Superman is back, but not for the better.

Rating: 7/10 (9 December 2013)

There are things to like in Man of Steel. Hans Zimmer's score is excellent. The cape looks great. The CGI is good and the first battle is well choreographed. The movie introduces a powerful threat I, not being versed in Superman lore, was interested to see. The acting is, for the most part, decent. So one could safely leave the theater thinking it was a good superhero film, that is until they go home, undress, get into bed, and look up at the ceiling. Then as the movie begins to sink in, they roll their eyes and mutter with disgust "Snyder..."
What am I getting at? This is a movie that is one third great, two thirds mediocre. There is some strange dialogue and acting that is hilariously bad. Superman is far more careless and destructive than he ought to be. The final battle is boring, dumb action. The story telling is disjointed and incoherent, as it constantly flashes back to random parts of Clark's life. Superman and Lois are also not particularly memorable, and Zod is busy acting like a ham most of the time. Jonathan Kent's scenes are by far the worst as his actor gives emotionless deliveries spewing words like "the world is not ready" that really hold no meaning here and were shoved in simply to invoke a cheap sense of drama. The infamous Tornado scene is one of the stupidest things I've ever seen.
But at least Faora is awesome. Watch the movie, if just for her.