theme playing, and credits rolling. This whole introduction sequence would get the audience excited and pumped for the movie ahead, in the same vein of how Casino Royale's introduction and opening gets us all pumped for our new take on James Bond.

 

Imagine a smoking oil rig and the helicopter fly by. Pilot asking "Who was that guy?"

This is pretty much how I imagined the title sequence would be...

Have the credits roll on from here and Hans Zimmer's amazing Man of Steel theme playing.

Add more depth to Clark-The-Drifter scenes
I always found the scenes with Clark on the fishing ship, moving on to the oil rig save, then working in the bar before he quits and leave, were all together flat and felt the events were moving from one place to another with no real purpose or goal for his character development. His childhood flashbacks, on the other hand, tell a good story that factors heavily into his life. Add more weight to those scenes and how it can still factor into Clark's progression into becoming Superman. First, you got to answer the question why is he drifting from places to places and working odd jobs, then make the audience realize that he is looking for answers or perhaps help the audience understand that he's trying to find his place in society as someone who's not normal or even human. If I could add something to those scenes is that, I would work out a story to help Clark realize that the world is in need of hope and a saviour. All these need to happen before he finds a clue that would lead him to the Fortress of Solitude and meets his ghost space dad, and finally understand his true destiny as a saviour and a hero.

Just drifting along...

Make Jonathan and Martha Kent be real parents
I always love the line that was delivered by Jor-El in the finale of Smallville: "Your powers may be of my blood, but it is your time in Smallville that makes you who you are." Jonathan Kent and Martha Kent are perhaps the most important people to the origin of Superman. More than just raising Clark and helping him with controlling his powers, they are his a moral compass and they play a big role in shaping his character. The only thing I would change from the second childhood flashback is Jonathan Kent's answer to Clark's question of whether he should let the people on the bus die to hide his secret powers. I hated the grim idea that Pa Kent would consider allowing his son to let everyone on the school bus to die when he has the power to actually save them. Have Pa Kent answer Clark, with a solid "No," instead of "maybe" and then continues on with "but there's more at stake here than just our lives and the lives of those around us, Clark." However I still love the line that was borrowed from the original Superman movie and expanded on in this movie: "You were sent here for a reason, son, and even if it takes you the rest of your life, you owe it to yourself to find out what that reason is."

 

I still love the line from the original Superman movie: "You were put here for a reason..."
I'm so glad they used it again in Man of Steel

Have Pa Kent die of a heart attack
I want Jonathan Kent to die. But how should he die? Like in many of his incarnations, he died of a heart attack with Clark Kent having all his powers was still unable to save him. I always found the scene from the original Superman and Smallville TV series very tragic and in someway, very ironic. Clark has all the superhuman abilities to save people from disaster but he was powerless to save his father from a heart condition. The death scene could and should factor heavily into Clark's character development. I mean, Jonathan is after all his only dad left. Actually, I think it worked out rather stupid that he obeys his father's refusal of letting Clark save him from a tornado just so he doesn't expose his secret to the public, when in the end, he exposed himself as Superman anyway. It nullified Jonathan's death scene, and realistically, if that would actually happen to me as Clark, I would rather save my dad first and then deal with the consequences of my disobedience. "Screw you, dad! I'm saving you!"

 

Pa Kent's death due to a heart attack worked out so well in various incarnation.
Why of all things would you want to change that in Man of Steel, Zack?

That's enough for now. I'll continue on with part 2 some other time. Tell me what you think and if you could revisit any part of Man of Steel movie, how else would you have done it. Thanks for reading. =)