Rent Man of Steel (2013)

Great family film - Man of Steel review by rb

I watched this with my 2 boys (8 and 12) and we all loved it. The special effects and the battle scenes were amazing. Good casting for all the lead roles.

Darker Superman Film And All the Better For It - Man of Steel review by GI

Director Zack Snyder's reboot of the Superman story is essentially a remake of Superman (1978) and Superman II (1980) but sheds the pure comic book styling and comedy of those two beloved favourites to concentrate on a darker origin story as a full on science fiction film. For the most part it works well with a washed tone look and gritty set pieces. The film opens with the story of the fate of Krypton enhancing the story from the 1978 film's opening and with Russell Crowe as the father. There's a nice complexity to Krypton and the conflicts within that world that introduce the film's big baddie General Zod played with his usual full on malice by Michael Shannon. The introduction of Superman takes awhile but we then get a very enjoyable back story told with flashbacks and get to see the future Superman as he hides amongst humans but occasionally is forced to use his powers to help out. Henry Cavil really nails the part and arguably he's the best screen Superman we've ever seen. What Snyder does well is bring to the fore that Superman is actually an alien, hiding out on Earth and the narrative grows into a basic alien invasion scenario once Zod and his gang show up. Amy Adams makes a plucky Lois Lane, much more professional and serious than the ditzy characterisations we've seen before. Kevin Costner and Diane Lane have supporting roles as Superman's adoptive father & mother and the cast is rounded out with Laurence Fishburne as Perry White. Don't look for Jimmy Olsen or Lex Luthor they're not involved here! The film takes a bit of a downturn towards the end when Snyder opts for huge CGI destructive battles that seem to go on and on and whilst he has Superman commit the ultimate anti-Superman act in a rare attempt to remain on the dark side, his decision to release this film in 3D meant he went for a final battle that is too much (In 1980 Superman used his wits to defeat Zod rather than brute force - a wiser choice ). So the ending aside this is a valiant attempt to bring the Superman story up to date and for the most part it's entertaining and exciting stuff. What a shame everything in the DC Universe since has been such awfulness!

Looks so good! - Man of Steel review by ps

Looks great, the Score is beautiful, acting is solid..until the last quarter, where, i feel the script writers gave up. The end looks great but, direly written, its like they gave up just for the spectacle.

Other than that, takes my Breath away.

Lots of CGI special effects can't stop this from being boring - Man of Steel review by RP

It's a remake, so by definition it isn't very original. I couldn't help constantly comparing it to the 1978 version directed by Richard Donner and starring Christopher Reeve - and while that film is flawed, frankly, 'Man of Steel' falls short.

One thing that is improved on is the Jor-El role, Superman's Kryptonian birth father. In the 1978 version he was played by Marlon Brando whose part lasted far, far too long before the action started. Here, he's played well by Russell Crowe who is quite effective, and the action (well, the CGI effects anyway) start pretty quickly.

Unfortunately everything then slows down to a snail's pace as we see Superman with his earthly adoptive parents in a series of not-very-interesting flashback and flash-forwards. But half the film has now gone - perhaps the director recognised that he was running out of time to make things interesting so added on another hour or more of CGI effects to add loads of crash-bang-wallop in an attempt to recover the audience's waning interest. It all adds up to 2 hr 17 min - and it feels even longer.

Henry Cavill plays Superman / Clark Kent with a permanently furrowed brow - he just didn't seem as 'human' or as geekish as the hero of the either the original comics or the 1978 film. Nor did Amy Adams convince me as Lois Lane, nor was Michael Shannon 'bad' enough for chief baddy General Zod. And there's no Kryptonite and no Lex Luthor :(

I really wanted to like this, but I didn't. I suppose I really ought to re-watch the 1978 film to make sure, but I don't need to: although that film starts off boring, it doesn't end up boring. This one does.

I'll give it 2/5 stars, although that does seem a bit mean. But I honestly didn't like it.