Like Marmite, you either get his style or you roll your eyes, Let’s take a look back at his work.
One of Warner Brothers’ most successful film directors has established himself as one of the industry-leading auteurs in superhero filmmaking. You can feel every stroke of his creative paintbrush on screen and his visual storytelling is a talent to behold.
However, as fans of cinema know, filmmaking is about the whole picture. The talent of balancing wonderful visual artwork with character development. Throughout the body of his work, he has produced some outstanding cinematic images that have kept him unique and have retained the interest of Warner Brothers begging him to direct superhero flicks for comic book fans.
This brings me to my first point. His films are made for fans who love and empower the energy of comic books. His comic book adaptations have always been incredibly faithful, at times, a literal shot by shot loyal embodiment of the story. In my views, his adaptations have mostly been entertaining but never thought provoking and emotionally engaging. The best adaptations are the ones where the directors can pull non fans of the comic book into the screen, a fabulous example being Mathew Vaugh’s Kick-Ass in 2010 and not so much its sequel in 2013.
Man of Steel
Man of Steel till to this date has some of the best marketing ever in cinematic history. The trailer really sold the cast, story and of course Hans Zimmer’s work on the soundtrack.
Although, many audiences tend to favour 300 and Dawn of the Dead as Synder’s most notable and popular projects to date. The best analysis I think is Man of Steel (2013), an example of some breathtaking moments of visual storytelling coupled with moments of emotion, where Synder allows the camera to sit patiently with some of the characters. Some of the most heartfelt scenes are the ones between Clark kent and Jonathan Kent.
It’s a beautifully looking scene with uses of natural light, yet the camera never looses sight with the characters.
Lets put it this way, you know usually within the first few frames that you are watching a Zach Synder film, he has a clear style. However, his storytelling has’nt always gelled well with film critics. One of the criticisms is that he mistakes his love for action spectacle in exchange and a lack of clear character development.
Its like he has such a talent and perhaps a fetish for his visual trademarks that he looses the audience’s understanding and active involvement in the story he’s telling. Batman vs Superman’s narrative was mostly painfully unengaging and most audiences would agree with that point.
A same point could be mentioned in his recent directorial attempts with Justice League. A film that felt very wooden in its plot explanation.
Going back to his filmmaking style, this means that his films are really for one type of audience. Fans of comic book’s and action sequences. The only film that he has made that has appealed to a more wider and general audience, I would say is Man of Steel.
The ensemble cast is accessible and packed with oscar-worthy talent. As I mentioned before, there is a clear attempt to emphasize and support character triumph over spectacle in some scenes. Its themes are rooted in an emotive state of humanity. The film gets religious in some moments, but the Father/son relationships are evident throughout.
His visual style is hard to pinpoint exactly, as it differs between projects and the story he’s telling. However, he likes dark and bleak imagery, especially in comic book films. Its a trait you can probably notice in all of his films, there are usually scenes with dark lights, shadows and rain.
His visuals symbolize a more aggressive emotion, violence and revenge centred in its frame. His visuals are crafted around the characters and serve as plot progression.
If you haven’t enjoyed his work but want a good taste of his expertise, Man of Steel is worth a watch.
Man of Steel is on Netflix UK.
Author Bio
Sam is a content writer. He loves all elements connected with film and writes with passion, always. You can find him on Linkedin, where you will be able to read more articles. When he is not writing, you can find him practicing football
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