A Flawed, but Worthy Superman Movie (with a Great Music Score)

Rating: 8/10 (23 January 2017)

The 2013 Superman/DC Cinematic Universe reboot film has been roundly trashed and is despised by seemingly everyone, but I loved it. I was immediately impressed with the casting, art direction, special effects, and music score. The film has a more serious, intense tone than the legendary 1978 "Superman: the Movie", but I love both films for what they are, not what I think they should be.
Laurence Fishburne as Perry White, Kevin Costner as Jonathan Kent (whose final scene is most moving), Diane Lane as Martha Kent, and Amy Adams as Lois Lane--were all spot-on for their roles. Man of Steel is exceptionally well cast.
I admired the look of the film. The Krypton visuals, the "organic" black computer technology, and the admittedly shaky concept of one's consciousness being able to interact with others even though the person of said consciousness is long dead. It plays well, especially since Russell Crowe is Jor-El. General Zod, played by Michael Shannon, was superb. I especially liked his motivations as to why he wanted to destroy Earth; it gives Zod a sturdy moral ground, even though his lackey, Faora-Ul (Antje Traue; who's a charismatic performer) claims Zod's group is amoral. Zod is entirely too much of a zealot for his purpose instilled in him from birth to be amoral.
Hans Zimmer really accomplished something special with his score. The themes for Superman, Zod, and the flying sequences are all excellent. The score propels the action and I found myself noticing its effectiveness throughout the movie. I honestly don't know what the problem it is that so many film score buffs had with this music are talking about. It helped that I had already listened to the soundtrack numerous times but I still believe that I would have noticed it and appreciated its effectiveness upon first listen alongside the film. I am incredulous to those who called Zimmer's work here "wallpaper." Utter insanity.
As for performances, Henry Cavill as Superman obviously had the toughest role, as he's playing a legend. However, Cavill acquits himself nicely and works well as the center of the story; he honestly doesn't have to do much but be heroic. It sounds like I'm playing down Cavill's performance but he makes a great Superman. Also, the young actor playing Clark Kent as a boy did a great job in the numerous flashbacks. In fact, in both its plot points, "Man of Steel" does the job of both "Superman: the Movie" and "Superman II" only it does it one film.
The battle scenes between Zod's group and Superman were excellent. This is how beings with such powers should move and it's done well here, but the battle never wears out its welcome. There is an egregious product placement bit involving a department store chain, but it's done more at the end of a light moment so no real harm done. Still, I despise obvious product placement.
The one thing in the film I have trouble with is the absence of any remarks about the destruction of Metropolis (which is never mentioned by name, I don't think). The city also seems miraculously rebuilt immediately after it is essentially leveled by Zod's World Engine, a "terraforming" device similar in function to Genesis in "Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan." I felt that the tone at the end should have been more somber and resolute than it was. It was General Zod who caused the destruction, but it should have been referenced at least once.
However, having watched the "Batman vs. Superman" trailer, the destruction of Metropolis will serve the sequel film and give it its emotional fulcrum.
I also wondered what happened to Jimmy Olsen. There were some other Daily Planet staff in the film but none were Olsen.
Quibbles and criticisms aside, I rate "Man of Steel" an 8/10. It is engaging, visually and aurally interesting, well cast, and never dull. It does not deserve all of the negative criticism that has been heaped on it but then it does have some flaws that I wish had been addressed. Despite that, "Man of Steel" is a film I'm looking forward to seeing again.