NOTE: While there are only mild spoilers in this review, anyone intending to step into the film with little or no pre-knowledge might want to wait to read!

Now that I have trained myself to look at films with a more critical eye, it's hard to keep from nitpicking movies to death. Adding to that is the baggage this film carries from being the big salute to 75 years of comic book mythology and there are huge expectations coming into Man of Steel. The film has a lot to live up to because the main character is such an iconic figure, and so that could easily be mishandled by all who was involved with its development and production.

The story is plenty familiar to fans, so much so that I debated whether to discuss it at length or briefly in this review, and that leaves only the execution to pull off. Needless to say, I was impressed coming out of the film. I tried finding flaws but ended up with very little. Every aspect was executed with precision and purpose. I think the film will be able to ignite an excitement surrounding a Superman film that has been missing for almost thirty years now.

The film starts on Krypton, and surprisingly stays there for a good amount of time to immerse the audience in the alien origins of Superman. The planet is already doomed to its own destruction and in the middle of that, there is a civil war going on between the forces led by General Zod (Michael Shannon) and scientist Jor-El (Russell Crowe). This is a good place to plant the film for a little while, as it firmly establishes that Kal-El/Clark Kent/Superman (Henry Cavill) is not of this world.

This is a theme that continues throughout the film. It's one that may not make Superman a relatable character, but that's not really the point. Superman is an alien sent to Earth with no idea of what his destiny is supposed to be. He has to figure out, by himself, what place he can make in his adopted world. His superhuman attributes may not be relatable to us, but his demons and doubts are quintessentially human. This is key, as the film demonstrates in its non-linear storytelling from the first hour. It's essentially a war of conflicting philosophies: His birth parents see the potential for greatness in him; Kal-El is to be the guiding light for humanity. While his adoptive parents, mostly Pa Jonathan (Kevin Costner), teach him to hide his superhuman abilities for fear of reprisal or that it won't be socially acceptable.

Suffice it to say, Clark doesn't have the best time growing up, nor being a nomad, drifter, and outcast as a young adult. The plot progression of the film is quite smooth in this manner. It's presented as a jumble of inter-connected subplots with little confusion. Part of that is due to Clark Kent's origin story being so familiar in its 75-year history.





Where the film really takes off (no pun intended) is when Clark discovers an alien spacecraft from Krypton buried in a polar ice cap. We meet intrepid reporter Lois Lane (Amy Adams) at this point, and a little twist on the Superman mythology is inserted rather well. Lois immediately knows Superman's identity, and traces it back to the Kent farm in Smallville, Kansas. The Lois Lane here has more agency than prior depictions of the character. She's smart and definitely isn't the damsel in distress. She and Superman work in concert together many times and the fact that she knows who he really is means that the romantic element is under-played, at times existing as an afterthought.

At the same time, General Zod escapes imprisonment from the Phantom Zone and arrives on Earth to tell Kal-El to surrender to him or the people of Earth will suffer the consequences. Zod is a much more interesting villain than I initially give him credit for because his motives are much more complex than what is stated. He doesn't oppose Superman so much as bring him into the fold. He gives Kal-El a choice: Defend this adopted world, or join with his own race, which is looking to begin again after being devastated. He does this by force, and has his chief minion Faora-Ul (Antje Traue) often clear the path so that he can do what he wants while on Earth.




Faora-Ul is a terrifying, menacing presence whenever she's onscreen. When the film's action kicks up a notch, she's usually right in the middle of all the fighting. She, along with Lois, are the strongest, most developed female characters in a male-dominated film that marginalizes women (the mother characters of Lara and Martha Kent in particular). In that way, Faora-Ul is much like the Joker from The Dark Knight: You can't take your eyes off her at any time.

Sadly, that isn't true for some of the other bit players like Perry White (Laurence Fishburne), Dr. Emil Hamilton (Richard Schiff), or General Swanwick (Harry Lennix). The Superman universe is so large that the filmmakers can only do what they are able to in the 140 minutes they've been alloted to tell their version of this story.




There is a lot of meat to chew on with Man of Steel. It has a lot of brawn, much of it very kinetic and resulting in wanton destruction of many buildings in Metropolis and Smallville. There's weight behind the action, though. It's almost a requirement for comic book films these days. This film doesn't equal the standard that The Dark Knight started five years ago, but it gives its best shot. The execution went very well, in my opinion. What I really loved was the film's whole-hearted embrace of Superman's alien origins. Prior films about the Man of Steel only focused on his Earth-bound story. Stripped of all the usual tropes like the stumbling and bumbling Clark Kent reporter aspect, or that he has to be in a serious romantic relationship with Lois, there is freedom to go in other directions with the story. It gives the Superman saga a science fiction kind of feel to it, which is rather new.

The film explores humanity's reluctance to cope with the unknown, which is something of a timeless theme. Superman doesn't want to be the savior of humanity, but he is willing to answer the call if the need becomes so great that no one else can do so. In the end, he chooses his adopted homeworld over his native homeworld.

Where the story goes from here, only time will tell. Maybe this is all a little too familiar, packaged in a way that makes it look new, but I'm all for that. This is a great start to the newest version of Superman. I look forward to seeing more of it, both as a fan and a critic.