Sometimes less is more

Rating: 5/10 (24 June 2013)

One of the sadder things about MOS is that the trailers are literally better than the movie. They hint at a dark undertone to the film and the story of a young man struggling to come to terms with who he is. In other words they suggest its going to give you something to think about.
For what its worth I think the makers may well have had this intention when they set out, but something clearly got lost along the way. What we're left with is a shaky story and appalling script mixed in with a few cool ideas and nifty special effects.
Admittedly the film opens well enough, the scenes on Krypton were interesting enough to grab your attention and seemed to set the film running away nicely, even if some of it was bit too 'cartoony' for my tastes (riding flying dinosaurs - really?).
Russell Crowe is entertaining enough and I enjoyed most scenes with him in. The alien spaceships and armour were very cool.
Unfortunately the good bits pretty much end there. I found Kevin Costner's character's ethics very hard to believe - he would rather innocent kids die than anyone get wind of Clarke's powers? At least he was consistent, he seemingly threw away his own life for the same reason. I found it hard to believe Clarke would stand by and let that happen. Not only that, but years later he didn't seem to have any self doubt that he'd made the right decision but yet consistently went against his father's wishes by saving people and risking his secret. Bizarre.
Also equally hard to fathom is how long it takes the US military to work out superman is on their side. Cheesy and clichÃ©d writing, which brings me on to the quality of the script.
The script itself is almost a parody a super-hero film at times. At one point Zod says 'there is only one way this is going to end, you or I will die' - I actually couldn't believe my ears. Was the person who wrote that line seriously happy with their days work? Cant believe it made the cut on such a big budget movie and really suggests that script was not a priority for the makers of this film. Sadly there are plenty more lines like it scattered throughout. I find it interesting that Ben Affleck turned this down and then made a comment about choosing his movies on the strength of the script, rather than the size of the budget.
Special effects are good - sometimes its what you go to the cinema to see. Zach Snyder however clearly doesn't believe in the 'less is more' school of thought. You see, if you constantly show nothing but amazing special effects, at first they lose their impact. Then they become boring. Watching the superhumans throw each other through buildings might have been impressive the first time it happened. By the 20th occurrence, I was nodding off. No need for it and no thought behind it. It actually made the film start to drag as none of it developed the story any further.
Finally Superman himself. I think its fair to say the jury is out on Henry Cavill. I suspect I know why. He makes a good superman, he looks the part. The trouble is, the lead role in any superhero movie is not really the superhero. Its their alter ego. Cavill is a pretty bland Clarke Kent. For me this lack of realisation from the director/producers etc is the film's biggest weakness. In my opinion the most successful superhero movies of recent times, have been because the films have really been about the man behind the mask. Bruce Wayne, Tony Stark, even Peter Parker. These are the real stars of those films and the actors do great jobs. In this film, even when not in costume, superman is just superman, Clarke Kent isn't really in it at all.
The score is a reflection of my personal preference, I like a story, a witty script, something more than just SFX. If however you like a special effects bonanza and don't really care about plot too much you wont be disappointed.