A lot of action, not much character development

Rating: 4/10 (15 June 2013)

It's got to be difficult making a Superman movie these days. The Richard Donner movie, arguably still one of the benchmarks of comic-book adaptations, is 35 years old. What makes it memorable is the camp that permeated during the awkward scenes where Clark Kent adjusts the glasses on his face and smiles his goofy smile at Lois, oblivious to her rolling eyes or looks of exasperation. But that kind of comedy won't work in this era. Viewers are far too sophisticated. It's not enough to show us that he's homesick, we have to see just how alien he is without turning him into something we don't recognize. After exploring the humanity and plausibility of Batman in the Christopher Nolan trio, it seemed likely that the same treatment would work for the guy in the red cape. Well, Zack Snyder's attempt didn't quite cut it.
Too much attention was focused on Kal-El's origin on Krypton. I completely sympathized with the parents as they sent their son away in the nick of time before the planet imploded, even though nothing about that sequence was surprising to me. But since so much time was invested in the telling of that sacrifice, I felt a connection to those parents. I felt no such connection with Clark Kent. His evolution was so hurried, delivered in quick, scattered flashbacks, that I really didn't get the chance to know the guy. We didn't get to see him test the limits of his powers as a teen, running, jumping, or throwing a ball. He doesn't even find out about his power of flight until he's an adult and gets the lowdown from his bio-dad's holographic entity. Of course, his foster parents are to blame for his lack of experimentation up until then, but it seems silly that he wouldn't have stumbled on it accidentally.
Lois Lane wasn't much fun either. Gone are the days when Lois balances the grim with her goofiness by trying strange health fads or sneaking a cigarette. This Lois is all business. We find out she's already won a Pulitzer and she's really dedicated to the job and talks trash to military men. That's all the development she gets in this movie. The romance between her and Supes is bland--two characters with no spark on their own won't create one when they're put together.
I couldn't help feeling like Brian Singer's Superman Returns was vindicated by Man of Steel. Yes, the look and feel of the movie and the lead role were simply a tribute to the Christopher Reeve flicks, but that was the whole point. That movie has received a lot of flack that it doesn't deserve. You don't believe me? Watch Snyder's version. You'll be pining for the clumsy Kent and the ridiculous elevator-changing scene.
It felt like Snyder adjusted the set and got the contrast too high and the brightness so low that all the red, white, and blue was washed out and all we were left with was darkness. All the things that made Superman fun and memorable were missing and in their place was a silent pathos by an actor that was instructed to do tortured with as little lines as possible. I liked Henry Cavill's look as Superman. It was certainly the update that the character needed. I just didn't feel like after watching him for two and a half hours I was rooting for him. It wasn't until the very end that we see him put on the glasses and walk into The Daily Planet as a reporter. Maybe the sequel will allow more focus on his human side.