One thing is certain: Man of Steel is MELODRAMATIC. My goodness, when General Zod is not yelling in vein-popping anguish at Kal-El/Clark Kent and the universe in general then an excessively large vehicle is being shoved aside or buildings are falling when aliens aren’t smashing through them. The hero’s journey (literally and metaphorically in this case) is familiar and it works, but the devil is in the details and here they slip through the cracks. David S. Goyer’s script was eagerly snatched up and then ripped to shreds, leaving almost nothing but big, loud action scenes which were ceremoniously dumped into Zack Snyder’s lap to be sewn back together.

 The most bizarre thing about the entire film is that I felt terribly sorry for Zod and thought that Superman and humanity were real jerks for wiping out the remaining Kryptonians. Kal-El lectures Zod about genocide only to (kind of) wipe out his own race. Kal-El is rescued from utter douchiness by Henry Cavill’s strong performance. He has come a long way as an actor and I hope he doesn’t disappear like Brandon whats-his-face. The gem of the cast is Amy Adams. She is utterly beautiful as Lois Lane, perfectly capturing the character yet making the role completely her own. As for Russell Crowe, who plays Jor-El, he’ll be narrating my dreams when Benedict Cumerbatch is taking a break.

I can’t quite place my thumb on a word which sums up what this film is. It’s certainly not fun like The Avengers nor is it meant to be, but it lacks the gravitas of Nolan’s Batman (a man who incidentally was heavily involved in the making of this film). I wouldn’t even call it entertaining as the action scenes saturate the film and become monotonous, with effects which look distractingly like game graphics. The good moments are there, along with stylish renderings of classic shots; but the problem is that I may be just as much of a xenophobe as Zod and prefer my heroes a little more human.

Originally published on Dinner and a Movie.

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