Overwhelming?

Rating: Null/10 (15 June 2013)

Let's start with the good, albeit qualified: Cavill is a fine Superman, but the nature of this origin story means that many of Supes' most endearing characteristics are never developed. For all intents and purposes there is no Daily Planet Clark Kent in this movie, and thus the schizophrenic charm of Reeves' performances is unable to develop in this film. A real shame. Also too bad: the film's other standout performances by Costner and Crowe likely won't be reprised in the sequels, unless of course the next film opts for even more flashbacks than its predecessor.
Unfortunately, the promise of these performances is betrayed by a variety of production choices. There is an interesting story here about Superman's ambivalent relationship to his home world and his adoptive planet, Earth. This theme is rightly threaded through the film's villain, General Zod, another fascistic character committing foul deeds for the supposed greater good of his race. For the purposes of an origin story, Zod makes for a much stronger villain than the usual Lex Luthor. Too bad these thematic threads become tangled in all kinds of excess:
How many flashbacks of young Clark saving humans whilst becoming a social pariah are necessary to establish, well, just that? Do we learn anything new whether Clark is saving school children from a sinking bus or oil miners from a sinking oil rig? I think not-- and it's too bad because either of those scenes might have been fine on their own merit, but are spoiled by this excessive redundancy.
The same can be said for the film's sound. As usual, Zimmer sends drums and horns at the audience like a freight train to mind-numbing effect. Quick test: hum Williams' Superman theme. Great, me too. Now hum Zimmer's... didn't think so. Sound effects suffer likewise: a constant percussive mess that refuses us a quiet moment. Even when Superman flies--a truly graceful event in the Donner film/s ("You'll believe a man can fly")--has to be underscored with sonic booms in this version.
This leaves us with Snyder. To cut through his script's excesses, he performs a series of miracle jump cuts, launching our characters to various locations without even telling us why they go there. Perhaps the most jarring teleports Lois and Clark from a secret government base to the middle of the desert BEFORE telling us that's where they are to confront Zod! Huh?! (Perhaps Snyder is taking a page from Nolan's equally inexplicable jump cutting in The Dark Knight Rises).
That said, Snyder's directing is not in itself the film's fatal flaw, though his creative management of the project certainly is. The final sequence in Metropolis is particularly disturbing. Remember how badly Supes wanted to avoid fighting Zod in urban area in Superman II? Never mind here. Supes happily smashes through skyscraper after skyscraper in this showdown, resulting in untold loss of lives. Meanwhile, righteous human soldiers and scientists sacrifice themselves to stop this alien threat that Superman has brought upon THEM! The whole idea that Superman is the persecuted one becomes a bit muddied when he is at least partially to blame for massive loss of human life. And to cap it all off, in the midst of a Metropolis that looks like it has been nuked, he shares a passionate kiss with Lois Lane! Not sure that moment rings true or even vaguely rational. It is certainly not sympathetic.
These kinds of creative choices damn some fine thematic ideas and generally good performances. Here's to hoping the sequel corrects course.