Man of Steel

Rating: 7/10 (16 November 2013)

Epic superhero film with Hollywood pulling out all the stops to make this Superman vehicle feel like a overwhelming experience. A city is reduced to rubble as a "warrior of Krypton", General Zod (Michael Shannon, superb as a steely-eyed and intense force of will), responsible for killing the father of Superman, Jor-El (Russell Crowe, a pillar of integrity) in order to secure the "codex" (the very essence of a Kryptonian rebirth) so he can obliterate human life on Earth in favor of rebuilding Krypton on the planet through the devastating use of a "world engine". The approach in this film is to show snippets of difficult adaptation during Kal-El's childhood with his current life as an adult while the planet is faced with certain extinction by Zod. Zod is never bothered by the moral dilemma of human holocaust because Krypton is all that matters to him. He felt that his leaders on Krypton were responsible for the implosion of his planet and that to begin anew on a brand new world, nothing would keep him from successthat is except Superman. Lots of structural damage and buildings leveled. The city destruction parallels the recent Avengers movie, with a crater-sized spot showing where skyscrapers once stood, as Laurence Fishburn's Daily Planet boss gathers survivors together looking on as Superman tries to rescue them from total annihilation. Smallville doesn't exactly get off easy, either, as the town suffers the impact of Superman doing battle with Zod's number one and a large soldier. Before the film is over both Superman and Zod get their licks in. As you'd expect, a ton of special effects and a lot of money was spent to improve upon Brian Singer's Superman Returns. Krypton gets a face lift, with even creatures included on the planet this go around, as well as, space craft (like Jor-El's spaceship containing his "consciousness", individual ships that allow Zod's warriors to travel from his main ship to Earth, and the aforementioned world engine that magnetically lifts cars and objects from the ground, driving them back to the ground as a high-powered beam penetrates through the planet) with elaborate designs. The casting is rock solid, from Diane Lane and Kevin Costner as Clark Kent's parents to the smaller roles like Fishburne, Christopher Meloni as a FBI agent who heroically takes a plane into the world engine, to Ayelet Turer as Zod's cold-blooded lead soldier, and Harry Lennix (of the Blacklist) as a top-brass military mind behind attempting to save America from Zod (or Superman, for that matter).
I have read some are troubled by Superman having to end Zod and Costner's Jonathan Kent scolding Clark for rescuing his fellow students from drowning in a submerged schoolbus); the former, I don't blame him because Zod would not stop from killing humans in a rage while I can agree with the latter as exposure to who he is doesn't excuse letting kids die by drowning. The twister sequence is positively riveting and heartwrenching. Henry Cavill is a revelation as Supermanheart and soul are dedicated to the character. While Reeve will always be Superman to me, I think Cavill has certainly taken the mantle and ran with it. His face aches when it needs to, with the conflict, anguish, and torment his character endures (along with the integral heroism instilled into his very being by Jor-El also ever-present) all there and accounted for. This is quite an exhilarating ride, but the product placement (Sears & Ihop) is a bit much. There's an obvious message regarding mankind's need to plunder the planet's resources as it pertains to the implosion of Krypton. I'm a little unsure of Amy Adams as Lois; her approach lacks the zip and panache I associate with the character. She's a bit more introspective and reserved, where the character often gnashes teeth with the boss and defies authority a great deal more. Also, the decision in this *reboot* is to have Lois know about Clark right from the beginning, forgoing the implausibility of her not knowing he's Superman like in the past. Anything there are updates on a character (and characters surrounding him) and origin story, backlash/disappointment always results. That's par for the course. Maybe Adams will rub off on me and have me forget prior incarnations of the Lois Lane character. We'll see.