disappointment

Rating: 5/10 (31 July 2013)

I love Superman. He is my favorite character of all the DC and Marvel line up. He's virtuos, brave and loyal an outsider who puts others before himself with a high moral standpoint and a strong defense, he only uses when it's absolutely necessary. That being said I don't know much about the comics or history and wasn't a huge fan of the original movies although I did really like the first one. The one that I loved was Bryan Singer's now all of a sudden frowned upon reboot. Superman played by the perfectly casted Brandon Routh was heartbreakingly beautiful not just in his physicality but in his delicateness. Never before had his and Lois's relationship felt more prevalent or his connection to humanity felt more real. There was a real sense of awe and wonder in that film. Most people had an issue with that film because of the lack of action but most importantly the story was there and a real depth of emotional resonance. So with that I am sad to say that Man of Steel was such a huge disappointment to me. I didn't have the highest of hopes despite some amazing trailers the buzz began to come back very mediocre (not that you should always listen to it) and with the presence of a once promising Zack Snyder directing after many failed experiments( Sucker Punch, questionably Watchmen and even the visually strunning but ultimately souless 300. To this day his best film is still the Dawn f the Dead remake) I had my doubts. And it's kind of the same scenario here although not as huge of a misstep as sucker punch, Man of Steel lacks any real depth or story continuity. It feels rushed and forced with a ton of unnecessary action sequences and just not enough of anything that really counts to back any of it up. This is not the Superman that Christopher Reeve or Brandon Routh played. This version wants to be darker but ultimately comes off a bit too goffy with a frat boy sort of edge and a huge emotional imbalance. It doesn't help that the lead character is played by an actor that spends all of his time working out and none of it in the acting classes he should be taking. Not to say he was dreadful it's definitely a step up from his unintentionally funny turn in The Immortals, and he does have a few silent moments that felt just a little endearing. As for one of my favorite actresses Amy Adams as Lois Lane, she's not developed enough to be much of anything. Sure she's a bit feistier in this version and not much of a damsel but since there's no real emoitonal girth to any of it, it's hard to make any real relatable connection to their characters or their material. And they have zero chemistry. The wonderful Michael Shannon(so amazing in Take Shelter) hams it up as General Zod with some questionable performance choices as does Diane Lane as Superman's earth Mom. The only two people that stand mostly uneffected by the material except for a few goofy scenes are Russell Crowe as his real father and Kevin Costner as his earth father(the tornado scene aside). Oh and let's not forget the always dependable Chris Meloni as well. Despite an amazing setup the film slowly begins to fall apart into silliness from one shirtless Henry Cavill scene to the next. Everything thing feels rushed and none of it feel as engaging as it should be. The special effects seem to be the star here and they are impressive especially in Imax 3D, this is the first time Snyder had worked with a budget of this magnitude and he does have a bit of fun with it. As for the action scenes, they are cool but begin to get very repetitive and confusing. I can see that he was trying to do something new with all of it but it doesn't seem to translate as well as he hoped. And that really is the ultimate summation of this film. It's a decent effort but the direction is the real problem here it's ultimately to weak which leaves Man of Steel feeling joyless with no sense of wonder or emotional pull and just a tad bit dull. 2.5/5 LikeCommentShare