Man of Steel is a great, if uneven, reboot

Rating: 8/10 (15 June 2013)

First, let's set things straight: Man of Steel is not a radical interpretation of Superman. It might be the first film to treat the Last Son of Krypton as if he was a real, breathing being in a modern age, but that's just the superficial stuff. At its heart, Man of Steel is a movie that understands the essence of the latest version of its protagonist that has existed for a long time in the comics while adding some new flavor to him. And it is long overdue.
Man of Steel opens with the birth of Superman, Kal-El, on the lush but dying planet Krypton. His father, Jor-El (played by Russell Crowe in more than just a cameo), has been ignored despite his grave warnings about the impending doom, and he sends his only son to Earth. We are also introduced to Michael Shannon's insane and misguided General Zod, a Kryptonian military commander who rebels against the planet's leadership and later ends up imprisoned in the Phantom Zone just before Krypton's demise.
The story then fast forwards and Man of Steel becomes more of a highlight reel than a cohesive film for much of the following hour. We see Kal-El, now Clark Kent, skipping towns and taking up odd jobs, and amid those scenes we get peeks into his past. These flashbacks are brought up as Clark's memories and begin and end abruptly, leaving the sense that Snyder is going through the motions instead of allowing a natural progression of the character. Thankfully, the performances by Kevin Costner and Diane Lane as Jonathan and Martha Kent are powerful and dispel misgivings toward the disorganized nature of the first act.
Over the course of Man of Steel's first half, Clark receives advice on what to do with his powers from both his real and adopted parents. His relationships with them are competently handled and establish a Superman who isn't innately proud of his heritage, but learns to accept who he is.
When Clark finally dons the iconic suit and takes flight for the first time in an epic, grin-inducing tour of the Earth, the movie becomes a breathtaking thrill ride with a tremendous heart. At the center of all the action and the star-studded cast, Henry Cavill proves to be a capable, though less-confident, and charming rookie Superman and shares a decent amount of chemistry with Amy Adams' feisty Lois Lane despite only hints of a future romance. And, of course, he fills the outfit well.
By the time Zod arrives on Earth, we know our main characters well enough to root for their victory. The fight scenes between Superman and the Kryptonians are brutal, intense, and over-the-top, outclassing those in The Avengers by miles, and someone is going to be paying at least a billion dollars to cover for all that property damage. Explosions and crumbling buildings are abound and Hans Zimmer's score is outstanding. The most menacing of all the Kryptonians, Antje Traue's Faora, is a psychopathic monster. Man of Steel really is the first superhero movie to really have two super-powered foes duke it out. Just don't watch it in 3-D if you want to clearly see what's going on.
However, Man of Steel is missing a second act, meaning the film jumps straight from soul-searching to a planet-shaking climax which lasts the entire second half of the movie. This odd form of structure lessens the overall impact of the final battle because we've seen another, just-as-epic fight just twenty minutes ago.
Fortunately, Man of Steel is focused enough not to let the emotional core get buried underneath all the rubble with Metropolis. The conflict between Kal-El and Zod is deeper than a fist fight: it is a battle of choice versus destiny, an outward manifestation of one of the film's beautiful central themes. The latter has chosen to preserve a failed race and control its future while the former has chosen to protect his true home and sacrifice the chance to be with his own kind to protect a people he has come to love.
In the end, the pluses do outweigh the minuses. The latest collaboration between Snyder, Goyer, and Nolan is a truly awesome reboot for the father of all superheroes and a great starting point for a future DC Universe. There are references to a wider world scattered throughout the film, including several to one of Superman's most iconic villains, Lex Luthor, and another to a similarly famous superhero who may or may not have appeared in a recently concluded trilogy. Also be on the lookout fora sly reference to one of the film's executive producers, Jon Peters. Here's a hint: it's the fiercest killer in the animal kingdom.
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