Visually impressive, but lacks heart and soul of previous efforts

Rating: 5/10 (19 June 2013)

Any re-boot or re-make of a film franchise, no matter how well done, will inevitably draw comparisons to original or earlier productions (see "Batman Begins" or "The Amazing Spider-Man," for example). This is especially true of Zach Snyder's ("300″) efforts to turn the "Superman" story on its ear by updating it through a series of multi-million dollar effects and computer-generated, often mind-blowing cinematechnics.
These are amazing visuals and the sound technology is certainly not far behind, and while "Man Of Steel" is light years better than the last attempt to revamp the series (2005's "Superman Returns"), it cannot replace the heart, humor and general overall wholesome corniness of the first two feature films, "Superman" and "Superman 2," from 1978 and 1981, respectively. Of course, these are almost vastly different movies, but the legend of the super hero remains basically the same.
Replacing the late Christopher Reeve is difficult enough, but add Marlon Brando (Jor-El), Gene Hackman (as Lex Luther), Ned Beatty (Otis), Margot Kidder (Lois Lane), Jackie Cooper (Perry White), Glen Ford (Jonathan Kent), Susanna York (Lara), and Valerie Perrine (Miss Teschmacher) to the mix and it's nearly impossible. That cast was wonderful, as the fun was balanced with the hero's righteous indignation while there was still plenty of action. True, the special effects from this days seems woefully outdated when viewed today, but audiences at the time really dug it (I ought to know, I sat in those theaters and watched those pictures).
Now, we get an almost entirely new take on the tale thanks in part to writers David S. Goyer and Christopher Nolan (who knows a little about revamps). Forget about the planet Krypton colliding with a nearby star (its doom is caused by overproduction of its internal core), and here Gen. Zod (Michael Shannon, "Iceman") actually succeeds in his takeover of that world – for awhile, at least, and was actually a friend of Jor-El (Russell Crowe, "Broken City"). These scenes go on interminably with great effects, yet nothing to connect the viewer to the story.
Escaping from the planet's doom, the baby Kal-El (various young boys and then Henry Cavill, "Immortals"), lands in Smallville, Kansas, and is adopted by the Kents, Kevin Costner ("The Company Men") and Diane Lane ("Secretariat"). Papa, wise beyond his pay-grade, continues to tell the alien lad that his powers, while special indeed, should not be used lest people begin to fear and loathe him (kids already pick on him because he's "weird").
Dad even chastises the boy when he saves a group of children on a school bus that plunges into a river. We ask – just like young Clark, "Should I have let them die?" To which Jonathan Kent has no real satisfactory answer. Later, he is dispatched - not by a simple heart attack, but by another amazing, yet unnecessary huge special effect.
Clark is then allowed to brood a bit more on his situation, but soon journeys North to his "Fortress of Solitude," which in this film is a large spaceship buried beneath tons of Arctic ice, before coming face to face with Zod and his equally-super minions. Meanwhile, the flashbacks kick in and we go from the present time, to Clark's childhood to his adolescent years and back again, causing no end to the movie's confusing overtones.
This does not end when another plot reveals itself. Now, because he is ticked off at Jor-El, Zod wants Superman (and – for some reason – Lois Lane, Amy Adams, "The Master") to surrender themselves to him aboard his massive spacecraft. Zod then sets off the "Genesis Project," which will populate the earth with millions of fetuses from Krypton via a "codex" device which is contained in Superman's cellular structure.
Geesh, in the 1978 version, all we had to follow was Lex Luthor's plan to gains some California desert real estate.
Both Crowe and Costner overact beyond Cavill's ability for brooding understatement. Amy Adams is terribly miscast and Shannon has one expression – a maniacal grimace that makes him look like a crazed Dwight Schrute from the TV series, "The Office."
And just about everyone spouts inane declarations on the nature of Man. Also, anyone looking for any acting triumphs at all should definitely search elsewhere.
Back to the plot, though. With no desire to see the world filled with almost unconquerable Kryptonian babies, Clark battles it out with Zod and his henchmen – first in Smallville (how such a tiny berg could withstand such destruction is beyond me) and then in New York. Here, the special FX go into hyper-drive and the almost unending sequences of Superman and Zod bludgeoning each other (while destroying hundreds of high rise structures) is at the least headache-generating and, at the worst, seizure-inducing.
The hundreds of millions spent on these impressive graphics will no doubt lure the young and uninitiated to the box office and, perhaps, break records, but for those who remember the original films, "Man Of Steel" will leave one with mouth agape in earnest admiration, yet they will no doubt sadly miss the fun and innocence and soul of those earlier, less costly, efforts.