Let’s be honest, when the version of Superman which most of us have hot-wired into our cinematic memory banks first hit the screen, we didn’t believe a man could fly despite what the tagline claimed.
It was always difficult to accept Christopher Reeve speeding through the sky like a bird, like a plane when the only thing that moved was his artificially-fluttering cape. The fact that you could see the wires didn’t help, either.
But 21st trickery is to the fore to make things much more convincing as we finally get to see Man Of Steel, which seems to have taken an age in arriving.
Director Zack Snyder has been indulged with a giant budget, a starry cast and whole box of special effects tricks as he sets out to tell a very familiar story once again.
Wearing his pants outside his trousers this time round is hunky Henry Cavill and you’ll also see the likes of Amy Adams, Russell Crowe and Kevin Costner in the cast list.
The problem is that the set-up is so familiar – not just from the earlier movies, but also from the original comics and TV takes on the Krypton kid – that despite the gloss there’s nothing new to say.
And while we are only too familiar with squeaky clean Clark Kent and his superpowered alter ego, rival blockbusters featuring characters which have not been as exposed – Iron Man if you will, Spiderman too and even the darker, deeper Batman of recent years – have stolen a march and created a very crowded field.
It’s a handsome piece of work, but don’t go expecting anything startling. You’ll believe it cost a fortune, because it’s up there on the screen – whether you’ll believe it was worth it remains to be seen.
With so much hype and hoopla surrounding Man Of Steel, other choices are thin on the ground but there is Admission, a romantic comedy starring Tina Fey and Paul Rudd.
The complicated set-up features Fey as a career woman in higher education on a road trip and Rudd as a former college classmate who is now a teacher at a school in the backwoods. He believes his star pupil could be the child Fey gave up for adoption back when she was a student determined not to let a little thing like a pregnancy interfere with her ambition. Could it be true? And if so, what should she do about it?
Also ticking the date movie box for those who want to steer clear of overblown blockbusters is Stuck In Love, with Greg Kinnear and Jennifer Connelly leading the cast. They’re a former couple, he can’t get over it, their prodigy daughter reckons she’s never going to get involved with a bloke after seeing what a mess mum and dad made of things. Guess what – they all learn to love and lead better lives. Aaah.