300 entertaining—not Dark Knight entertaining

Rating: Null/10 (16 June 2013)

I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. I thought they did a solid job of creating an interesting storyline and casted each character well, especially Henry Cavil/Superman and Michael Shannon/Zod. I will admit, though, the overall depth of the movie wasn't what I was hoping for, seeing as Nolan's name was attached.
There were three things that bugged me about the movie.
First, the amount of epic action. And epic is the only word to describe it. I was hoping there would be a little more of a back-story buildup before we jumped into the chaos, but it's pretty much immediate. The fight scene at the end between Superman and Zod was great, but you're served some insane scenes right as the movie opens. It's too much, too soon. You don't have enough time to get a solid grasp of who each character is and what they stand for, let alone what they would be willing to fight for.
Second, there wasn't enough dialogue from Superman. I get that they tried to make him vulnerable, which they definitely did do, but a deep, thoughtful gaze only goes so far. Henry Cavill is talented (I used to watch The Tudors) and they underutilized him.
Third, and I eluded to this above, the overall back story wasn't developed enough. You get the feeling the focus was on big, CGI action, and not on developing the story and the characters. That was probably the biggest disappointment, seeing as Chris Nolan's staple is the story.
It's obvious this is a Zack Snyder directed film. I like his stuff—300 is still one of my favorite action movies. But the challenge with Superman has always been creating a story that was interesting and made Superman "human." If Nolan had this one all to himself, I believe you would have seen an immense film. As is, it's good, but not Dark Knight good.