A Balanced Review (Please read before rating): Critics Too Hard on a Pretty Well-done Version of Superman

Rating: 8/10 (17 October 2013)

Instead of writing the typical review that only praises or slams a film, I'm going to try to write a review that's hopefully useful to those planning to see "Man-of-Steel" or those interested in thinking about the film.
Though this film isn't perfect, I think critics have been too tough on Man-of-Steel. The easiest way to show this is that 75% of critics liked 2006's"Superman-Returns," even though in that film, Superman's greatest adversary was a huge rocky landmass, a foe that was still somehow able to knock Superman unconscious in the end, even though it was, you know a huge rocky landmass. Superman-Returns' IMDb score is a notch above Transformers-2's score. Meanwhile, while only 55% of critics liked Man-of-Steel, Man-of-Steel's rating is higher than almost all non-Nolan comicbook-films.
I found 2006's "Superman-Returns" slow and uninspiring, but it did capture the tone of Christopher Reeves's original. Man-of-Steel takes Superman in a more realistic direction. If you wouldn't like a new take on the character, this film might not be for you, though it's not a total departure. When suited up, this Superman more resembles Reeves' hero. It's Man-of-Steel's version of Clark that sets it apart.
Man-of-Steel has young Clark growing up an outsider and misfit, and how his superpowers manifest help show this. His parents conceal his alien identity fearing how people and the government might treat him. When Clark's superpowers fully develop, his father comes to believe Clark's been sent here for a reason. After highschool, Clark becomes a drifter, searching for his life's purpose. Crosscutting between this present and his childhood past, these scenes give Clark's background with limited screen time, and they capture the iconic feel of Superman's Americana roots. However, unlike Reeve's "Superman" with its funny bumbling Clark, this film does not switch to a more light-hearted tone halfway through. So, it's fair when critics say the film isn't as "fun" as the Reeves' films. Still, the tone of this film is FAR from Nolan's dark Batman films. It isn't humorless, and while not as light as the original, it chooses to go with thrilling over "fun." What also separates Man-of-Steel from other versions is that Man-of-Steel makes Superman's powers truly seem "super." Man-of-Steel takes you into the action, which is pounding and concussive. It's a powerful experience. My wife, who gets scared on kiddie-coasters, almost thought it was too much, and it may be for some viewers, but again, the action captures superhuman-abilities in a way no other comicbook-film has, which is perhaps appropriate as Superman is the most powerful hero of all.
I also think Man-of-Steel is being held to an unfair standard, perhaps because Superman is so iconic. I'll compare Man-of-Steel to other films critics liked more to show why I think so. The well-received "Superman-2," in which Zod also appears, presents a one-dimensional Zod. In "Superman-2," Zod, like Loki in "The-Avengers," comes to Earth to rule over humanity, but if you think about it, this goal doesn't make much sense. If a regular person becomes a tyrant, he can do whatever he wants, and he's protected from violence and poverty, but if you're a super-being, you don't need to rule to have those things. If you want a beautiful woman or a huge mansion, you just take those things by force. Your power alone would allow you to have whatever you want. You wouldn't need to rule. Ruling would actually probably be a time-consuming headache--just meetings and paperwork.
Now, consider the more believable scenario in Man-of-Steel. Krypton was an incredibly complicated caste-society, and Zod, its military leader, was bred to ensure it survives. Since every one of the billions of Kryptonians is genetically-created to serve a specific role, Zod can only bring back his civilization by bringing back ALL its citizens, and since Krypton was a fully populated planet, re-making Earth leaves no room for us. Furthermore, Zod's terraforming of Earth into a new Krypton will make Earth's atmosphere uninhabitable for humans. So, the crisis faced in Man-of-Steel is the logical consequence of a believable goal. Zod isn't pure evil. He simply wants to save his civilization, and like Europeans coming to the Americas, he doesn't care that this will kill us. This goal makes much more sense than the generic rule-over-earthlings scenario that's been done-to-death.
Many critics also fault Man-of-Steel for falling into "video-game violence," but strangely these critics fail to fault other films more deserving of this criticism. Consider "The-Avengers" again, which I did like. In "The-Avengers," Loki sends the Citari, those armored-alien hairless-ape-like-things on flying-segways, to take over the Earth, but do they attack military bases or try to capture D.C.? No, they simply fly around Manhattan, targeting random civilians. Not the best military strategy, right? At the same time, bullets and arrows can kill them, so how are they a threat to the Hulk or Thor? So, a film loved by critics ends with 15-minutes of video-game violence that serves no purpose and doesn't threaten our heroes. At the same time, critics dismiss Man-of-Steel's ending, even though Zod's plan actually makes sense. Furthermore, we can see how much is at stake. We see lives being threatened, military personnel dying.
Then, once Zod's plot is foiled and Zod the only survivor, it's totally understandable why Zod wants to kill Superman. Superman has taken away Zod's sole purpose for living. So, the conflicts that end the Man-of-Steel hardly amount to video-game violence. Violence may not be your thing, but there's something really off about critics' faulting Man-of-Steel's action when they accept the more mindless violence of so many other comicbook-films.
There are problems with Man-Of-Steel. The fistfights on Krypton feel out-of-place, Zod should've captured Marth-Kent, and Superman's fight against the tentacle-thingy is unnecessary-CGI. Also, with so many comicbook-films out there and Superman's origin so well-known, Man-of-Steel can't help but feel a little redundant.
Still, the film works overall.
(BTW Superman did kill Zod in Superman-2!)