Starring: Henry Cavill, Russell Crowe, Michael Shannon, Amy Adams
Director: Zack Snyder
Rating: 4/5
Superman is one of the most iconic superheroes of all time and yet we have not seen him on the big screen for seven years.
But all that has changed this week as director Zack Snyder, producer Christopher Nolan and writer David S. Goyer have rebooted this story for a new generation.
A young boy learns that he has extraordinary powers and is not of this Earth. As a young man, he journeys to discover where he came from and what he was sent here to do.
But the hero in him must emerge if he is to save the world from annihilation and become the symbol of hope for all mankind.
From start to finish this movie just looks terrific and this character really has been given the blockbuster spectacle that he deserves.
Man of Steel has one of the most epic starts to a movie ever as Krypton is on the brink of destruction and Jor-El (Crowe) is battling to save the life of his infant son.
Snyder really does hit the ground running as the pace of the first twenty minutes is absolutely breathless as the scene is set and the back-story is told in fine style.
This is the biggest acting role of Henry Cavill’s career and yet he carries the weight of this movie with the greatest of ease.
He embodies the honour and the hope of Superman and yet he also carries the worries and the fears of Clark Kent; he balances these two sides and all of the different emotions fantastically well.
He is surrounded by a great cast and both Russell Crowe and Michael Shannon both give great performances; the scenes in which they go head to head are some of the best in the whole film.
But the main problem with this film is that is lacks emotional and it really is quite cold and almost hollow - which is a huge shame.
There is no doubt that you want good to triumph over evil but there is just too much distance between the characters and the audience and you never feel like you are really connected with them.
Because of that the movie really does lack that emotional punch and no amount of CGI and fantastic special effects can make up for that.
Over Man of Steel is a great superhero film - at two and a half hours it is a tad long - and it is fantastic to see this character back on the big screen.
But with a sequel already in the pipeline the shortcomings of this film can be ironed out to push this franchise forward.
Man of Steel is out now
Tagged in Zack Snyder Superman Henry Cavill