Good but not Super Good

Rating: 7/10 (27 June 2013)

I am a massive superman/superhero fan and ever since Man of Steel was announced I followed its progress right from development, casting, production, post production and finally its ultimate release. It's fair to say I had very high expectations for this film and I was sure it would be the ultimate superhero film and would stand up to the Dark Knight Trilogy quite well. After watching the film I was left feeling a little deflated at first. I expected to come out of the movie theater with an overwhelming sense of OMG but I didn't. After a couple of hours and once I had processed the story and the film I started to feel more optimistic about it. Visually Man of Steel is a feast for the eyes and Snyder has captured Superman in a way we have never seen on screen before. As for the film's star Henry Cavill, I was very happy with his overall performance. I think he is a far better hero then Brandon Routh and in my opinion matches up against Christopher Reeve quite well. As for the other players in the game I was left feeling a bit deflated. Amy Adams is good as Lois Lane (again far better than Bosworth from SR) and Michael Shannon is intense as the ruthless General Zod which makes a refreshing change from the boring character of Lex Luthor. Kevin Costner and Diane Lane where major let downs for me in the roles of supers earth parents. I am a huge fan of Diane Lane but I felt her performance in MOS is extremely lazy and lacks any form of depth. Costner in his small role as Jonathan Kent try's his best to make us believe in his character but ultimately fails in his attempt. Russell Crowe is good in the role of Jor El and does his best with some very cheesy and one dimensional dialogue. As for the overall storyline I think the David S. Goyer succeeded in his attempt to tell a modern Superman tale. He has changed superman from a cheesy boy scout to a hurt young man searching for his place in the world and his identity while trying to come to terms with his extraordinary abilities. This is as much Clark Kent's film then it is Superman's and Goyer has put a new spin on the origins of Superman by inventing new reasons as to why he has his powers, where the S (or symbols of hope) came from and he has given the character of Zod a deeper history and back story. Where Man of Steel fails for me is in its big attempt to be a realistic take on a well-known story ultimately becomes even more unbelievable with trigger happy fight scenes and cheesy dialogue. Man of Steel is a film with flaws, thankfully though these flaws don't overspill and make it a bad film. I feel we will need a second chapter in order to make this film better, the question is where does the story go from here?
7.5 out of 10