Man of Steel is the victim of having a terrible script, being riddled with poor acting and just taking itself far too seriously. The script is clearly the film's biggest crutch and pretty much drags the rest of the film down with it. David S. Goyer weaknesses as a screenwriter are fully on-display with this film. The script is loaded with plot holes, horrendous dialogue, tonal inconsistencies and just about everything is rushed and/or underdeveloped. After an interesting set-up sequence on Krypton, the film spends the next hour showing a combination mostly pointless tied-in flashback sequences and Clark doing random oddjobs across the United States simply to show his mystique and how he was bullied because of his powers (I get showing a scene to show that he was an awkward kid who was harassed because he was different than the other kids, but are multiple scenes of the same kids making fun of him in a different setting really necessary ?) The lack of action over the first hour is completely fine, but at least throw something worthwhile and well-written on the screen instead of just throwing random scenes together to pad the runtime and do not advance the story much at all. When the film finally gets into its actual plot with General Zod coming to Earth to find Superman and takeover Earth to rebuild Krypton etc, the film doesn't really get any better but at least there is a method to the madness and the film develops a faint sense of purpose after plodding around in no man's land for what seems like an eternity.
Adding to the mess of a screenplay is a slew of bad and/or phoned in performances. Henry Cavill is just as stiff as his predecessor Brandon Ruth in the role of Superman. I understand that Jor-El/Clark Kent/Superman is supposed to be a strange guy who is an outcast on this planet, but Cavill doesn't give him an ounce of emotion or likability. When his character makes some kind of breakthrough or does anything heroic, I didn't find myself caring in the slightest (which is easily the last thing you want in a superhero movie.) Every bit as bad as Cavil is Michael Shannon as General Zod. Shannon makes Zod so cartoonshily over-the-top that he just comes off as a complete joke of a character. Shannon is an incredibly talented actor (who proved he can handle over-the-top villain roles very well in last year's Premium Rush,) he just goes WAY overboard with Zod and makes him one of the worst villains to ever appear in a superhero film. How this film takes itself so damn seriously with a caricature of a villain like Zod is beyond me. The rest of the performances don't stoop to Cavil and Shannon's level of terribleness, but no one save for Kevin Costner's brief appearance as Jonathan Kent does anything noteworthy. The cast (including the normally excellent Russell Crowe, Amy Adams and Laurence Fishburne) are just kind of coasting on auto-pilot. I don't know if was the poor script that caused these immensely talented actors to phone it in or what, but it says a lot of the low quality of this film when multiple Academy-award nominated/winning actors aren't really trying to act in a major franchise like Superman.
Man of Steel even falls short in its action sequences, which is the last thing I expected from a film directed by action movie master Zack Snyder. While the first battle on Krypton was pretty cool, every fight scene after that was repetitive and incredibly boring. How many times do we really need to Superman slamming Zod or one of his people into the side of a building causing a wave of destruction? After the first time, the audience understands the strength of Superman, Zod and every other resident of Krypton that gets into a fight in this film. The scenes all blend together and aren't exhilarating or creative in the slightest. Not helping matters is the fact that these scenes are amateurishly shot so you can't even really tell what's going on. Snyder seems like he's out of his element with aerial battles and wideshots that are nowhere near the action. It almost seems like the other people involved with the making of this film didn't let Snyder do his thing. With 300, Watchmen and Sucker Punch, Snyder showed a tremendous grip on getting close to the action and making unique sequences that thoroughly engaged the viewer. Snyder is the most creative and just plain best director of action in Hollywood right now in my eyes and his talents completely go to waste here with these dull and horribly-shot action scenes.
There are almost no words for how disappointing this film is. What could've been something truly special ends up being a poorly-scripted disaster that is tonally challenged, boring and loaded with weak acting and trite action scenes. With all the talent involved on both sides of the camera, Man of Steel is the epitome of a wasted opportunity.
1.5/5 Stars
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