(Review) Man Of Steel

THIS movie has everything going for it – a director well-known for action flicks such as 300 and Watchmen; a producer (Christopher Nolan, The Dark Knight) known for rebooting franchises; and a cast of award-winning actors who have delivered commendable work time and time again.

However, while Man of Steel traces the origins of Superman, his journey to find out who he is and ultimately do battle with a baddie from his long devastated home planet, there is just no heart in the story. Too many elements are crammed into one movie and the ending is just too long drawn out.

The story revolves around Clark Kent (Henry Cavill) who is on a journey to find out who he is. We see him taking on ordinary jobs and trying to find some clue as to how he arrived on Earth.

Eventually, Clark discovers a vessel buried deep within the ice somewhere in the barren wastelands of Canada and finds out who he really is via the interactive hologram of his long dead father Jor-El (an understated Russell Crowe).

To cut a very long story short, his existence comes to the attention of journalist Lois Lane (a likeable Amy Adams) who witnesses his superhuman abilities first hand.

Meanwhile, General Zod (Michael Shannon), a villain from Krypton shows up near Earth on a ship that looks like an octopus and demands that Earth hand over their visitor (our hero) from another planet or be destroyed.

After that you can visit the loo.

The pacing on this movie could be better and there are so many interesting characters – such as Kevin Costner and Diane Lane who play Clark’s overly-protective adoptive parents Jonathan and Martha – that could have been focused on better.

As for Cavill, he has the face, he has the body and plays his part well. And there are a few holes in the plot which should make for interesting chatroom discussion.