Lots of boom, lots of zoom - but could've used more plot

Rating: 6/10 (15 August 2013)

Poor Superman. Given that he's arguably the most powerful superhero in the D.C. universe, you'd think that his mythos would abound with all kinds of fascinating stories.
There's just one problem: when you're dealing with a guy who can do damn near anything, it's really tricky to come up with compelling stories that are equally worthy of his involvement.
***WARNING, SPOILERS BELOW***
The story, such as it is, takes a good portion of the main plot from "Superman II". We get to see a lot of creative re-imaginings on what Krypton was like, about Clark's past, and how Lois Lane comes into his life and discovers his civilian identity. It's both obvious and brilliant that she is able to do this simply by utilizing her journalist sensibilities, and yet,the romantic chemistry between the pair seems barely touched on at best, and forced at worst.
But mostly, this is supposed to be a summer blockbuster - which means plenty of action scenes and a whole lotta CGI-fueled explosions. And that, this movie has in spades. General Zod sends some of his toughest soldiers and futuristic weapons against Superman before squaring off against him himself, so there's a lot of fighting, and a lot of property damage.
Then there's MORE fighting, and more explosions, and more property damage.
Then there's some MORE. And after that...well, you get the idea.
By the time the movie was a little over halfway over, I was actually starting to roll my eyes every time Zod or Supes punched each other through a building or through something that then spontaneously exploded. It actually felt a lot like watching "Independence Day", only without the freaky aliens. If someone spliced in a few frames from a "Call of Duty" game, I'm not sure I would've noticed.
Granted - it's not a total disaster (that would be the Green Lantern movie).
Henry Cavill does a great job with the role; he manages to bring a bit of an earnest loner element to the part that makes him likable, even if he doesn't have a lot of story to work with. And he looks great in the suit, and the suit itself looks terrific; it's amazing what NOT wearing your underwear on the outside of your pants can do.
Amy Adams also does a decent job as Lois. She does the best she can with the screen time she gets, and it's interesting to see her struggle internally with the knowledge she gains about who Superman really is, and what she should do with it.
Diane Lane and Kevin Costner are fine as Martha and Jonathan Kent - and I have to admit, the story behind Jonathan's passing this time around caught me by surprise.
I'm old enough to have seen the original Christopher Reeve movie versions of the character, and they focused far more on the Clark Kent persona and the more vulnerable aspects of that side of his life, sometimes with humor that was borderline cheesy. And while I don't miss the corny side of that, I couldn't help but feel like something was missing, this time around. I kept wondering if a better story was hiding somewhere underneath all those explosions. It's almost like Lois Lane, Perry White, Jonathan and Martha Kent, and General Zod are all in the movie because they're SUPPOSED to be, but...not necessarily because they want to be.
Ultimately, though, the folks at D.C. have some catching up to do, if they want their hero films to compete against Marvel's properties. It's perfectly okay to give a hero a darker, edgier, grittier spin, but you shouldn't leave out the FUN. These are superheroes we're talking about, after all.
Here's hoping that they'll get the Flash right, at least.