I miss Christopher Reeve as Superman. I miss Donner at the helm. Don't get me wrong, I think Superman Returns is an ok film for the most part. About 35-40 minutes of it is Superman at his finest, as a hero, as a symbol of hope. However, the latter half of that movie is abysmal shit from the bowels of hell. Shitty writing ruined Superman Returns. Mediocre direction didn't help matters. Superman returns was made up of a solid cast, solid writers, and a paramount of financial backing that all accumulated in Superman lifting an island. Meh.

I remember Superman (1978); Marlon Brando scared the shit out of me. I used to have nightmares about his odd reverberation in his voice. He was caring and menacing, perhaps the only actor to ever be able to pull that off. At three and four years old, I believed that a man could fly. I remember being taken with Christopher Reeve as both Clark Kent and Superman. There was a playful quality that Clark Kent had, a quality that exists in most of us wannabe heroes. Except Clark Kent is a hero. He is superman. I never bought the speech at the end of Kill Bill Vol II about Superman. Superman doesn't see us as weak, he doesn't see us as bumbling. He sees us as strangers.  We are mere figures that he's not only afraid to relate to, but in doing so could jeopardize his entire existence as well as ours. Kal-El refuses to see us as weak, he sees hope for us. There is something inside Clark Kent that invites us to be his equal, it does not diminish out potential but forces us forward to reach it. Superman deserved better than the shitty followups. So, needless to say, I wasn't excited  when I heard Zach Snyder, director of SuckerPunch, was going to helm this film. A small part of me died. Even as a fan of Nolan's Batman films, I felt somewhat indifferent to his "guiding hand" position. But after all the bad feelings, I'm here to say I was wrong.

Man of Steel is a solid film. Henry Cavill is fucking grand as Superman. What I think works in this film is that there's no distinction between Clark Kent and Superman. In a way, Superman doesn't exist. There is this alien side to Clark, a side that can leap tall buildings in a single bound, that pulls on Clark. He knows he's different. Childhood, adolescence, adulthood, Clark Kent is forced to show restraint. He can't get mad and hit a bully, he can't save the people he loves, he can't be who he really is because the world isn't ready. Superman is nothing to Clark. His life is simply one lie after another as he struggles to find his place in the world.

Clark doesn't get close to anyone because he cant. His sole connection to our world is from Pa and Ma Kent, played well, but sparingly, by Kevin Costner and Diane Lane. They love him. And he's all the better for it. Kevin Costner does incredibly well with what he is given though it isn't much. I feel Snyder really skimped here. I understand that Superman's origin has been told countless times, but it really is Ma and Pa Kent who made the difference. Superman's existence simply boils down to good parenting. ON the other side of that coin is Russell Crowe's Jor-El. Jor-El is fantastic. He is the part of Clark that fulfills his life. It's strange to say, but Crowe's performance stuck with me after the film, something that hasn't happened since Gladiator. I like his version of Jor-El--the intellect, the rebel, and we see those qualities in Clark. His audacity of defying Zod gave me chills.

I've said it before and I'll continue my argument for it, but a hero is worth half as much without a good nemesis. Part of the reason Superman has had such little success on the big screen as of late is the lack of a truly interesting villain. That is now a thing of the past as Micheal Shannon delivers as Zod. Terrance Stamp will always be my favorite Zod. He was simply powerful. He was a presence. Shannon is somewhat different. Zod is brilliant but conniving, ambitious but a zealot for his cause. His Zod is a war monger. Zod's story loses some steam as it becomes less about revenge and more about holocaust. The General's story was much stronger in Superman II and without the revenge angle, it seemed like Snyder and Goyer did Shannon a disservice. For the most part, Shannon handles the role well but they never really let him run with the part until the very end which is a shame. As for the rest of gallery, Antje Traue is simply fantastic as Faora. In her own way, she steals the show. I'm going to call this now, she's going to be big one day. Every scene is dominated by her amazing presence and I simply can't help but root for her in my own sick and twisted way.

Amy Adams as Lois Lane is quite a nice departure from  Margot Kidder's version. Adams does rather nicely and rounds up a great supporting cast in Meloni and Fishburne, but for the most part all of the secondary characters feel like stand ins. Perhaps they'll be better utilized in future sequels (as it seems to be hinting at) because I feel Snyder is wasting potential here.

Another minor issue I had with the film is that his childhood is told through a series of flashbacks. It's fairly jarring which may be the one serious issue that some movie goers might have with the film. Some of the flashbacks seem to detract from the overall arch or seem out of place completely. I understand that some of them lead to plot points later in the film, but they come across as forced and unnecessary scenes that run on for a minute too long subtracting from the tone of the film. Another minor issue I had was that in some parts the FX work looked cheap. That seems like a pointless complaint considering a third and fourth act where shit just starts blowing up like crazy, but it's a fairly annoying problem with Snyder's films.

Overall, I enjoyed the hell out of Man of Steel. I left the theater feeling hopeful for future installments. Snyder has clearly created a world of DC characters. They all exist in this world where anything is possible. This is superman done right, not an invincible tank of a being-- but a delicate soul looking for his place in the world and fighting for what he believes is right. That's hope right there, ladies and gentleman.

8.5 out of 10.