Man of Steel . . . why it kind of sucked.

I've never made it a secret that I am not a big fan of Superman (or Captain America for that matter.) They have always been a little to apple pie and gung-ho for my tastes. Batman and Thor have been my long time favorites, not that I see any particular connection off the top of my head (though wouldn't that be an interesting topic to explore.) I was very excited about “Man of Steel” though. Watching the commercials I felt that what I was being offered was a Chris Nolan-esque reinterpretation of the Superman myth to a more believable and modernized mood. While in some ways this was achieved I feel that on the whole the movie was a disappointment. My short answer is that it is worth seeing (though you will probably be disappointed) but I wouldn't pay for the 3D experience.

Now that my short answer is out of the way lets get to the meat of any review: the analysis. This is where the SPOILERS can be assumed to start.

Good Stuff:

The special effects were very good in the sense of design and construction. They were very vast, almost overwhelming in my IMAX viewing experience. Most importantly Krypton was fascinating and desolately beautiful. In particular the costuming and the design of the visual interface for the planet was very interesting. The texture you see on Superman's costumes in the poster is carried heavily throughout their clothing and it really added to the detail that makes a scene more believable. To be honest I think that the opening scenes in Krypton are some of the best in the film, just from an aesthetic viewpoint.

I really enjoyed a lot of the actors performances. It really was the minor supporting roles that stole the show for me. Diane Lane was endearing and very convincing as the homespun Mama Kent and Christopher Meloni (Stabler of SVU fame) played Colonel Nathan Hardy, possibly the only character who showed progressive character development. Kevin Costner was all right, as was Lawrence Fishburne, but Russell Crowe far surpassed his A-list cohorts. He was fantastic as Jor-El and it is my favorite role for him since “Gladiator”. Henry Cavill was a good fit for Superman and he definitely pulled off the good-guy charm. Amy Adams was perky and sassy as always and I appreciated that I could actually stand to see her walk on screen (*ahem* Pepper Potts.)The acting in my opinion saved this film from being a beautiful disaster. Also, I don't know the name of the female Kryptonian soldier but kudos for being creepy and fantastic.

The Bad Stuff

The 3D was atrocious. I want to give it a little bit of a pass because I had bad seats but. . .it was actually very distracting. The only good 3D effects were in scenes involving people underwater.

The dialogue was extremely lacking. Granted I have been recently spoiled by “The Avengers” (thank you Mr. Whedon) but I honestly wasn't holding it up to that standard. I was hoping for the dialogue to hold up to the first “Ironman” or “Thor”. It failed miserably. The dialogue was stilted and awkward. It was best on Krypton where I could excuse the lack of vivacity, humor, and uniqueness I always hope for in a script by saying that it had to do with a strict hierarchical culture. I unfortunately couldn't excuse the slow boring interactions of what were supposed to be modern Americans. It was just so lackluster. There may have been three moments after the opening sequence and before the closing sequence that had any life at all. It was just genuinely a bore on the character development front. Not to mention that as per usual the female parts are grossly underwritten, this flick even commits my cardinal damsel in distress sin. . .she can save herself but only through the guidance of a father figure.

The movie had too many action scenes. It was literally action scene after action scene. I was so tired of it. It wasn't even fun anymore after a while. The worst part about it was that so many of them were the type where it is two omnipotents battling and never tiring or hurting each other. BORING.

I felt that they set up the end of the climax in a way that made Superman as reprehensible as the villain of the film. It was very unsatisfying. It just didn't jive with the good-guy persona they are going for.

Predictions:

The sequel will be much better the end sequence showed everyone giving a little more energy to their characters.