Superman is no longer a Comic Book Character.

Rating: 10/10 (4 August 2013)

Not after being Treated by Zack Snyder. So where Watchmen gave us a fairly true frame by frame representation of that graphic novel, this film takes "Superman" Canon and gives it some nice new flesh- In more ways than one.
Russell Crowe's "Jor-El" was basically the same man we met in the Comic Books from the 60's, and his agenda is much the same as that Jor-El: He knew Krypton was going to be blown into chunks and he wanted to save something of his culture. Basically, in the 60's this culture was in the form of his son, "Kal-El" aka "Clark Kent" aka "Superman".
But over the years in the comics and other movies, the idea that Jor-El may have put some kind of documentation about the planet Krypton in Kal's spacecraft has crept up into the Canon. In the original 1979 film and the later "Superman Returns" sequel, this was in the form of a crystal memory. In this film, it takes yet another form.
What we have in this film is not a chronological re-telling of the Superman Origin story- What we get instead is a representation of who Kal-El really is, and how he got that way. Not merely his Super-Powers, but his reasons for using or not using them.
So we don't see any of the iconic imagery of Clark Kent using a Phone Booth to change into his Blue Suit. Instead we delve into the real character of Superman and what makes him different from this General Zod guy.
We've seen Superman treated as the comic book character he is through the old Serials and the George Reeves TV show, and in 1979 we believed he could fly due to Christopher Reeve's portrayal, but in those days Lex Luthor was a cardboard cutout of a crook and thorn in Supie's side. So over the years we have seen the maturation of the franchise. There are also decades of story that have elapsed since the original comics came out. So, how are we going to handle it this time? By making the characters much more believably human. Even in "Superman Returns" there was a trickle of more mature story mixed in with the basic Lex Luther comedy, but here the old Comic Book aspects have been spirited away. Does this mean that there is a darker story happening? Maybe. But if there is a more realistic story happening on a human level, that is what sets this film aside as a different approach.
And this is seen in the short vignettes between Jonathan Kent and Clark, in the short pontifications of Jonathan (Played by Kevin Costner). Diane Lane becomes Martha Kent and is also part of Clark's conscience and consciousness. And where Lois Lane was simply a female in years past, she is now a trusted confidant played by Amy Adams, willing to keep Clark's secret.
Other regular "Superman 'Verse" characters are shown, Pete Ross and Perry White and others, and their spirit if not their original appearances have been kept.
It's just the idea of seeing "Clark" backing down from an aggressor who he could knock over with his Pinky - In other films, they actually had Superman beating up bullies. But here, the concept of the real damage that could be wreaked by a blow from Kal-El's fist is respected, and his Restraint becomes more pronounced.
This film is almost wrecked by the resurrection of the "Zod" character who first appeared in the 80's Superman movies, but they gave him more dimensions and that made it less of the Monologuing bad guy and more of a nemesis, and the threat to the planet was just a wee bit more sinister than "Superman II" where these cronies simply wanted to take over the planet. Oh, they still want to take over the planet, but it's not the same thing as was proposed in "Superman II."
It's not that I didn't love the Superman TV show when I was a kid, or the cartoons, or hundreds and hundreds of comic books, and the several movies of the 80's plus the "Donner Cut" of Superman II, which was partially used in Superman Returns, and I like this one as well...
But NOBODY has ever made a Superman Movie where they showed Jor-el, Lara, Jonathan and Martha Kent, Lois Lane and Lana Lang. Perry White, Jimmy Olsen, The Bottle City of Kandor, The Fortress of Solitude with the huge golden key Supie would heft to open it, Bizarro World, Professor Potter, or even my favorite Supie Crooks The Parasite and The Composite Superman - Nobody has ever made a movie showing these people and things exactly how they looked in the comics, they always seem to re- image it all, which is sad, because in all four Spider-Man Moovies, they have kept the strict imagery of the Comics. And that has been the Only Franchise which kept to the original designs. Why can't they do it with Superman?
Of course, Zod becomes something more in the 2nd entry into this universe, "Batman v Superman"- but Superman's Doomsday was the result of clever manipulation of several arcs from the 90s-2000's comics. However, they kept the continuity from this film.
Unfortunately, Zack Snyder was prevented from finishing this trilogy, and it was wrecked by Joss Whedon, who rediculous-ized the darker aspects of Zacks story.