Get ready for the best Superman movie in years.
The movie opens with Jor-El (Russell Crowe, very game for filling in the role) sending his son off across the galaxy when Zod attempts a coup on the dying planet. He ends up on a farm where a couple (Kevin Costner, Diane Lane) adopt him, despite his origins, and he attempts to adjust to human life. An unintended bus rescue does get in the way, but well-meaning dad tries to avoid his son revealing who he is, since he doesn't think the world is ready for him.
That again becomes difficult when the boy, Clark Kent (Henry Cavill), becomes a man, taking part in a thrilling oil rig rescue and eventually running into Lois Lane (Amy Adams), who can't help but wonder who he really is. Eventually, Clark learns of his origins, puts on the Super suit (and learns how to fly in a remarkable origins scene) and eventually adopts the role of world savior, especially when Zod, who's been trying to track him down, eventually catches up, his fellow troopers in tow.
Man of Steel does take a little while to get started, as it tells the opening story in flashbacks that jump all over the place. However, when it picks up…boy, does it pick up. The visual effects team takes the film into overdrive, with crystalized claws, explosions galore, and plenty of high-speed tackles and attacks between Superman and Zod's men. It's exciting to watch in 3D, even if Snyder's adaptation of the "jumpy cam" can be a little hard to take. It would've been nice if he kept the original style that worked so well with 300 and Watchmen…but it could've been a lot worse. At least the action and performances remain mostly in focus, and that's what's important.
Though Cavill can't quite top what Christopher Reeve did for the role of Superman nearly 30 years ago, he's certainly more fitting than Brandon Routh was, delivering just the right amount of gusto and wonder as the flying hero. Crowe is solid as Jor-El, even if he seems a bit too convenient midway through the movie (won't spoil it, but you'll see what I mean); Shannon is great as Zod, even if he doesn't nearly ham it up as much as Terence Mann did in Superman II; and Costner does good stuff as Clark's Earth dad, even though his departure is not only sudden, but a bit stupid. (Again, you'll see what I mean.)
