Needs a Shot of Fun

Rating: Null/10 (19 June 2013)

Man of Steel (2013)
** 1/2 (out of 4)
Zach Snyder's attempt to reboot the franchise finds Clark Kent (Henry Cavill) secretly living on Earth after his planet was destroyed. He struggles with himself over whether or not he should put his "talents" to use but soon he has no choice when General Zod (Michael Shannon) comes to Earth looking for him. Everything from the acting to the sets to the special effects look quite good here but could someone had found a few extra bucks in the budget to allow for some type of story with some character development? Look, I understand the darkness that Christopher Nolan brought to the Batman films worked wonderful but that same dark tone doesn't transform to this film and I think the biggest sin about MAN OF STEEL is the fact that it's just not that fun. I thought Cavill did a good job with what he was given but the screenplay really didn't make Clark Kent or Superman all that interesting. Amy Adams is a fine actress but she's given nothing to do. Russell Crowe, Kevin Costner and Lawrence Fishburn are all fine actors and do nice things with their roles but they too are letdown by the screenplay. Shannon is always fun to watch but he's pretty much just given a generic villain role. The special effects for the most part are excellent but at the same time I think they're so overpowering that you can't help but feel that they suck any life away from what little story there is. I'm going to avoid ruining what happens but the major scene with Costner just lacks any emotional connection as does the entire set up of Russell sending his son away from the dying planet. Snyder certainly knows how to put cool images on the screen but at the same time I really see nothing from this film or his previous works that shows he can handle characters. MAN OF STEEL isn't a bad movie but it's just not a good one either and it's a shame they forget to make it fun.