Rhythm, Light and Stories.

I saw the Man Of Steel twice in the last 12 hours. I never really connected with Snyder's Watchmen. I had to nod quietly whenever people spoke of its coolness. I never saw it (the coolness). But then I have never read comics of any sort. To this I attributed the disconnect and disconsolately allowed the matter rest. I was puzzled by Snyder's methods then, but being convinced that I missed the point of the entire narrative, except Dr Manhattan's uber arrogant, and hence thoroughly vindicated rhetorical reasoning (perhaps I ll create some of my own (life)), I throttled the disorientation and allowed memory to twist and file the questions for whenever. I figured it'll dawn on me in time, I did have to watch the Departed twice to get that it was about the petulant pathos of impotent gangster lords. There was something elemental about Snyder's screenplay, and hence understanding was a given, Cool things are always understood by everyone, because they haunt our synapses till then.

But Clark Kent is known. Superman is Zeus without the lust, thunder and Schadenfreude. Superman is the god in superhero lore. He is a colossus of titans, the greatest of them all. Yes, he is also one with the most insubstantial of superhero baggages (Ironman has the polymath hubris / pepper's charm, Batman has the Gandhian complex born out of misdirected guilt, Hulk has unrequited love, freak complex and a rage to give supernovas pause, and Peter Parker with again guilt and his breathtaking weakness for MJ's legs ). Superman is an orphan, but then what is new in that. Snyder's telling also empowers Superman with cosmic intent and speed greater than light. More on that later.

The first 15 minutes of the movie can be forgiven, but only because when Russel Crowe is intent on something, even if the intent languishes within a framework crawling with loopholes, alienware, and really unsubtle plot devices, I tend to shut up. This has been the case ever since I heard him give the command to unleash hell at his signal in Gladiator, second guess Adam Smith, beat Schizophrenia and charm Jennifer Connelly in A Beautiful Mind. Still it was a close thing.

(might be continued)