"Man of Steel" 3 stars out of 4 (B-)

Superhero movies are coming in two different forms these day. The first is the bright, colorful, and relatively single-minded superhero film that the Marvel films are presenting. Films like "The Avengers" or the "Iron Man" series are quick, breezy and entertaining with just enough surprises to keep you interested and enjoying yourself. Then there are the DC films like Christopher Nolan's "Batman" series. They are darker films that try to deal with heavier themes and entertain through powerful film scores (often created by Hans Zimmer). These films are often considered more serious and are often more respected by critics. "Man of Steel" is a DC film. It features the pre-requisite Zimmer score. It presents a superhero story with seriousness, weighty metaphors, and contains powerful imagery. The problem is that is a reboot that is trying to tell four sides of Clark Kent's life: Krypton's (his home planet) destruction, his childhood, his drifter days, and when he finally becomes the "Man of Steel". As a result of trying to fit four major stories into a 150-minute movie, none of the stories feel fleshed out enough. What we have a film that some glimpses of what it could be. We are never given a chance to see Clark truly fly because he is just too fast.

Clark Kent (Henry Cavill) is a drifter who goes from place to place doing odd jobs and occasionally saving people with his amazing strength and ability. Having come to Earth from the planet Krypton as a child, he was raised by Jonathan (Kevin Costner) and Martha (Diane Lane) to keep as low as profile as possible. This all changes when he comes across journalist Lois Lane (Amy Adams) who exposes his story. This draws the attention of General Zod (Michael Shannon), a Kryptonian prisoner who has been trying to find Clark since he was a baby. He will stop at nothing, including the destruction of Earth, to get an object that Clark holds which will he believes will restart the Krypton race. It is up to Clark to save the planet he has always called home.

Zack Snyder is an interesting and often torn-apart director. After making movies like the "Dawn of the Dead" remake, "300", "Watchmen", and "Sucker Punch", he has an aesthetic that many people thought wouldn't fit well with a Superman story. He often cuts his films with violent, choppy editing which is often scored by contemporary music. With "Man of Steel", Snyder shows restraint that we have never seen before. Scenes like the first time we see Clark take flight are given the attention to detail they deserve. The Snyder of a few years ago would have most likely just had him jump in the air. Here, he holds himself back giving us the necessary feeling of awe. His soundtrack flourishes are almost entirely gone. Where films like "Watchmen" had Jimi Hendrix playing and "Sucker Punch" had female covers of Stooges songs, here Zimmer's amazing 

score is used to accent the story. While Snyder's direction is not on the level of someone like Christopher Nolan (who he will no doubt be compared to), it is still an impressive presentation.

In sharp contrast with 2006's "Superman Returns", "Man of Steel" jumps from one plot point to the next in almost breakneck speed. The 150-minute runtime feels much shorter than that. This sense of speed is often caused not just by alternating between story lines featuring various parts of Clark's life but also in the small amount of time each is offered. While this will no doubt please those who thought "Superman Returns" was overly long and slow, it doesn't necessarily do a service to any of the plot lines. "Man of Steel" feels like a movie was originally three hours long but was cut down to 150 minutes. While it is never difficult to follow or understand, this fast storytelling doesn't necessarily give the story the weight it deserves. It would almost seem that this story could have benefited from being told in two parts. As it is, the story is told in a serviceable way but is missing something.

The performances in "Man of Steel" are especially impressive for a superhero film. Cavill was a perfect choice for Clark Kent leading believability to a superhero story that could easily veer into silliness. Costner delivers what might be the best performance we've seen in decades. While he isn't given nearly enough screen-time, he proves that he was an interesting and well-thought choice as the father who must tell his son to hold back his urge to help everyone. Shannon is quite powerful as Zod, although when compared to the previous characterization by Terrence Stamp and even other Shannon performances it seems a little subdued. Many people were expecting something on the level of Heath Ledger's Joker performance when people saw a actor as respected and as passionate as Shannon in the role. While it is a good performance, it is an almost subdued performance compared to what we have seen in the past from him.

"Man of Steel" calls to mind 2005's "Batman Begins". Both films were written by David S. Goyer, the man who is almost always in charge of writing DC movie scripts. "Begins" and "Steel" are both reboots with origin stories that are hastily included. Both stories go very fast, introducing characters and concepts in a fashion that feels like they aren't exactly telling us the whole story. Hopefully the next Superman movie will follow in the footsteps of "The Dark Knight". Now that they no longer have to worry about setting up who Clark Kent   is and was we no longer need to spend time on that. We can just focus on the amazing action and the story that goes along with it. While "Man of Steel" does successfully reboot the franchise, we are still a movie away from the film truly great "Superman" movie since the original.)