Zack Snyder has joined the reboot train and has bought Super Man back. So is the new Super movie suitably super, or is the man of steel a kryptonite addled ball of fail?
Man Of Steel starts out during the final days of the planet Krypton. Here we find Jor-El (Russell Crowe) desperately trying to save his race and particularly his son Kal-El (Henry Cavill). During this there is an uprising by General Zod (Michael Shannon) who seems happy to kill everyone ton save his race. Jor-El escapes and manages to shoot his newborn son into deep space in the hope he reaches a distant planet. Meanwhile Zod and his cronies are defeated and banished into a black hole. Krypton explodes and El the younger lands in Earth on Kent farm (Diane Lane and Kevin Costner) and renamed Clark.
Man Of Steel has one particular problem. Between flashbacks to Clark's childhood, his journey of self discovery while trying to blend in and the action sequences (particularly after Zod and his cronies reappear) we seem to have three different movies being spliced together. If the various sequences transitioned a bit smoother it may not have been an issue but instead we have sudden leaps back and forth that really impact the flow of the film. This becomes really obvious during the big action set pieces where we are suddenly taken from quiet introspection to obnoxiously loud scenes of mass destruction. Seriously none of these guys can even throw a punch without destroying a building or making something explode.
I can't fault any of the main players though. The sincere desire to help comes through clearly with Henry's portrayal of the title character and Amy Adams gives us a great performance as Lois Lane. (Michael Shannon) really has a great time chewing the scenery as Zod and even though Russell Crowe is very low key as Jor-El it suits the role. Kevin Costner breaks the run as Pa Kent since his entire focus is to mess up the young Clark by telling him to hide who he is. Somehow this is meant to show how Clark ended up such a good guy.
Considering the massive amount of collateral damage and inevitable death toll from the fight scenes the outcome of the final confrontation between Zod and Clark really loses impact. Not going to say anymore than that to avoid heading into spoiler territory.
Should you see this movie I'd suggest some preparation. Make sure you have some earplugs for the action sequences (seriously, they made my ears hurt) and something to read during the Pa Kent scenes. Everything else is perfectly acceptable, definitely not super, entertainment.
Alternate title - Fight Between Indestructible Aliens Kills Millions.
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