My Review of Steel (1997)

 

Written And Directed by Kenneth Johnson

John Henry Irons: "It might get dangerous."

Susan Sparks: "I laugh at danger."

Uncle Joe: "I boogie around danger like a "Soul Train" dancer!"

I really am in the depth of some of the biggest misfire from DC and after subjecting myself to Jonah Hex last week, I had to go and watch this one. First and likely last time tbh.

Getting Shaquille O'Neal as John Henry Irons was something of an interesting choice for the character. The way the character's written and his overall performance certainly had a sense of "character in name only" throughout the entire movie.

In this film, John's a weapons expert, using his knowledge to make better weapons while his best friend, Susan "Sparky" Sparks ended up in a wheelchair during a debacle that John's rival, Nathaniel Burke (Judd Nelson) was responsible for.

These events managed to set up Burke as the main antagonist for the movie. He wanted to sell John's weapons to criminal gangs for profits but John had other ideas. This included getting Sparky out of her funk and also working with Uncle Joe (Richard Roundtree). For that, John needed a look.

The look he went for was Steel and the name he eventually settled on after some bad choices was Steel. He also managed to make a negative impression on the police (but not the couple he rescued) while inadvertently placing his grandmother, Odessa (Irma P. Hall) and Martin (Ray J) in danger.

The rest of the movie just stomped along with Burke getting his villain moment, Steel having his loved ones threatened and then Burke getting his just desserts. While the movie initially teased the idea of Steel retiring, ultimately Colonel David (Charles Napier) tried and failed to get Steel on side.

- There's a voice modulator cameo of sorts with Arnold Schwarzenegger. Guess what other DC movie released the same year?

- Yup, director Kenneth Johnson really did ignore everything from the comics in order to do this version of the character.

- Standout music: Shaquille O'Neal along with rappers KRS-One, Ice Cube, B-Real, and Peter Gunz performing Men Of Steel.

- Chronology: 1990s California for this movie.

Steel has the good grace not to be a long movie and there's some moments that are okay enough. However, it's a largely disjointed film with a dull lead villain and a plodding script. I wouldn't recommend watching it beyond the one time you'd need to.

Rating: 4 out of 10