Not as excellent as the original, but with strong performances, slick direction, and exhilarating action sequences, Man of Steel delivers!

Rating: 8/10 (19 June 2013)

Six months have passed since the trailers kept the audiences very anticipated to see this and this morning, me and my siblings went to see this in theaters. Later, we walked out of the theater with smiles on our faces as it had exceeded our expectations as the fine trailers got us what we wanted: a superhero movie with heart and lots of action.
Produced by Christopher Nolan, the guy who directed the Dark Knight Trilogy, and directed by Zack Snyder, who made his first debut with the Dawn of the Dead remake that led to his successful career with films like 300, Watchmen, Sucker Punch, and his first CGI animation debut in Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga-Hoole, this reboot of a classical icon superhero managed to keep me both thrilled and amazed at the same time. Sure, it may be choppy at some parts and it is a little slow, but aside from that, there are a lot of things to praise in this film.
The story is a mixture of the first two Superman films (Superman's origins and the fight against General Zod), but it differs itself from those films and to my surprise, it's a very good one. It has it's heart in the right place, but what stands out the most, however, is the ideologies about earth and the planet Krypton. It shows a way for us Earthlings and Kryptonians to live peacefully together and from my stand point, it's the strongest part of the story.
Then, we get the music score from Hans Zimmer. Let's just say he did some great music for such hits like the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, The Lion King, Kung Fu Pandas 1-2, The Dark Knight Trilogy, and such. This score, however, may not be as strong as John Williams's score for the original film (which still remains as one of the best scores in history), but to give credit, though, it has a lot of effective stuff such as the drums, which were very epic. Other things, such as the solid cinematography, beautiful scenery, fine editing, terrific special effects, and slick direction from Zack Snyder really enthralled me, but what stands out the most are two things.
First off, the action sequences. Remember when Zack Snyder created the action sequences in Legend of the Guardians that not only took every inch of my very breath away, but left me very impressed? Well, let's just say he did the same thing here. The fight sequences are very good with the final battle between Superman and General Zod as the best and the flight sequences are so breathtaking it makes you feel like you're an ordinary superhero flying with him.
Second is the cast and I gotta say, they did a solid job. Henry Cavill may not have the charm that Christopher Reeves brought, but he did a very good job as Superman. You can be able to feel the pain he's been going through and has to make a choice to save our world. Michael Shannon's over-the-top performance as the menacing General Zod is really entertaining he even tops Terence Stamp with his hammy line ("You believe your son is safe? I WILL FIND HIM!"). Amy Adams may not have Margot Kidder's charm as Lois Lane, but she was a decent choice, Laurence Fishbourne (from the Matrix Trilogy) is a very good Perry White, and two of the actors who portray Superman's father Russell Crowe and Kevin Costner are very good supporting roles. Russell Crowe is effective as Jor-El and Kevin Costner is very impressive as Jonathan Kent.
Overall, Man of Steel may not be as perfect as the original film and it's sequel, but it doesn't need to be compared by those who save those films. It's, in my opinion, a superhero movie that has heart in it's right place, like I said before. Zack Snyder, you did such a fantastic job on bringing Superman back I have no choice but to give this a thumbs up! A sequel's on the way and if a Justice League gets made, I would definitely be excited to see them.