Overkill in the second half (i.e. boring)

Rating: 5/10 (16 June 2013)

The curious thing about movie action is that too much of it can be boring. Such is the case with the second half of "Man of Steel." The first half is a decent origin story for the hero, but the second half devolves into so much mindless action that I found myself bored despite all the "exciting" things going on. Say what you want about 2006's "Superman Returns," but it didn't make this mistake. "Superman Returns" had great character development and was engrossing, and more so as the story progressed. "Man of Steel" is the exact opposite: The more the story progressed the more detached I became.
"Man of Steel" has a lot going for it. For one, the cast is superb. Henry Cavill is the best actor to play Superman yet, and Amy Adams (Lois), Michael Shannon (General Zod), Russell Crowe (Supe's dad) and Kevin Costner (Clark's stepdad) are all fine here, not to mention Zod's female assistant, played by Antje Traue, who steals the show!
Like the original 1978 "Superman" with Christopher Reeve, the sci-fi in "Man of Steel" is stellar, only more so. Despite this, the first half's origin tale isn't as engrossing or entertaining as the first half of the '78 version. Still, it's not bad. Things go wrong in the second half, however, where one action scene is lumped on another with top-of-the-line F/X. It's similar to the Terminator films where two or more invincible inhumans pummel each other through walls and buildings, and humans shoot billions of ineffective rounds into them, except that the first three Terminator films keep your interest (especially the first two).
FINAL WORD: So my feelings are mixed on "Man of Steel." In many ways it's great filmmaking, but they fumble the ball in the most important department -- an interesting story and characters you care about. They somewhat succeed in the first half, but the second half is an overload of "exciting" action scenes that quickly wear out their welcome and bore the viewer.
The film runs 143 minutes but seems longer.
GRADE: C+