Brilliant production ruined by the most basic silly flaws

Rating: 4/10 (20 October 2013)

The first thing to say is that Man of Steel is superbly produced. The presentation, except for some of the final fight scene CGI, is flawless. The cast is great, all performing brilliantly within the confines of their characters. If the word verisimilitude has no meaning or relevance to you, you will likely LOVE this film. It will be an extreme let down to anybody else.
It starts at the very beginning where the motivation for sending baby Cal-El off to earth on his own is so weak it is literally unbelievable. Dad thinks that Krypton race is doomed. Why not accompany a baby across the galaxy? Well, the new born is better off on his own, apparently. Nothing to do with technology or inability to accompany him. Just, "Sorry kiddo, we think you need to do this one alone." What baffles me is how easy it is to come up with a better excuse (e.g."they can't track a craft that small").
Almost every act leaves you with a similar proverbial bitter taste in the mouth.
The inconsistency is infuriating, be it the super speed of Faora-Ul which superman doesn't have or the radiation making superman super but a quick change in atmosphere and he's as mortal as the next guy (honestly, I preferred the mythical Kryptonite. It just 'was'.)
The plot devices are nauseating. "Zod wants that woman." No reason, other than so superman can hand over his 'key' to her to enable their escape. The horror movie style announcement by Zod, Lois scaling ice cliffs to follow some strange dude, etc etc etc.
The style and settings are gritty but the Kryptonians don't get dirty in all the explosions and dust. All the attention went into the CGI detail, it seems - actual detail be damned.
Superman spends his life being extra careful but then takes a fight into Smallville and likely this causes the death of a large number of people - very super! I guess the director getting his "Wild West" street stand off shot trumps reason. When talking about creating a black hole to defeat Zod's craft, the omission of the word 'temporary' makes eyes roll. I could go on, and on, and on.
Having to mentally contend every few minutes with such basic, mind numbingly dumb issues - most of which could have easily written out the script - constantly ruins an otherwise potentially great film. Michael Shannon steals the show as Zod, a brilliant bad guy with believable motivation and the plot is more than good enough. The chemistry between Cavill and Adams is palpable, who pull off their characters very well too. It was a refreshing take on an overly-repeated product. I liked the way Jonathan Kent was forward thinking about his son's powers, and lots of fresh ideas were there.
However the "end" of Man of Steel is a total car crash. The death and destruction on display are overwhelming, and the whole sequence is just so over the top. Zod takes superman on a battle through the ashes of Metropolis that you wish would be over just as soon as it leaves the ground, with superman at no point trying to take it somewhere that doesn't involve the probable death of many people. It's funny how superman only decides to give a damn about human life when it's time to kill Zod.
It would have been a fairly simple exercise to reconcile the contradictions in Man of Steel and write out the nonsense. However, films are all marketing these days and this was a very marketable one with many ready-for-trailer shots. Who cares that it requires viewers to completely shut down their brains? Not Zack Snyder, certainly.
Will you enjoy it? Is my 4/10 harsh? As I end this review, my girlfriend finishes watching it and says, "Why did you say it was stupid? What was stupid?" Well if your standards are low like hers, then you will have an exhilarating experience.