Excellent reboot but leaves a curious aftertaste.

Rating: 8/10 (7 August 2013)

The first screenshots and trailers featuring Henry Cavill (finally) as the Man of Steel had me squealing with delight. Finally, a director who seemed to get the real basis of the story. An alien finds out... he's a alien.
And that's really the core of what and who Superman is. Superman is all about acceptance. Embracing the differences and giving our entire trust to someone who could easily destroy.
So let's talk about embracing differences, which is clearly not something people have done. This is not Superman '78. This is not Superman Returns. A reboot is exactly that. A reboot. A retelling of the story. A new start.
So of course, Krypton is different. Of course Superman is not the same. It's not about the wacky, campy, smiling-all-the-time superhero of the Golden Age. It's about the New 52 Superman. The tormented alien who struggles to find his rightful place in a world that's not his own. And on that point alone, Man Of Steel succeeds in getting the point across.
The battle sequences are stellar, if only a bit too long. The Battle of Smallville in particular exceeds its welcome. We spend a good 10-15 minutes watching Kryptonians get shot at, fling tanks in buildings and dig holes in the pavement. And about that battle with Zod, the whole point was to show how ridiculously defenseless we are against them. If two Kryptonians can do this to a city, can you imagine what would happen if they were to turn against us?
And this is what the movie does. It shows us the Kryptonians and not much else. The weak spots of the movie are in its script, particularly its character development. Lois, Perry, the Kents, Dr. Hamilton and Jenny Olsen are given maybe half an hour of screen time. And zero introduction, zero storyline, zero place. It's the Clark Kent show so if you can live with that, you might just enjoy the movie.
But forget the constant presence they had in the earlier movies. It's not about them anymore.
If the sequel can settle those awful script problems, we just have a new Dark Knight to enjoy.