Embrace your creed

This is the main event on my list; a movie with high expectations and anticipation!

Expectations

A writing innovation is what I'd expect from Man of Steel; much like The Dark Knight trilogy.  No, I didn't wanted it to be too grounded.  I wanted Superman's fictional history to be treated as a mythology; respecting the source material while having a smartly written narrative.  As I expected, and thankfully wanted, the film centers Superman as a wondering alien and not that prime example of an old school superhero.  And with that, the film started out with good reactions from me.  This is gonna be a long post.

The star power of this film is really powerful; even Laurence Fishburne plays as a minor character (Perry White) and his status is very big and talented.  Amy Adams as Lois Lane was odd; considering that Miss Lane is infamous for having black hair.  However, her performance was superb as to what I'd expect from this talented woman.  Henry Cavill as the man of steel himself was spot on.  I love him and he was definitely bad ass.  Though I can't help to think that Christopher Reeve's influence still impacts to this day.  Cavill's nose, blue eyes and jaw had some strong similarity to Reeve's.  Michael Shannon, whom I loved in Boardwalk Empire, brought his own flare with General Zod which fit just nice in the universe.  To be frank, I don't bother to write about actor/actress's performances because, at most times, they'll perform nicely.  But I just feel like I have to due to the enormous names being involved. 

Aftermath

Let's continue with the positive, which is how I feel for this film, I love the innovation in general; where they are going with the story is what I'd expected and, thankfully, loved.  Superman's story was told from the aspect of a wondering alien which haven't been done before in film.  Although it would be new to the general audience but it's somewhat of an old story for hardcore fans.  I definitely love the suit, no complaints. 

As I indulge in the story, I love the scenes where Clark was with his parents.  It should have been emphasized more and, yes, the film lacked those heartfelt scenes as it was overshadowed with CGI madness.  Clark's scene with Jonathan Kent was one of the highlights in the character developments and I hope he'll return in the sequel; of course, in a form of a flashback.  It's kind of funny, you see, because I watched Superman II (For the first time) on that very night after watching Man of Steel.  Yes, we can't compare those two due to the gap of years; the technology and mentality.  But it's interesting to see the development of General Zod in the 80's to today's Zod.  Where 80's Zod was a curious and somewhat arrogant tourist on earth, today's Zod is a man on a mission.  That typical conquering alien motive is still there but as we travel deeper in the story, Zod is not a shallow villain; he only wanted the best interest for his people and you could really see that motive being portrayed as humanly as possible.  Like Dr. Connors in The Amazing Spiderman (Though a badly written villain), General Zod was the perfect villain to start and expand this new Superman universe.    

Having writing all those positive aspects of the film, it's time to point out the flaws and, yes, the flaws are big enough to withhold it's potential of being an epic film.  The biggest problem I had was the CGI madness; it overshadowed the character developments.  To be more specific, Metropolis was bashed and battered worst than Manhattan in The Avengers.  And the characters were almost A-okay with the destruction at the end of the film; there were no trauma or character developments.  That bothered me because it did effect it's full potential.  Also, the story gave some unnecessary amount of screen time to classic but minor characters.  Perry White, Louis Lane's boss, was important but the scene where he and a few of his employees ran for their lives (In the chaos of Metropolis being attacked) didn't help bringing the climax to its fullest potential. 

Yeah, I am aware the mainstream critics aren't a fan of this film as a whole.  And I always consider the critics.  Though frankly, I had a good feeling of satisfaction when walking out of the theaters and that's where it counts.  Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters (Gemma Arterton is so stunning!), The Last Stand and Fast and Furious 6 are examples of this year's films I've watched that didn't gave me satisfaction; especially FF 6! Man of Steel didn't live up to it's hype; that's the reality.  It didn't gave me that 'Epic' feeling like The Dark Knight Rises did.  So, with these two outcomes of mine, here's the verdict:

Man of Steel, this year's main event, earns a 3.5/5. Lesser than Iron Man 3 (Aww [ =( ] ) and The Dark Knight Rises .  That rating is for it's right path of innovation; of where the story should be and the lack of character developments from most characters except for Kal-El and Zod.