A human tale about a God

Rating: 7/10 (11 July 2013)

This Superman movie goes right up there with Superman (1978) and Superman 2 (1980). It gives you all of the god like wonder about the man of steel but also the only slightly touched upon human side of him. You see all of his strengths and some of his very small, very real weaknesses. They show you how even an indestructible man can feel fragile and helpless. Best of all you see how Clark Kent grows into Superman, and how he learns to put his faith and trust into the people of Earth, something all but brushed aside in other Superman movies.
What really helps this movie out are his interactions with Lois Lane. Now, I've always felt that no matter what issue of Superman I read, no matter what program or movie they gave me that Lois Lane would forever be the most unworthy woman in the world to hold Superman/Clark Kent's affection as she did. But here in this movie, I feel that for the first time she is the only woman who truly "gets" him; This is because the writers and director didn't go for the traditional "infatuation with the most handsome God since Thor" route. They wrote it so that she listens to the man behind the power and grows with him from then on. They are presented as equals; emotionally if not mentally or physically. So even though Amy Adams was a weird casting choice, she embodied everything that a super hero's heroine should be.
The symbolism that is always attached to Superman is front and center here. They present him as a Savior, a Soldier, and the poster child for Justice. And boy, does Henry Cavill pull it off. With him at the helm of this movie dozens of people will go back for seconds.
The characterization for all of the iconic characters are superb, maybe even outstanding and the battle sequences are brutal enough. The bad guys (Zod and his followers) really do their job and above all truly believe in what they are doing. To them there is no other option but to destroy Earth to save Krypton. The only issue is that (and I guess it couldn't be helped) the destruction of the buildings looked slightly unbelievable. It was too perfect to be real. That was all, and yet not nearly enough to deter you from enjoying the movie. 7.4/10