Plot Details: This opinion reveals minor details about the movie's plot.

I have this theory that everything happens in threes and the year of 1997 just proves it for me. It wasn’t a good year for comic book movies at all. Todd McFarlane’s Spawn was disastrous, but that paled in comparison to Batman & Robin. As for Steel, the third movie, it’s not surprising I never even gave it another thought. After all, why would I want to see a film starring Shaquille O’Neal of all people?

The Shaq plays John Henry Irons, a weapons designer for the United States military. When his project to create weapons that harmlessly neutralize people gets scrapped, he decides to resign from his post and return home to live a quiet life. But things don’t turn out that way when he sees a gang using top-secret defense weapons—the same weapons he helped produce—used for crime. To make matters worse, Nathaniel Burke, a weapons dealer, is making sure that these dangerous items gets out on the market to these criminals. Irons only hope is to fight fire with fire. By fashioning himself a suit of armour filled with weaponry, he can now combat this threat as the hero known as Steel. But will the police even believe he’s on their side, or the one who is spearheading these robberies?

I purposely avoided watching this movie knowing that it was going to be a stinker. For 10 years, I managed to succeed until it came on television. I finally caved and watched it from beginning to end. I don’t know who was more appalled— my wife or me. But after watching Steel, I was totally justified in my original thinking—it was really, really bad. I think I would rather endure another showing of Batman & Robin than sitting through this stinker again.

The character of Steel was created during the time of the famous The Death of Superman storyline in 1994. John Henry Irons came in contact with Superman after the Big Blue Scout saved him. When Superman died, he became inspired to continue his legacy and fashioned powerful armour dedicated to fighting the good fight. He was referred to as “The Man of Steel”, or simply Steel later on. The character of John Henry Irons is a positive one and it’s great to see good African-American superheroes get the spotlight. So when I heard Shaq was playing this role for a movie, I knew it was doomed from the start.

There are only two things going for Shaq: his love for Superman and his incredible height. John Henry Irons is a big man and Shaq definitely fills that role. But that’s where it all ends. Everything else doesn’t work at all, least of all his wooden performance. To make matters worse, I can’t even take Judd Nelson seriously as Nathaniel Burke. In a different situation I could really see it happening. Nelson is a good actor, but hasn’t found a good role in a long time. Teaming up with Shaq in this movie didn’t help his career at all.

Throughout the film, I just kept thinking, “Was this really shown in the movie theatres?” I put the whole production on par with a really bad, live-action superhero, made-for-television movie. Can anyone say Captain America starring Reb Brown? That’s really bad.

Steel was a totally flop from beginning to end. I think younger children might enjoy it, but even that’s stretching that line of thinking. No matter how you look at it, bad is bad. At least Batman & Robin had outrageous special effects to make it comical. Steel just had Shaq.


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Other Comic Book Movies
DC Comics
Adventures of Captain Marvel (1941) || Batman (1943) || Batman: The Movie (1966) || Batman (1989) || Batman Returns || Batman Forever || Batman & Robin || Batman Begins || Batman: Mask of the Phantasm || Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero || Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman || The Batman Superman Movie || Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker || Catwoman || Constantine || Superman: The Movie || Superman II || Superman II: The Donner Cut || Superman III || Superman IV: The Quest for Peace || Superman Returns || Superman: Brainiac Attacks || Superman: Doomsday

Marvel Comics
Daredevil || Doctor Strange (2007) || Fantastic Four (2005) || Ghost Rider (2007) || The Invincible Iron Man (2007) || The Punisher (2004) || Spider-Man || Spider-Man 2 || Spider-Man 3 || Ultimate Avengers: The Movie || Ultimate Avengers 2: Rise of the Panther || X-Men || X2: X-Men United || X-Men: The Last Stand

Independent Comic Books
The Mask of Zorro || Men in Black || Popeye || Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles || Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze || Transformers: The Movie (1986) || Transformers (2007)

Recommended: No

Video Occasion: None of the Above
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children up Ages 8