Sure, “Man Of Steel” might have already been released last weekend but that doesn’t mean the marketing machine stops. Warner Bros. has released a new featurette focusing on Hans Zimmer’s efforts to score the reboot — which was one of the elements we were fans of — but that’s not all, James Franco has decided to weigh in on the film with his own thoughts. Yeah, we’re not surprised either.
First, let’s start with the multi-hyphenate Franco. It’s not the first time he’s taken on the role of film critic — earlier this year he came to the defense of “The Great Gatsby” and professed his love for “Leviathan” — and in a new piece for Vice, Franco calls the Superman movie “a great film.” Why? We’ll let Franco explain: “Man of Steel is great because it delivers everything it should. It made Superman cool again. It delivered great action and interesting characters with a plot that was grounded enough to make us care a little.”
Most of all, however, Franco really fell for the film’s message of hope: “But, in the end, why did I really walk away liking it? It wasn’t because of the film’s message. Maybe I sound naïve going to a film like this for a message, but images and themes are being thrown at me in 3D, so I want to know what I’m swallowing. One of the main reasons I liked it was because in this film, Superman’s S symbol stands for ‘hope’ on the planet Krypton. Viewers discover that Superman is the symbol of hope for his dead race and simultaneously the symbol of hope for the human race. He hides his powers for the first 30 years of his life on Earth because his adopted father (Kevin Costner) believes that humans won’t be ready for him. In this way Superman is presented as a kind of Christ figure, given to Earth to save humanity…If we are supposed to have hope in anything, it’s hope that Superman keeps fighting for good. If he doesn’t, we have no way of stopping him.”
As you might guess, it’s sort of rambling review, with Franco also sharing his thoughts on the industry on the whole and whether or not Henry Cavill (who he worked with on “Tristan & Isolde“) likes him or not. Uh, okay.
And finally, a new featurette shows how Zimmer crafted the score for “Man of Steel,” which includes steel guitars and drums. Even if we weren’t satisfied with how Zimmer’s score was utilized in the final film, on its own it still stands as quite a feat. Watch the featurette below.