Effective overall, but lacking in substance

Rating: 6/10 (21 July 2013)

Let me start off by saying that I have never, ever picked up a comic book. Any knowledge I have of superheroes stems from watching the films.
Man of Steel delivers on what it is supposed to. It is big, bold and entertaining. This was the summer tent pole for Warner Brothers, and, on that premise, it delivers. But, for me, it lacked in many departments. I found myself unable to connect with the characters, particularly with Lois Lane. This is nothing against Amy Adams, but more the way her character itself was presented. The last twenty minutes or so felt a bit flat and certainly didn't build up to a big enough ending to suggest this would be a one off film, nor did it conclude on a manner in which a sequel could easily be drawn from.
Superman is such that any film will be difficult to effectively convey on the scale of the man himself. He is portrayed as being like a God on Earth, and the special effects and fight scenes had to be big enough to get this across to the viewer. But this occasionally seemed too over-the-top and Transformers-like, and now is just one in a long line of movies that seems to believe that the viewers can be overwhelmed with an array of (admittedly impressive) special effects and explosions.
Big is not always better, and I found that this lacked the depth of the Batman trilogy, and to a lesser extent the Avengers. It's a good film, but at nearly 135 minutes, did drag at times. 6/10 for me.