Let me start by saying two things, one I'm not the biggest superman fan out there, and two if you are expecting a Christopher Reeve type film you will be disappointed.
The opening sequence of the film establishes the character arcs for the main characters. General Zod shows just how much he believes he is doing the right thing for his people, Jor-El knows about the planets fate and decides to have a child that will have the free will to decide what he wanted to become and Kal-El is immediately considered different by his own people and it reflects on how the people of earth will see him. The film the follows young Clark on the road and it shows how he struggled to adapt to his powers and what he does with them once he can control them for the most part. The scenes with Ma&Pa kent are probably the most emotional, especially the one that involves Clark as a young adult. Although the fortress of solitude is not featured in the film, the concept of the key behaving as the consciousness of Jor-El was clever. The relationship between Clark and Lois, although not fully developed(I believe that it will be explored in the sequel since he will spend much more time in metropolis) was well written, Clark feels alone in this world, and having someone know his secret other than his mom makes him feel accepted. The scenes with the army were very well written, the fact that the United States Army had actual reasons besides Zod's threat to destroy the planet legitimized the army's involvement. The battle of smallville, Faora were incredible, the ferocity that she brought and how she pointed out why clark was getting beat was excellent. Zod was very well portrayed by Michael Shannon, who made Zod a real warrior, his decisions were things he believed would help his Kryptonian people. The final battle was a visual breakthrough, Snyder made you believe that the things were actually happening. The brutality presented between Zod and Kal made me flinch every time I saw Kal get punched hard.
Overall I believe the film was a success, it presented superman in a way that would impact the general audience, and the social commentary was subtle but effective. The idea of an alien and how people would react was necessary for this story. Kryptons overuse of natural resources and how it led to its demise provide the audience with a possibility of earths destruction due to over consumption.
The film gets 5/5 stars from me.
P.S. I counted three Easter eggs.