Watched Twice and Considerably Less Impressed the Second Time

Rating: 7/10 (16 February 2015)

This movie played real tricks on me. When I first watched it in the theater I was blown away. I loved the film and considered it part of my top five superhero films. I thought the movie was flawless and the best rendition to date of Superman. I couldn't wait to watch it again.
Let us move the clock forward to yesterday; I watched it again and the euphoria wasn't there. I felt like the guy who won the lotto and finds out he's sharing it with 40 other people. What I glossed over the first time was just glaringly obvious the second time around.
The things I liked before and still like are the special effects, the story to some degree and the nemeses. It was an excellent display of Superman's powers, how he found them and how he was able to use them. I never tire of his super strength, flying and acts of heroism. And the villains... bravo. Zod was the leader, yes, but his right hand woman, Faora Ul (Anjte Traue), stole the show with her ruthlessness and fighting prowess. There was quite a bit of destruction when it was all said and done... OK that's an understatement, there was massive destruction which would have resulted in the loss of thousands of lives and whereas fighting on that level is kind of cool, there is a saturation point. But, apocalypse level destruction aside, there were some darn good battles between Kal El and Zod and crew.
As for the aspects of the movie I didn't like but glossed over initially: the dialog was so-so if not mawkish at times. There were some scenes put in there as well as some lines put in there in order to convey a deeper sense of purpose and meaning to Superman, which is where I think the movie tends to veer off course. They even repeated a particular Messianic pose that had me rolling my eyes at Superman Returns. Then there was Lois Lane. In order to get us up to speed on what her character is all about (i.e. a no nonsense dogged reporter) they introduced us to her at a military setup where she was unwelcome yet she was going to show them who's boss. And of course, no Superman movie is complete without saving his main squeeze at least three to five times.
What I gather from my two different experiences is that seeing my first movie in 3D was mesmerizing and skewed my judgment. Because, essentially that's what happened. I had never seen a movie in 3D before, I saw this one and I was so impressed I ignored the other cinematic flaws. Well, watching a movie on my 13" MacBook is a better test because you better have a very good product to make it awesome on a laptop. The movie was good but it sure wasn't great.