Must see for any action fan.

Rating: 9/10 (17 June 2013)

This is arguably Zack Synder's best film yet, I saw 'arguably' because Watchmen is a masterpiece. In my view this is the best Superman film since 1978. It tells the story of an immensely powerful being caught between two worlds and ultimately having to make a choice of which he cares about more.
The expansion of Kryptonian back story is an amazing start to the film. I could also talk about the 40 minute action scene at the climax. I could start with how wonderfully cast both "fathers" in this movie are, with Kevin Costner actually having a father/son scene that made me well up. Instead, I think I'll start at the beginning.
"Krypton is doomed." I cannot tell you how excited I was to actually hear this line spoken.
Russell Crowe and Michael Shannon are playing opposite ends of the spectrum as the only men on their doomed planet that are not ignoring the coming apocalypse. One, Crowe's Jor El, is a man of science who looks to Krypton's past as a means of prolonging a species that has isolated itself from the rest of the universe and grown stagnant. The other, Michael Shannon having a ball playing maniacal yet clear-headed General Zod, a bred warrior who pounces on perceived weakness and wishes to cull only the healthiest stock Krypton has to offer in an attempt to build the strongest species they can. This all culminates as Jor-El launches his newborn son, the first natural born Kryptonian in centuries, into space in an attempt to save, at the very least, the spirit of what Krypton once was and wipe away the bleak mess that it has become. This brings us to Kal-El...the Last Son of Krypton....Superman.
Christopher Reeve set an impossible standard for the Superman of that era. There have been more than 30 years of contemporary development of the character in that time. With that in mind, Henry Cavill delivers a performance that is near perfect with a Superman that would exist today. He mixes a presence of amazing power with the innocent want to simply do good that some one playing this character needs.
When I say "would exist today" some might brush this off as me saying he's more cynical or darker, as seems to be the consistent tone with super hero movies. That's not the case at all. Essentially, MAN OF STEEL actually captures the comic book Superman in a way that even the classic Richard Donner movie did not. There is no campiness here. There is no action scene lightened by a man's toupee flying off. There is no 1970s pimp saying "That is a BAD outfit. Woooooo!" Instead what we get is a Superman that has much more character than the caricature of a super powered boyscout. Superman is lonely and Cavill portrays him as a constantly wandering nomad looking for answers. Stuck in a world he calls home but can never truly belong to. From the first time we meet the 33 year old Clark Kent, we can see that he is a product of his Earth father's upbringing and his Kryptonian father's wishes. He just wants to do good because he TRULY believes that is why he is here.
On the other end, we've got Michael Shannon. This guy can't do anything wrong right now. His General Zod is not the over the top, moustache twister that Terrence Stamp portrayed him as in Superman 2. This Zod is a patriot. He is doing all he can to preserve the continuation of his glorious Kryptonian race and so help you if you happen to get in his way. If anything he is not vengeful or evil, but violently confused at Kal-El's reluctance to participate in his plan for a new, stronger Krypton. You get the feeling that, under different circumstances, Zod and Kal-El could have been friends.
My biggest complaint would be that, at times, the story feels like it's rushing past for the sake of all the content. Where I would have loved one or two more lines from Superman to an Army General, instead we have to shoot quickly to another setting to keep the pace going. I would say that this is forgiven from simply the amount of material, characters, and themes they are able to successfully pull off in this movie. Beyond being just a super hero movie, this is also an alien invasion movie, with all the typical set pieces you would imagine from soldiers on the ground attempting to take down rogue Kryptonians to the US Air Force woefully unprepared for Zod's minions.
Which brings us to the action....wow. There are several super hero action sequences that are up there for me. The Avengers vs. The Chitauri...the train chase sequence in Spider-Man 2...Superman vs. Zod in Superman 2...you get the idea. The action in this movie is without a doubt the best on-screen visualization of what a fight between several people that are capable of flight, super speed, heat vision, super strength, super speed, etc. that I've ever seen. The final fight scene in Metropolis is tragic in its imagery, with some shots that could easily be seen as a reflection of 9/11. Buildings crumble, people die amid bad guys and good guys duking it out.
For me the best part of the movie was the last 10 minutes or so. In which we get a summation of what's to come for this world now that an alien super hero is a part of it.
I expected that I would like MAN OF STEEL. I wasn't expecting that I would walk away not being able to wait to see it again on Saturday.