Disappointing view

Rating: 4/10 (11 January 2014)

I've come to the conclusion that advanced technology doesn't make a better film after watching this version of Superman. The first two Christopher Reeve movies were far superior and enjoyable. In fact the George Reeves TV show was more enjoyable that I watched as a kid. In an apparent quest to make Superman darker (and I noticed Christopher Nolan's name somewhere in the credits)all this film really did was to make the character soulless and completely without humour or any real personality. Whether that's the fault of the director or actor or scriptwriter or anything else I don't know but I really didn't care one way or another about the Superman character. In fact I was rather sorry that the great Michael Shannon (so good in TV's Boardwalk Empire) as General Zod suddenly and inexplicably met his demise. Or perhaps it was explained, but I was too confused by all the special effect to really care at this stage. I thought the first hour was boring and too wordy with wooden acting, especially by Russell Crowe who is normally much better than this, and was pleased when some action started which at least kept me from falling asleep in my armchair. I thought the script was full of holes and disjointed (or the editing was) and too childish for a film that was trying to act more grown up. Either it's an adult film like Batman or it's a kid's film, a clear demarcation should be made but it wasn't to me. On the plus side, there's a very minor part but wonderfully acted piece by Kevin Costner as Superman's Earth dad, the only semblance of humanity in the movie. Amy Adams is always a big draw for me as I love her, but this was a minor hiccup in her career. If only she'd got American Hustle first, she might not have bothered. I must say I did like the German actress, Antje Traue as Zod's sidekick who I have never seen before, she kept me watching. As for all the people who would have died through Superman's pursuit of Zod, smashing through buildings etc, well I thought Superman was supposed to care about people. Not in this movie! They would have needed a big graveyard at the end of this fiasco.