steel

yeah... um... what exactly can one say about this movie?  hmmm.  i guess i'll start by admitting that yes, it is as bad as you think it is.  i don't exactly know what the makers of this movie were thinking, but they certainly weren't thinking of a good movie!  its kind of a shame, really, because the character portrayed in the movie is actually a really great one.  in the dc comic book, john henry irons is a normal everyday man who was so heartbroken by the death of superman (yes, the character's origin comes from that 90's comic book story line) that he felt compelled to try and pick up the mantle of superman himself to fight crime.  since he doesn't have any super powers, he builds for himself a steel suit and emblazons it with the familiar 'S' in honor of his fallen hero.  what we get in this movie instead is a character rewritten to remove all traces of superman (they must not have been able to get the rights for that one, huh?), and instead it becomes about a military man who comes home to find his city has been overrun with crime and feels the need to stand up against the bad guys.  oh, and i haven't even gotten to the best part: shaq!  for some reason someone thought it was a good idea to cast this guy in the lead role.  i'm sure he is an amazing basketball player, but he is considerably less skilled when it comes to emoting...  serving as his mentor is richard roundtree, an appearance complete with terrible 'shaft' puns and all!  with this movie coming out in 1997, its no wonder it took another three years for the superhero movie to recover!