A Dreadful Effects-Laden Mess

Rating: 1/10 (1 July 2013)

If you're into special effects and umpteen CGI shots of characters fighting and punching each other through buildings, skyscrapers toppling, cars flying around, etc this movie IS for you. If, on the other hand, you are like me, and like a well-told story with characters you care about, with surprising twists and turns and perhaps some humour and moving moments, and yes, some great but not overwhelming effect sequences then give this one a miss.
Honest opinion - I just thought it was terrible. I've never walked out of a movie in my life at the cinema, but I came really close here. Krypton here becomes generic sci-fi planet number 87645, indistinguishable from all the others seen in recent sci-fi movies, complete with Avatar-like flying reptiles. It's totally forgettable, unlike the Krypton of the Donner film, which has dated but is totally memorable.
I'm trying to be fair here and not compare it to Donner's original Superman Movie, and the origin story is told differently, using flashbacks rather than sequential happenings.
But in truth Clark's tough time growing up, not knowing who he really is,etc, just doesn't work. It could have been interesting, but it merely becomes irritating after a while. "Not Young Clark Again" I found myself muttering as the movie unfolded.
Henry Cavill was pretty dull as Kal-EL/Clark. I don't say Superman as the film makers appear pretty embarrassed to even name him until very late in the proceedings. The actors I largely hated. Only Russell Crowe stood out for me; I'm not really a fan of his but he did a good job.
Zod was a one note villain with the actor wearing a one-note, evil-rage expression throughout. Lois Lane's montage of investigating Superman is hilariously bad. I actually felt sorry for the poor actress who had to perform the role it was so badly written.
But the prize buffoon is surely Costner. I found Pa Kent's death unintentionally funny; yep he tries to rescue the family dog - and his willingness to let a bus load of children die in order to preserve Clark's secret superpowers staggeringly wrong.
And the action - scene after scene of repetitive fights, awful dialogue, forgettable music. After an hour I just couldn't wait for the whole thing to end.
And people still continue to fall for the spoon-fed tripe that Hollywood churns out. For the record I enjoyed the recent Dark Knight and Iron Man movies but this is a long way below the standards of those flicks....