“Man
of Steel” could have/should have been called “Superman: Everything You
Know About Him, Everything You Don’t Know About Him Along With Many
Things You Didn’t Want To  Or Need To Know About Him!” Should you be
familiar with the comic book Superman or his many TV shows and movies
the only reason for seeing this movie is to feast your eyes on a new,
hunky, extremely well built, dazzling actor, named Henry Cavill, who
flies into stardom with this role which will lead to interesting
comparisons of Cavill versus Christopher Reeve. Along those lines I can
picture a panel at a future Superman convention not only discussing the
Supermans but  Margot Kidder versus Amy Adams as Lois Lane, and Marlon
Brando versus Russell Crowe as Jor-El, Phyllis Thaxter, Eva Marie Saint
versus Diane Lane as Martha Kent and who would win as the better adopted
father Glenn Ford or Kevin Costner, the latter in the latest version.
Perry White has gone from Jackie Cooper to Frank Langella and now
Laurence Fishburne not to forget the question of how does the latest
film score by Hans Zimmer stand up against John Williams scores?

The
Superman movies have never been known for memorable  villains, say like
Batman, and Michael Shannon, also from the planet Krypton, does  a good
job but he is over- shadowed by the mayhem that ensues his battle
against Superman. The last hour is glass shattering, cars being tossed
around and crushed, buildings being destroyed, shootings, killings and
all that makes a movie soar during the summer and it isn’t even summer
yet!

After
seeing “Iron Man 3”, “Oblivion”,  “Fast and Furious 6”, “Star Trek Into
Darkness” and now “Man of Steel” there isn’t much in the way of CGI
effects that the remaining ‘blockbusters’ can offer so, unless you are a
glutton for punishment you can avoid “After Earth”, “World War Z”,
“Elysium” and “White House Down” just to name a few.

There
is nothing wrong with “Man Of Steel”, except its 2 hour and 23 minutes
running time, but there is nothing new in the screenplay by David S.
Goyer while the direction is pedestrian. The film goes back and forth
between Superman’s childhood on the planet Kyrpton, his being a child in
Kansas and the present day.  All the actors do good jobs and the film
will definitely make Henry Cavill a star. Did I mention how well
Superman’s outfit fits him? Or how hunky he looks barechested?

The story is about a man who wants to destroy earth--DUH!

Oh
yes, a reason for seeing this movie may be that you don’t know what you
think is an S on his costume and if Lois Lane knows who Superman is.
You may or may not know the answer to the first and you may not be sure
of the answer to the second but do you really want to know?