The start of the film is awesome with the fall of Krypton;
cue explosions, ships, dragon like creature, energy rifles and Jor-El fighting
Zod to protect his son. If that alone was the film it would be worth going back
to see several times. It also sheds light on some interesting new backstory
information that Superman is unique in that he is the first naturally born Kryptonian
in centuries. This is also used to partly explain the down fall of his people
which hasn’t until now been shown very well.
Use of flash backs were done well
Good plot which adds loads of levels of complexity,
explaining how everything affects him and leads him to who he is.
Good action, with most of Metropolis and Smallville
getting completely torn apart in the battle between Superman and Zod’s army, although
I did feel in some points of the film that there was too much CGI, although
very good quality it does get tiring after a while. But then again there isn’t
really much else effects wise that could be used to pull of this film. Although it was superb effects probably the
best I’ve ever seen.
Good acting was great and carried the high emotion of the
story adding to the greatness of the film.
With a real threat to both earth and Superman as he faced
wave after wave of his own kind all with his own powers and getting a beating.
While also having to convince earth that he is the good guy and that he is
there best hope at beating Zod.
The conflict that superman has between saving humans or
his own kind. The relationship between Zod and Superman, reminds me a lot of
the relationship between the Doctor and the Master post 2005 Doctor Who, where
they both don’t want to harm there opponent as that would mean ending there
species, and you feel their pain as the hero is forced to defeat them to
protect the innocent. This makes the film so much more emotional and leads to
brilliant character development with both Superman and Zod, (both of whose
reasoning you can understand).
At first I was not happy with Lois knowing Superman’s identity
right from the start, but it made sense in the end as she is a reporter and
would eventually find out. I also didn’t like the scene where they first meet
but it does ultimately help drive their relationship forward.
Another change that I’m still not sure about is changing
Jimmy Olsen to Jenny Olsen, mainly because you don’t really see enough of the
character to get a sense of who she is and anything she did say were mostly throw
away lines that could have just been another character.
One thing I did not like was the change in the death of Jonathan
Kent, changed from a simple heart attack teaching Clark that he can’t save
everyone from everything. Instead he dies saving a dog. A DOG! Which Clark
could have saved without revealing his powers. I get why they did this and what
they were getting across but at least if you’re going down this road make it a
person he saves not a dog so you can get more of the hero aspect in there and
so making it more inspiring to Superman. Granted the acting in this scene is
great and they get across the emotion side really well but it just seems to
miss the point of what his death means to Superman as a character.
My main problem with the plot is not the fault of the
film but the comics, which makes me ask why, if they know that their planet was
dying, did they seal Zod and his army somewhere that they would be safe from
the destruction of their planet instead of themselves?
Overall the film could have been helped with a bit more
humour to break up the darkness of the film overall.
One criticism that this film has received, which I really
don’t see, is that there isn’t enough character development. What! It’s an origin
story how can there not be character development! It’s the main part of an origin
story. It shows how he becomes Superman. If anyone sees this film and says that
there is no character development then they were ether watching the wrong film
or for some reason missed most of the film and need to go and see it again. Even
the kid who bullies Superman as a kid has character development and he’s only
on screen for about 5 minutes.
Also people who say they are a massive Superman fan and
wines “Superman doesn’t kill” go back and read the comics!
Hints at Lex Luthor, Bruce Wayne (batman) and even Green Arrow,
even a possible hint at Supergirl.
For the sequel I would personally not want Lex as a main
villain if he’s in the film, I would like him as a background villain. This is
partly because they need to top the action and because there are so many villains
yet to be used in a Superman film which would be great on the big screen, such
as Parasite (who can absorb some of Superman’s power), Doomsday (who killed Superman
maybe better for the third film but could work in the second), Brainiac (a fan favourite
and smart and strong enough to take him on) and Metallo (personally the one I
want to see as it would interesting with Superman fighting a cyborg with a
heart of kryptonite, plus the special effects would be capable of making him
look awesome).
This is defiantly the Superman movie that everyone’s been
waiting for. This deserves the place best Superman, (maybe superhero), film yet.
After seeing this film I instantly got excited about the
Man of Steel sequel which has already been confirmed although I’m a little
sceptical of how they’re going to top this one.
If the Justice League is anything like this then I’m am
all for it happening.
Overall a great film with great action, plot, effects and
acting. This film gets a 9 (brilliant)
Scoring system: 1- didn't get though the first few
minutes, 2- will never watch again, 3- awful, 4- below average, 5- average, 6-
above average, 7- good, 8- great, 9- brilliant, 9.5- almost perfect, 10-
perfect (impossible)
