Neither the Superman We Deserved Nor the One We Needed.

Rating: Null/10 (18 November 2013)

In the ever expanding universe of comic-book superheroes, Superman is quite possibly the greatest of them all. However, filmmakers have tried & failed time after time in bringing his larger-than-life persona to the silver screen in a convincing manner. And ever since Batman Begins showed the world how to do a superhero film right, almost every single one of them has only gone back to the drawing boards for a new beginning & a movie about Superman was only in the queue.
Having no relation whatsoever with any of the previous Superman films, Man of Steel tells the story of Clark Kent who while growing up learns about his extra-terrestrial heritage & journeys to discover his true identity as well as the purpose of his life. Keeping himself as anonymous as possible, he's ultimately forced to reveal his identity, confront his heritage & save mankind from complete annihilation when other survivors from his long-extinguished planet invade Earth while looking for him.
I guess the best way to proceed would be to simply go ahead with what worked for the film & what didn't. Let's starts with the positives first. David S. Goyer's idea to re-envision the mythology of Superman has more rights than wrongs but it isn't executed properly. Second, is Henry Cavill. Fitting the suit perfectly, Cavill is terrific in the iconic role & also has a pretty domineering screen presence but the emotional dimension of his character is poorly written which unfortunately leaves a void in what could've been a brilliant rendition of Superman.
Third, is its action n visual effects which was expected to be larger than life & Man of Steel delivers on that front. The carnage, destruction & mayhem present in its action sequences is a visual treat that's jaw-dropping to look at. And the final positive in my opinion, is Hans Zimmer's heavily electronic but truly magnificent score. Synchronising beautifully with the events of the film & elevating the action scenes to newer heights with its loud & grandeur tracks, the soundtrack of Man of Steel is possibly the only aspect with no complaints.
As far as the negatives are concerned, I'll try to keep it short, if possible. To start with, the entire film has no element of surprise at all & is overloaded with clichés of its genre. Despite being directed by Zack Snyder & few inputs from Christopher Nolan, the style never really resembles to either of them. The non-chronological arrangement doesn't work out as the flashback sequences only act as interruptions to the main story at hand. The dialogues are corny, pale & "eff-ing stupid". But that's not all for I got a few more things to complain about.
Cinematography adds a shade of grey to the story as if Superman was living in Gotham. Its slow pacing & predictable narration makes it quite boring with relief only coming from the action moments in the second half. The characters are poorly developed in the script which didn't help the performances either. Amy Adams is mediocre as Lois Lane, Russell Crowe is very annoying as Jor-El & Michael Shannon kept hamming as General Zod. Rest are even stupider than the above stated apart from Diane Lane who did good in her role of Martha Kent.
I think the biggest issue with Man of Steel is that it tries way too hard to resurrect its fallen hero by applying the same method that worked so well in Batman Begins, thinking that it'll work for Superman as well. What Goyer, Nolan & Snyder fail to grasp is the fact that both Batman & Superman are two highly contrasting icons who are influenced by very dissimilar circumstances in their hugely different worlds. While the world of The Caped Crusader is dark, the world of Superman plus his suit is brightly lit & full of colours & not all dark tinted like it is in this picture.
On an overall scale, in spite of all its flaws, inconsistencies & shortcomings, Man of Steel somehow manages to do enough to justify a sequel and although it tries to sell the origin story of Superman like Batman (something at which it fails miserably), the film nevertheless succeeds in seducing the majority of its mainstream audience with its eye-popping visual extravaganza and, just like the usual summer blockbusters, is more style & less substance. So, does the entire ordeal of restarting the story of Superman gets it right this time? The answer is a simple NO!