Not your parent's man of Steel, But that is Not a Bad Thing.

Rating: 9/10 (19 June 2013)

Let me preface this by saying that I am a comic book dork, and a huge Superman fan. (Note I did not go to watch MOS with a Superman shirt, or a cape on). Man of Steel is definitely worth seeing if you want to see a movie that definitely can put checkmarks in all of the necessary categories for "Summer blockbuster." The special effects and action are amazing. Super-errr the Man of Steel should definitely have to face a threat that can affect the entire planet, I mean after all he is a character of incredible power, and a threat to the entire planet is what he faces. The effects show the grand scope of the storyline, and make everything seem realistic (well as realistic as fake computerized stuff can be). Amy Adams does a great job as Lois Lane. At first, I was a little iffy on this. I mean, come on, the woman from the Muppets? She did an amazing job, showing both the feistiness that epitomizes Lois Lane, while that the same time showing compassion for Superman as well as the rest of humanity. Kevin Costner did a great job adding humanity to a story about all-powerful aliens, and I am not a Costner fan. Michael Shannon was awesome. Props for not trying to recreate the Terrence Stamp Zod. Shannon puts his stamp (ha!) on the character. I found that villains are at their best when they think they are really the hero. Zod only wanted to find a home for his people. Yeah, so he is going to wipe out an entire planet to do it, but his intentions are still for the good of his people. Laurence Fishburne is. Well Laurence Fishburne. The last time he did a bad acting job was Nightmare on Elm Street Part 3 (and he was still much better than everyone else in the movie was). Now there some things about the movie I did not like. The start of the film, about what happened on Krypton was too long. I felt it could have been a little shorter. I don't think people care that much about Krypton. Henry Cavill looked the part of Superman, but he is the weak link acting wise in this job. I tried to give him some leeway for having to use an American.. Kryptonian Kryptonian-American accent, but still he was bad, although not bad enough to ruin the movie. Also, I felt that there was no good humor in the story. Even horror movies (okay, maybe not the Exorcist) have moments of humor. The humor in MOS feels flat to be honest. Now, about the "controversial" aspects of the movie. Whine #1: "This isn't how it was in the source material!" Hey, the same people that are saying that didn't say it with other Superhero movies. An Al Qaeda rip off did not kidnap Tony Stark, Thor is a God not an alien, and Batman was not trained by Ra's Al Ghul! It's based on the original story, that doesn't mean it IS the original story. To put it simply, get over it. Whine #2 (SPOILER ALERT) No really (SPOILER ALERT) just to be safe (SPOILER ALERT), "Superman killed!" Yes, even I have to admit that at first this stunned me. The theatre I saw the movie in went completely silent, and that is more than likely what the makers wanted. It was a powerful and downright stunning moment. I am not going to get into the argument about "Well in Superman II, Superman throws Zod down into an icy death." Actually now that I think about it, Lois Lane clocked Ursa into the same said icy death. Pulitzer Prize winning murderer! But, I will say that the reasoning was there. Yeah, sure Superman probably could have stopped Zod from trying to eye fry those folks by flying away, but it would not have had the impact that it had on the audience if Zod went to jail. Plus, I felt that Superman's horror and remorse at what he had done (Cavill's best acting in the movie) was almost as powerful as killing Zod himself. Everyone, and I mean everyone, at some point does something that goes against their values, and none of us are put in as serious of a situation as Superman. Whine #3: "This is not my Superman!" You are right, he's not. He (SPOILER ALERT AGAIN..) killed Zod, Lois knows his secret identity, and his underwear was under his pants (or Supes went commando). Times change people, and characters change. Originally, Batman, the guy that never carries a gun, used to carry a gun in his early stories! No one bring that up. Superman changed, ever so slightly, and so have the times (although I am saddened by that to an extent). He fights to save humanity, he has a moral compass that guides him, and he believes in the sanctity of life. It is because of that belief in the sanctity of life that he killed. Yes, that is a paradoxical statement, but when it comes down to it, he chose to kill a man that would kill billions in order to save some innocent lives. As far as I am concerned, that is a decision that Superman would make,. Damn, my hands hurt from typing! What it really comes down to is Man of Steel a movie for you? If you want the comic book Supes, pick up the comic books, since that is the only place you are going to get him. However, if you want to watch an enjoyable summer movie, with amazing special effects and action, and see Superman brought to life once again on the big screen, then go see Man of Steel.