But there is no joy in Smallville —

Rating: 3/10 (17 June 2013)

Zack Snyder has struck out.

And so I thought sitting through the latest, and much too long, iteration of the Superman story.
The film opens well enough as Jor-El (Russell Crowe) comforts his wife Lara Lor-Van (Ayelet Zurer) as she births baby boy Kal-El. This is an unusual situation, though, as natural births have been outlawed to constrain a population which has already depleted its resources. The military leader, General Zod played by Michael Shannon, stages a coup, learns of the new baby, but is defeated and imprisoned along with his followers - vowing, of course, to seek out the baby in vengeance.
All of this occurs as the planet Krypton is physically coming apart at the seams. Jor-El and Lara send Kal-El in a ship to Earth, hoping he will be the sole survivor as the Krypton explodes.
After that, the film slowly and non-linearly devolves into a lengthy, noisy, and somewhat depressing tale of pointless noise, destruction, and death. Zack Snyder seemed to have placed all his energy into the look of the film... yes, there is nice cinematography, costumes, set designs, and elaborate fight choreography. However, much like the poem "Casey at the Bat", Snyder forgot to swing for two essential elements in this movie... emotion and Superman's good honor.
The first strike out is the lack of any genuine emotion in this movie. Characters stare open-mouthed as events unfold which should elicit screams, or cries, or looks of sorrow. If the characters do not care what is happening around them or to their fellow man in the film, why should the audience? The second strike out is the obvious and bizarre change in Superman's character. This super-hero has always had certain ethics which he learned form his Earthly parents and were unwavering, compassionate, and filled with, well, hope. In Synder's version, those ethics are briefly touched upon and then... discarded.
The third strike cannot be mentioned without spoiling the film. It left me incredulous and disgusted.
The film overall fails to be true to Superman's traits, is too long, and provides no emotional resonance. All spectacle without substance.