Man of Steel (2013)

"A good death is it's own reward." (Christopher Meloni and Antje Traue)

*Spoilers*

Perhaps I am showing my age and disillusion with modern blockbusters.  But, I did not like Man of Steel.  It squandered what is a strong narrative and deep mythology on special effects and explosions without soul or merit.

The history and mythology of Superman is so deep and so full that I consider Man of Steel a slight disservice to the franchise.

However, it wasn't all bad.  Nor, was it all that bad.  The cast with the exception of Amy Adams was phenomenal.  (Amy, I like you.  You're good in just about everything.  But, in this instance, you were somehow off the mark. )  The costumes were fantastic.  I actually loved the new superman suit, the Jor-el armor, and General Zod's body mech suits.  The best acting of the film belongs to Russell Crowe, and runner up to Michael Shannon.  Zod is a  product of the old Kyrpton.  There is no compromise.  His portrayal was well crafted.

But, none of that can really make up for the writers, director, and producer abject failure to create a meaningful and engrossing film.  I understand this was directed by Zach Snyder, but it might as well have been directed by Michael Bay.  The misuse of all characters identities, the rejection of crucial and emotionally connective drama in favor of DESTRUCTION coupled with soulless CGI fighting, and the poor handling of the finale ensured that Man of Steel squandered all the potential it had.  It is a point of pride that perhaps more CGI city town and planet was destroyed in Man of Steel than the MB Transformers.

Honestly, if you are going to eschew plot and drama for 3D ridiculousness at least have your CGI look better than the Matrix Reloaded which came out in 2003.  (10 years ago).

Oh and the plot given that all of the important parts are actually skipped over was just over the mendoza silly line.

Ratings

Richard Schiff:  Love you in everything.  I was actually sad that you died.

Kevin Costner:  You did a good job, but your character was misused and hammy.

Story Writers:  Skip it.  Terrible time sequencing, terrible choice of scenes, and abysmal understanding of drama

CGI guys:  See it for the Krypton liquid metal tech, but skip everything else.

Cannonists:  How can Superman make the bottle city of Kandor, if he destroys his capsule?

On a scale kneeling before ZOD to feeling ZOD's wrath, I give Man of Steel 3 out of 5 stars