Disappointing, but I still gave it an 8

Rating: 7/10 (16 June 2013)

This movie had to be the my most anticipated movie of the year. I honestly was expecting a masterpiece. What I saw left me somewhat disappointed, due mostly to the fact the my expectations were too high. In the end, I gave it an eight because it was still a really good movie with lots of action and a solid plot.
This movie is a reboot, which I was glad about because I didn't really like superman returns. I tells the familiar story about Clark Kent from a small boy to Superman. I'm happy to report that it's not entirely a rehash of things we've already seen. Many details have been changed about the origin, the planet Krypton, and aspects of Clark's life. For me the changes weren't positive or negative, just different. The story is told with flash backs to when Clark was a boy and young man. In the flashbacks to Krypton Russel Crow plays Jor-El. I loved his tough performance. He has some good monologues and cool fight scenes. He actually is on screen for a big chunk of the movie which was awesome since he's one the standout performances. In the other flashbacks to Smallville Kevin Costner plays Johnathan Kent. The scenes with him are the most emotional and convincing. He teaches Clark an ideal he truly believes; let things happen, no matter the cost, in order to protect Clark's identity. He's convinced if Clark reveals himself the world won't be ready for an alien on earth and they will reject him. During the movie you see Clark grappling with this ideology. He must choose. The story in this film is the most compelling in the first hours because of the flashbacks are such strong character moments. The movie becomes more of a balls to the wall action movie near the end. I wasn't as compelled by the ending battle as I was with the beginning. Don't get me wrong, I'm not one of those critics that hates action. I even loved The Matrix Revolutions, but there is a problem with the final battle. I felt the so many buildings were coming down and so many earth shattering punches that I started to become redundant. The most powerful moment was when superman had Zod in a headlock near the end. I liked it because it was a tangible, up close and personal grapple. This scene had compelling moral dilemmas, especially when you keep in mind what Jonathan had to say earlier in the film. I initially wasn't shocked at what happened but upon further elaboration I realized how important this moment was. I feel that if this moment was slightly longer they could of emphasized the significance. I was one of the people who was clamoring for action in a superman movie. I am actually shocked to say they kind of over did it. My brother said he thought they had a huge budget and they had to make sure they used all of it.
The state of acting in this film was solid. Henry Cavill has been criticized for being too serious, I don't echo this sentiment. To me this role called for a somber outcast, an alien on the planet earth. He was never intended to be a Christopher Reeve clone. He wasn't necessarily supposed to be happy all the time. I think the matched the tone of the film perfectly. The script didn't really help him much either. There was nothing stunning. The best lines were spoken by Jor-El, and were cut out of some classic superman comics. Zod was honestly not the best. He didn't wow me with his presence enough to be considered a classic villain. He wasn't bad, but he was almost surpassed by his second in command Faora. The reason I like her so much was because she had such a cool fighting style. She used her super speed to make quick brutal strikes. Nobody could stop her. On the side of the good guys there was various military personnel. None of the actors stood out to me. They all seemed pretty cliché. Lois Lane was played by Amy Adams. At first she didn't fit the roll, but as the movie moved along she started to grow on me. Her chemistry with Henry Cavill was okay. The love story in this one was not too forced in. It was mostly the beginning of the relationship between Clark and Lois. It looked to me like they are setting it up to be fleshed out more in sequel. Either that or they just had to make room for more exploding buildings.
Over all if you love big action set pieces and want a fresh take on superman I can recommend this movie to you. 7.8
EDIT: I have reconsidered my original score after a second viewing and more film experience. The action is too overdone and it's almost boring. The dark tone is what ultimately made me like it less. It was kind of depressing in a bad way. I still like it, but now I consider it more of a 7/10.