The planet Krypton faces imminent destruction due to an unstable core, and its ruling council is under the threat of rebel General Zod (Michael Shannon) and his followers. Scientist Jor-El (Russel Crowe) and his wife Lara launch a spacecraft carrying their newborn son Kal-El and a genetic codex. After Zod murders Jor-El, he and his followers are banished to the Phantom Zone, but manages to escape when Krypton explodes. The infant Kal-El lands on Earth in Smallville, Kansas, where he is discovered by couple Jonathan and Martha Kent (Kevin Costner & Diane Lane), who name him Clark and raise him as their adopted son.
Clark's Kryptonian physiology affords him super human abilities on Earth. With Martha's support, young Clark gradually learns to hone the abilities that initially cause him confusion and discomfort. Jonathan reveals to a teenage Clark that he is a humanoid alien from another world, and advises him to not utilize his powers publicly, fearing that society would be dangerously apprehensive of him. After Jonathan is killed by a tornado, an adult Clark (Henry Cavill) spends the next several years living a nomadic lifestyle, working different jobs under false names to cover his tracks and hide his identity. He eventually discovers a Kryptonian scout ship whose technology allows him to communicate with the consciousness of Jor-El in the form of a hologram. Lois Lane (Amy Adams), a young journalist from the Daily Planet, also discovers the ship while pursuing a story, and is rescued by Clark when she is injured. Lois's editor Perry White (Laurence Fishburne) rejects the story she submits about her "superhuman" rescuer, whom she tracks back to Smallville.
Detecting the scout ship, Zod travels to Earth where he demands that Kal-El surrender to him. Because Zod threatens the population if he does not comply, Clark agrees to surrender to the U.S. military, who thus hand Lois and Clark over to Zod's right hand Faora. Zod reveals that he intends to use a terraforming "world engine" in conjunction with his own spaceship to transform Earth into a more Krypton-like planet and eradicate the human population, then use the codex to repopulate the planet with genetically-engineered Kryptonians.
Man of Steel pays homage to the original Richard Donner Superman film and it's sequel with a nice blending of both revered classics, but almost makes the same mistake as Superman Returns, by featuring a darker take on the character. With a Superman who's much more inverted and brooding than the source material's or previous film interpretations. Clark Kent is conflicted and struggles with finding his place in the world on his Journey to becoming Superman but once he put's on the cape and dons the red and blue uniform, he becomes a symbol of hope, a high standard of humanity to which mankind can aspire to achieve.
The creative choice to have Lois discover the identity of her superhuman rescuer is a breath of fresh air, as apposed to treating her character like a dunce who's fooled by the eyeglasses Clark Kent wears as a means to disguise his secret identity as Superman. The strong military presence is also much more plausible than the previously downplayed military presence in Superman II, when Zod and company invaded Earth. The idea that Superman is viewed as a potential threat to national security, even global security because he's a powerful alien is also a nice realistic touch. The idea of Superman not being able to be everywhere at once is played out to devastating effect, resulting in a unexpected high rate of collateral damage.
The thyme most commonly associated with Superman is his value and respect for all life. Man of Steel attempts to test the boundaries of that thyme by putting Superman in a no win scenario by Zod, where the only way to save the lives of innocents is to murder Zod. Though Superman kills Zod, it's not a proud victory. He's devastated by his actions and clings to Lois' skirt like a bullied child, forced into submission. Screen writer David S. Goyer (Batman Begins) and director Zack Snyder's (Watchmen) Man of Steel try's to deal with Superman in as realistic terms as possible but the concept of a Superman who would kill, is a concept that may not sit well with many fans and main stream audiences. Even if it is for the "greater good". I feel it's necessary for a characters growth to explore new territory. However, I also feel that films today don't always have to take a darker approach to be relatable to modern audiences. Especially a Superman film, though there is a underlining message of hope, the tone should be more optimistic.
Though many may feel that Superman killing Zod to be a stain on the integrity of the beloved character, it's actually an event which also took place in DC comics Superman #22 (1988) written and illustrated by John Byrne. For many issues after Superman executed Zod and his followers, he was haunted by guilt and nightmares. He forced himself into exile because he felt like he compromised the integrity of his convictions and feared what he might become. Whether or not this will effect Superman in a similar manner in the film's sequel remains to be seen. Byrne was the creative force behind the relaunch of the Superman title back in 1987 with his Man of Steel limited series. A successful re-imagining of the character which boosted the titles diminished sales. The Man of Steel film takes many visual cues from the Byrne limited series of the same name, especially the design of Krypton and the idea of the Birthing Matrix.
Upon several viewings of the original Donner directed Superman the movie, I always felt some of the most engaging scenes were shared between Superman (Christopher Reeve) and his biological father Jor-El (Marlon Brando). With Snyder's Man of Steel the same can be said for scenes shared between young Clark and his adopted father Jonathan Kent (Kevin Costner) although on a more emotional level. Though the Lois and Clark relationship seems a bit forced, Henry Cavill and Amy Adams do there comic book counter parts justice. Adams delivers a more proactive Lois and Cavill brings a sensitivity to his portrayal of The Man of Steel. Michael Shannon's multi-layered performance as General Zod is excellent. The best bad guys are the ones who believe their cause is just, and Shannon plays that to the hilt.
After the huge disappointment of director Sidney J. Furie's 1987 Superman IV: The Quest for Peace and director Bryan Singer's lack-luster 2006 Superman Returns, DC Comics flag-ship character has been badly in need of a big screen revitalization. When announced that writer David S. Goyer and director Zack Snyder were going to undertake a re-imagining of Superman in a modern context, many fans remained skeptics, while others were a-buzz with excitement in anticipation. True to the emblem The Man of Steel sports on his chest, I clung to hope year after year, bad sequel after bad sequel, that a new Superman film would thrill and excite me the way the original 1979 Richard Donner directed Superman The Movie did. Though some of the Man of Steel's creative choices failed to thrill me, it's epic scale, eye catching visuals and fast paced action did excite me. Though the film suffers from too much exposition instead of relaying on it's audience's intelligence to comprehend what's visually unfolding in front of them, Man of Steel features solid performances from a well rounded cast (with the exception of Russel Crowe who I found to be a bit lacking in his portrayal of Jor-El). Zack Snyder and company deliver an effective re-imagining of the Superman mythos, while subtly opening-up the DC cinematic universe with a Wayne-Tech satellite and a Lex-Corp oil tanker. 4 stars out of 5.