Decided to sleep on it before solidifying my thoughts after a first watch...
First off...the movie shits on Superman Returns from great heights...not even a question. And I did not even hate Returns. Now that that is said...
I
really liked the movie, and enjoyed it a lot, but with some pretty serious reservations.
First off, the movie is clearly designed as an apocalyptic science-fiction film, rather than a superhero one.
The opening 15 or minutes on Krypton (maybe 20 min?) completely went balls deep in showcasing an alien planet, moreso than I anticipated, but I'm kind of conflicted on the opening though...visually it is
extraordinary, being able spend that much time on Jor-El was really cool, and overall I really dug that entire sequence...but that is a lot of screen time that could have also been used to further flesh out Clark before him finding the suit.
I would have liked to see Clarke in his travels around the world for a bit more, scenes of him trying find himself, better develop his character on screen. On one hand, the character arc IS clear, and the movie is not muddled at all in terms of what its trying to do with Clarke's character, its just that there is not enough time spent with him on screen to really convey it authentically. The movie just assumes you understand what its about, and its trying yo move through things at a pretty brisk pace. Yeah the film was long, but if they did not want to cut any of the Krypton stuff, I think it would have only benefit from another 10-15 minutes early on.
Moving on to the other stuff...there is no two ways about it, the action in this film is IMMENSE. The action is fast, yet full of impact. It is kinetic, violent, epic in scope and scale and gives us sights no one has ever seen in a superhero related film before. There is no two ways about it, this is
THE BEST action ever seen in a film like this. And even aside from the action, the overall cinematography and look of the film is beautiful. I don't see how anyone can argue that Snyder isn't insanely gifted with the camera. Hans Zimmer knocks it out of the park with the score, loved it. The main action theme in the film is just balls to the wall awesome and memorable.
Character wise, as I said before, the film desperately needed more on screen development for Clarke, but on the whole, the cast for the most part nails it. Henry Cavill does a very good job with what he is given, when he is talking as Superman, he has an authority that Brandon Routh could never hope to match. Russel Crowe is just great as Jor-El, and Kevin Costner, who I would have liked to have more screen time, nailed it as Jonathan Kent. Amy Adams was a perfect Lois Lane as well, and I felt pretty comfortable with her relationship with Superman, overall she was very likeable and I liked that they kept her involved in the action of the film. Micheal Shannon was also pretty beast as Zod, physically imposing and menacing, was a great villain (with an awesome henchwoman
) and enjoyed that he was mostly operating on his own principles that he felt were just.
There is something I really did not like about the last couple of minutes of the film, obviously I won't go into it here, sort of awkward...but not bad enough to sour me on the ending, just a little...puzzling.
Also, just because Nolan produced this and helped come up with the story, I do want to rank this with his Batman flicks. Man of Steel is better than Dark Knight Rises, but definitely not to the level of Batman Begins and The Dark Knight
Overall...8/10. Jaw dropping visuals and actions don't even do justice to describe what is seen on screen, it is some next level shit, but the movie desperately needed more intimate character development on screen. If the movie had hit that balance far better, this would be on a whole other level.
