Not the greatest superhero origin, but solid entertainment and a nice beginning

Rating: 6/10 (14 June 2013)

One of the great myths about Superman on film was that he was the baddest hero of them all. Obviously, the most casual of Superman fans know this isn't the case, but the fact remains is that for the longest time a lot of people were wondering whether his balls of steel would eventually show up in a movie. Thanks to this film, they're finally here.
Before getting into it, Man of Steel isn't just a showcase for Superman in action, but it's also an origin story. One of the key notes for most superhero origin films is that it's usually the pre-superhero origin that ends up working best, while the post-superhero badassery fails to lift off. Here, it's the exact opposite.
The origin is sloppily edited and lacks a good pace. From what I understand a good chunk of the film was cut, and given just how awkwardly cut the pre-Superman scenes are I have no doubt a good deal of what was cut was associated with these. The scenes on Krypton actually work the best out of all of these, but what was missing was that sense of discovery. One of the greatest aspects of origin movies like Superman: The Movie, Batman Begins and Spider-Man is that the audience is allowed to go on the journey with the hero and discover as they do, but here it feels very rushed, as if they couldn't wait to get to the action scenes. And, as exhilarating as Superman's first taste of flight was, it felt awkwardly placed, as if Clark's journey wasn't yet complete. I guess you could say, no matter how much I enjoyed this moment in the film, by this point I didn't feel like Clark had earned it.
Despite these issues, on some level I was able to connect with Clark, and while I felt the connection could've been greater, there was enough there to give the action some wait when it did get going. The last thing I want is for the action to get underway and find myself not caring about who's affected by what's going on. The film nearly drops the ball on this one because of the origin scenes, but recovers enough, especially in Clark's relationships with his Earth father and Lois, to give the action some weight.
And boy, is there a lot of action in this movie; more set pieces than fist fights, but most of it is pretty spectacular. I'm personally not a huge fan of an overabundance of CGI as the primary source of entertainment, as it rarely ever feels tangible to me, but out of all the CG heavy movies I've seen in the last handful of years, this is the most entertained I've been by a movie of this kind. I mentioned how the emotional connection played a part in my enjoyment of these scenes, but even if it wasn't there, it still remains that this is the most physical, most brutal action of any superhero film to date, bar none.
Better than The Avengers, better than Nolan's Batman films, the action completely engulfs the second half of the film. It isn't marked by singular moments here and there, it isn't just effects that are cool to look at, you really do feel them. For a film that uses a lot of CGI to make this impression on me is both startling and satisfying.
As for the acting, most of it was satisfying. Henry Cavill is really good as Superman, but as Clark I feel there's still room for him to grow. Michael Shannon isn't amazing as general Zod, but he isn't terrible. I would say he does a solid job with what he's given, and I liked the complexity to his character's motivations. Both Russell Crowe and Kevin Costner are great as Clark's fathers, as well as Diane Lane. Amy Adams didn't wow me as Lois, even though I was ecstatic about her casting initially, but she grew on me and is definitely an acceptable Lois Lane.
Overall, I guess I would say that this isn't the greatest of origin films. The editing and structure of those earlier scenes keep this part of the film from excelling, and for that the origin as told in Superman: The Movie remains the best telling of the pre-Superman story. Once Clark dons the suit, though, that's when the movie really took off for me. I honestly wasn't very sure I was going to like the rest of the movie once it got to this point, but the action held up and there was enough emotion there to keep me satisfied and give the action some weight.
It's not a great superhero movie, but it's one of the better entertainments out there, superhero or not, and my favorite entertainment of the year so far. It's a nice start to this rebirth of Superman on film, and I'm interested to see where they'll take the character in the next film.
***/****