Movie Review: Man of Steel (2013)

It’s hard to understand just how much this movie fundamentally misses out on the appeal of its beloved title character. Superman here is not at all charming, and it’s not Henry Cavill’s fault.

Cavill does an okay job, and I could see him being a very good Superman with a better script and approach to the character.

The problems are definitely the bad script by David S. Goyer, and the attraction to excess from director Zack Snyder.

The combination of ultra-serious tone and tremendous destruction really makes the climax seem like 9/11, and that’s never a good thing.

Additionally, the narrative is poor. The first half of the movie is exhausting, as it’s just flashback after flashback. But even in Superman’s origin, we have to have excessive action scenes, with a terrible scene on Krypton, and Kevin Costner dying in a giant super tornado.

The movie is a huge mess. Cavill and Amy Adams do what they can, and I guess even Michael Shannon. But it’s all in vain.

Rating: 4/10