Really well done!

Rating: 9/10 (15 June 2013)

Man of Steel is an updated retelling of an old legend. Kal-El is a man who was born on the planet Krypton to a man named Jor-El. Jor-El as depicted in this film is a moral leader. He does not agree with the way Kryptonians have been running the planet. They have been spending all of their resources to a point to where Krypton is about to be destroyed. Jor-El sees this, and because he wants his son to survive in a world where he can make a difference, he sends Kal-El to Earth. On Earth, he is raised by a couple of farmers who name him Clark Kent. They soon start realizing that he has special abilities that no one else has, and this creates a lot of complications in his childhood. Eventually Clark finds out who he is, and that he is supposed to use his special abilities for good as Superman.
However, there is another man from Krypton named Zod who was born to protect Krypton. I am not going to go too deep into what Zod wants, but I will say that he wants something that has to do with Kal-El. He also wants to do something that will affect the people of earth in a negative way, so Superman has to stop him.
I really liked this version of Superman. It made me appreciate the character even more. As an audience we get an understanding of how Clark grew up. He did not like being different, there were times he really wanted to blow up at people, but he couldn't do that. He also was always willing to use his powers to do good, but he couldn't always do that because the Kents knew that he needed his powers to be revealed at the proper time. I really got a sense of how Clark is a great moral hero, and after watching this movie, I can see that he got that trait from his birth father, Jor-El. Without spoiling anything, I will tell you that his morality does get tested in the end.
The director, Zack Snyder—who is also known for directing 300—did a great job at giving us a visually appealing film. I have noticed from both this and 300 that he uses color in such an interesting way that it keeps me wanting to look at the screen. Another thing about his direction that is just awesome is the action scenes: they are phenomenal! I am going to say that this has some of the coolest action scenes I have ever seen. There is such a cool stylistic, comic book feel to them especially when Superman fights the Kryptonians. It is fast paced and crisp. One thing I love about it is that Zack Snyder likes to emphasize the first and last part of a punch while rushing everything in between. This adds to the feeling of watching a comic book because in a comic book we may see only the first and last part of a hit, but we usually do not see everything in between.
All the performances were very well done. I especially enjoyed the performance of Amy Adams, who played Lois Lane. When I first heard that she was going to play Lois I wondered how it was going to work. I was wondering if they were going to dye her hair black. However, I saw in the trailers that they did not do anything with her hair. It turns out that this is one of those times where performance is more important than looks. She did a good job at portraying Lois as a sarcastic, spunky woman, and I looked forward to every scene she was in.
I do not think anyone could have casted a better Superman. Henry Cavill does so well at portraying Superman as a confident role model with a strict moral code. I also enjoyed watching Cavill portray him as he transitioned into this character. He is not always confident with himself until he finds out who exactly he is and where he came from. One can see a sense of responsibility that Superman immediately gets after this, and with that responsibility there is a sense of confidence about him.
All of the performances were well done. Russell Crowe as Jor-El was very well executed as well as Michael Shannon as General Zod. Some of the parts were less phenomenal than others, but overall the acting was very well executed by the entire cast.
It was not the perfect movie, however. It did lack some character development that would have made it better. This is especially true with Lois Lane. Amy Adams played her very well, but in the end all I knew about her was that she was sometimes sarcastic and spunky. It would have been nice if there were more scenes showing the audience more about who she is. This would make us care more about her especially when she gets into risky situations. However, with that being said, this movie was primarily about Superman, and after seeing this movie I came to know and like that character even more.
I also felt that the story was probably a little over complicated. Without giving away any spoilers, there are some concepts in this movie that I felt were probably part of some deep Superman lore that an average audience member would have a difficult time picking up on. I felt that this point could have been simplified a little.
With that being said, I think that this movie is well worth watching. It has great visuals, an interesting story, and great performances!