Lays The Groundwork for What Could Be a Perfect Superman Movie

Rating: 7/10 (19 June 2013)

Ever since his first appearance in Action Comics #1, Superman has been an American icon. Being the first real comic book superhero, it was only fitting that he be brought to the big screen properly for modern audiences. With Zack Snyder's "Man of Steel," I don't necessarily think this is the Superman film we've been waiting for all these years, but I do think what we got is something that set us off in the right direction.
This is another take on the origin story of Kal-El, a baby born in the last days of the planet Krypton who is sent to Earth by his father (Russell Crowe), where he is raised by a simple farm family, the Kents (Kevin Costner and Diane Lane). Raised as Clark Kent, he discovers that on this planet, he has magnificent powers that he eventually decides to use to protect humanity as Superman. This is a story that nearly everyone knows, but "Man of Steel" takes some different story beats that definitely lead down a darker, more emotional and realistic path that I really enjoyed.
One of the strongest elements of the film is the casting, particularly the casting of Superman and his fathers. Henry Cavill definitely showed flashes of greatness in this film, and while he hasn't given a character-defining performance here like Christopher Reeve did in Richard Donner's "Superman," I definitely believe that Cavill has the potential to grow into that perfect Superman for modern audiences. The true standouts, however, are Crowe and Costner as Jor-El and Jonathan Kent, respectively. Both of these men gave performances that elevated the emotional weight of this film beyond that of a typical comic book movie, Costner in particular. Amy Adams also does a fine job, probably giving us the best Lois Lane yet.
However, this film is not without it's faults. I think the pacing felt awkward in the second half particularly. The film was primarily split off in two halves, a story-driven first half and an action-packed second. I enjoyed the action in this film for the most part, but after a while, it started to feel sort of dull and lifeless. It was borderline excessive for this movie, but I also think that the problem with the action in this movie is that it was so separated from the story elements. If the action would have been more interspersed among emotional, character driven sequences, they probably would have seemed more special when they happened, but instead, the action sort of felt redundant after a while.
Despite its faults, "Man of Steel" is a really enjoyable film. While it's not the Superman film I've always wanted to see, I think the groundwork has now been set. I'm very excited to see where the sequels take us from here, because now that everything is established, we can now have a Superman movie we've been waiting for. And as far as the origin story goes, "Man of Steel" is a great way to set up this DC Universe. I can't wait to see where Big Blue goes from here!