Review: MAN OF STEEL

MAN OF STEEL  (ACTION/SCI-FI)
Two and a Half out of Four Stars
Directed by Zack Snyder
Starring:  Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Michael Shannon, Russell Crowe, Diane Lane, Kevin Costner
PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi violence, action and destruction, and for some language.
Verdict:  The attempt to create a "Batman Begins" moment for Superman results in many stellar moments and a refreshingly new approach, even as it threatens to crumble beneath its epic scope, but the cracks appear in a shaky second act before crumbling like so many city blocks in the third. 

Tragically, the first and greatest comic book superhero yet again eludes the grasp of another earnest effort by Hollywood to craft a proper screen adaptation; Richard Donner's 1978 SUPERMAN is strong but campy and plagued by an idiotic time travel plot device, while SUPERMAN RETURNS was too melancholy and didn't work as an action movie.  SUPERMAN II is maybe the strongest, around the same level as SUPERMAN RETURNS, but is, again, campy.  There's no point mentioning SUPERMAN III & IV, beyond to mention that they aren't worth mentioning.
Given the character's rich mythology and enormously iconic status, when taking him to the big screen, the goal is "the Superman movie we've all been waiting for".  That's a very high standard though, but MAN OF STEEL has the added credibility of Christopher Nolan, savior of Batman's screen presence, as producer.  But a producer rarely has as strong an influence on the finished film as the marketing department would like people to think, and in this case, it is primarily the combined vision of writer David S. Goyer and director Zack Snyder. 
I'll admit, the involvement of Goyer and Snyder made me apprehensive at first.  Goyer has story credits throughout THE DARK KNIGHT TRILOGY, and it was on the set of THE DARK KNIGHT RISES that Goyer began developing the concept of a post-DARK KNIGHT Superman reboot, but for all the excellence of those films, Nolan and his brother Jonathan were the screenwriters on those films, working from the stories they had developed with Goyer.  Movies where Goyer had a more direct influence as the screenwriter himself, as with MAN OF STEEL, include the bland cult-favorite, BLADE, and the bombastically bad GHOST RIDER: SPIRIT OF VENGEANCE, as well as an assortment of lackluster works.
Snyder had fallen out of favor following some bizarre foul-ups in the form of a super-serious, talking animal, animated action film, THE LEGEND OF THE GUARDIANS: THE OWLS OF GA'HOOLE, and the sloppy and shameless fanboy wet dream that was SUCKER PUNCH.  Before that though, he was very highly regarded by fanboy circles and their internet fan forums, thanks to the extremely CGI-heavy, dark graphic novel adaptations, 300 and WATCHMEN.  Damn me if you will, but I didn't enjoy those films much either.
With the announcement of MAN OF STEEL, I was apprehensive, possibly apathetic, but then the advertising began and my skepticism melted away.  The trailers promised something new and exciting, and I was even more thrilled as audience test screening turned out highly positive buzz.  Believe me, when I entered that theater, I had largely given into the hype and was excited to see a new, serious and emotional re-visioning of America's first and most famous superhero.  I'm not a comics fan, and I know little about the comic book specifics of Superman, but I think I have a pretty strong idea of how his story works and how he works cinematically.

Superman goes "commando" in MAN OF STEEL.

The film's early scenes on Krypton, a dying world where the wise scientist Jor-El seeks to further their race through bonding with other worlds and the warlord General Zod aims to destroy "lesser" races to ensure Kryptonian survival, are spectacular.  It is a supreme improvement on the uninteresting Krypton of Donner's film, the scenes of which could just as well be taking place in a single building.  Russell Crowe makes a noble and strong Jor-El, and Michael Shannon plays Zod threateningly, but restrained, without the scenery-chewing that most actors would play into.  It is a world racing against the clock, opening with Kal-El's birth and gradually building to the destructive climax with Kal-El in a vessel bound for Earth as Krypton crumbles away.
After this fairly lengthy prologue, the film wisely takes a turn into non-linear storytelling, jumping back and forth between Kal-El's, now known as Clark Kent, life as a refugee on Earth, struggling to hide his true self while not simply standing by in the wake of disaster, and scenes of young Clark growing up on a Kansas farm with his surrogate parents, the Kents (Kevin Costner and Diane Lane), who advise him to keep the supernatural side of himself a secret until the world is ready.  Much of this is shown throughout the narrative of Lois Lane, played by Amy Adams, chasing a story across the world about a mysterious "superman" who rescues strangers from disaster and then disappears, with only a few aware of his known identity.  These scenes, while generally more distant emotionally than they probably should be, are also highly interesting, and the editing is refreshing, while threatening to be too lean, cuts out much of the fat that would usually be interwoven with the major points to pad things out.  The result is a film that runs at a breakneck pace and feels very straightforward in a pleasantly interesting manner, although sometimes risks losing a sense of gravitas and some moments come off as a little hokey.

Michael Shannon as General Zod.

All in all, throughout the full first act, I'd say it's a solid "three and a half stars", but then Zod shows up at Earth seeking Kal-El, who he believes possesses the keys to rebuilding the Kryptonian race.  After a genuinely frightening extraterrestrial transmission sent out to the world (a sort-of "Surrender Superman" moment), Superman (as he later becomes known to the world) makes himself known and following a few interesting bits as this alien interacts with the U.S. military and the press, the film descends into a very prolonged series of violent action sequences with minimal variance.
MAN OF STEEL runs around two and a half hours, but I'd estimate that at least an hour of that involves Superman fighting Zod and his cohorts across Kansas fields and into Metropolis (identified only by one brief blip on a war room screen).  Zod gets in and out of his ship, following Superman around and then they throw each other through buildings and then repeat the cycle.  There are a few very spectacular moments, such as a skyscraper falling at a 90 degree angle, and many of these moments play even better in 3D, but the majority of it involves high-impact blows and destruction of buildings in repetition, plus false endings followed up by more of the same.  Some have accused Snyder of "directing video games", rather than movies, and unfortunately, MAN OF STEEL ultimately does little to prove this image wrong.

Amy Adams as Lois Lane.

In terms of filling the red boots, Henry Cavill does very well, playing him as a quietly charming and relaxed presence, but as with just about everything she shows up in, Amy Adams steals the show; except for JULIE & JULIA, where she was just annoying, so heaven knows what happened there.  Anyway, Adams plays Lois somewhere in between a tough-talking gumshoe and a quirky, down-to-earth modern woman with honest warmth.  Crowe is also a very strong Jor-El, sage-like and imposing, although his level of screen time sometimes feels like too much of a good thing, as if he should be so omnipresent.

Russell Crowe as Jor-El.

MAN OF STEEL is a respectable reboot of the struggling franchise, and it's worth taking into account that Superman is clearly amongst the most difficult characters to adapt to the screen successfully, so as much as they get right is admirable.  I would like to see a sequel; perhaps they'll be able to improve what they've begun, but I prefer that Goyer and Snyder handed the reins over to someone else, but they've already been contracted, so we may just have to bank on luck for now.  SUPERMAN RETURNS was arguably too much mythology at the expense of action, but MAN OF STEEL goes so far the other way that by the end, it almost seems ridiculous.