A lackluster exploration of comic book lore, devoid of heart, humor, depth, personality, conviction, and consistency.

Rating: 4/10 (3 July 2013)

Perhaps the most daunting task that comes with writing a story set in a surreal and fantastical world is balancing the equilibrium of pseudo-sophistication and uncanny self-awareness. This is a task that inherently requires much care and cleverness. I found Superman's latest theatrical treatment to be a lackluster exploration of comic book lore, devoid of heart, humor, depth, personality, conviction, and consistency. It seems to aim it's appeal at the portion of the audience who simply want to see the visual representation of characters and settings from the Superman mythology thrown onto the big screen for the sake of seeing themon the big screen. In fact, if it weren't for the size of the IMAX screen that I viewed this movie upon, my attention would have all but evaporated during the film. On the other hand, the pretentious length and overwhelming sensory assault of the climactic action sequence completely exhausted my attention for what was happening to whom and/or what on the screen. Paradox at its finest. From viewing the trailers released for this film, I was under the impression that Man of Steel was to be a coming-of-age story. This expectation was squelched by the time I could see where the story was going, but I will elaborate on that later. Dialogue from the trailer between a youthful Clark Kent and his father, played by Kevin Costner, hinted at the possibility of further exploration of Superman's place in society as a supernatural figure. "You have to keep this side of yourself a secret," Clark's father explains. "I have to believe that you were sent here for a reason." Through Clark's upbringing, he is instilled with the ethic that society is not yet capable of embracing, tolerating, or appreciating his true self, but that he has a greater purpose that cannot possibly be imagined. Until the appropriate time (e.g. a CG apocalypse consisting of invaders from his home world wreaking havoc on Earth), it is the safe and smart decision for Clark to exercise restraint in his special abilities, even if it means not acting in situations where his powers could benefit or even save the lives of others. This conflict of self-discipline versus compassion and human impulse could make for a convicting character arch. Unfortunately, the writing is far too incompetent for any empathy to be evoked from viewers as the motivations of Superman's character are cheated from the first frame of his reveal sequence; a reveal sequence that occurs BEFORE the implied "appropriate time" for Superman to exercise his powers in the presence of others. What makes this cheat even worse is that through a flashback sequence that occurs later in the film, we see our main character make a difficult choice during a time when his ethics are tested by a tragic scenario. He chooses to honor his ethics rather than act on impulse. But as viewers, we know that he is willing to compromise his ethics during less dire circumstances. This blatant inconsistency with no justification causes the viewer to lose any understanding or respect that they might have had for the character as well as the script. Those brief clips of dialogue between Clark and his earthly father in the trailer are about all we get as far as character development goes. There are some great casting choices here and the actors perform exceptionally well considering what they are given to work with. Unfortunately, most of these characters are missed opportunities. Amy Adams as Lois Lane is shamefully sidelined after a tease of an entrance for her character. Her first few lines suggest that her character is strong-willed, clever, ambitious, and well deserving of our attention (as well as more screen time). However, as the story progresses, she is diminished to the typical damsel in distress and doesn't even share a convincing romance with our hero. Every sequence throughout the movie exists purely as build-up for the third act: a prolonged, cliché, tiresome action sequence. Perhaps this scene would have held my attention if there had been some sort of humor interjected. I've seen so many CGI cities zapped by aliens that I've become desensitized to the whole visual spectacle by now. Audiences need another dynamic besides the boom factor in order to latch onto scenes like this. A few more laughs would have serviced this segment of the movie well. The only part that I found myself laughing at during the entire movie was a brief moment where Superman can be seen flying in the air, smashing through columns of a parking deck causing it to crumble to the ground. This parking deck was hardly an obstruction to his flight pattern. Superman must have just figured that because the bad guys were busy leveling the rest of the city in the background, one little parking deck wouldn't be missed by anyone. Of course, I have to believe that this comedy was unintentional, which brings us to the second greatest flaw of the movie (the first being the aforementioned character inconsistency): this film takes itself way too seriously. The tone and direction of this film can be summed up in one scene. In the beginning of the final action sequence, we see two characters fighting, throwing each other through buildings and spewing cliché dialogue. In one moment, a character is plummeted through the ceiling of an I Hop restaurant. Any other movie in the Superhero genre would have used this awkward choice of a set to a humorous advantage. But here, we don't get a punch line, just more "you underestimate my power"-esque lines. Gripping...I say skip this one.