Man of Steel is a 2013 action/adventure/superhero film written by David S. Goyer and directed by Zack Snyder. It stars Henry Cavill as Clark Kent/Superman, Amy Adams as Lois Lane, and Michael Shannon as General Zod. It also stars Kevin Costner and Diane Lane as Jonathan and Martha Kent, Russell Crowe as Jor-El, Ayelet Zurer as Lara, and Laurence Fishburne as Perry White. The remaining supporting cast includes Christopher Meloni, Harry Lennix, Richard Schiff, Michael Kelly, and Antje Traue.
This is the movie that launched DCEU and rebooted the Superman origin story. It is a much better movie than it gets credit for being. I think it gets shit on by a lot of whiny comic book fans who would frankly never be satisfied with anything that deviates from the story they want to be told. It does tell Superman's origin story much differently than the 1978 film, but it still stays true to the comic book mythology. Like the 1978 movie, this one starts out on Krypton, showing the planet in its last days and setting up Zod as the film's villain. It has many of the same elements as the origin story we know: Jor-El trying to convince the leadership of Krypton that the planet is doomed, Zod being sent to the Phantom Zone, and Jor-El and Lara sending Kal to Earth. Then the movie jumps to a time when Clark/Kal-El is an adult (played by Henry Cavill), working odd jobs as a drifter until he is discovered helping someone and then has to move on. His childhood is told in flashbacks as he learns how to deal with powers like X-ray vision and super hearing, and learning to control them with the help of his Earth father and mother. So, for much of the movie, he is not Superman until Zod comes to Earth and threatens all of humanity. Ultimately, like the 1978 film, the movie is about how Clark becomes Superman. Although this one has some similar elements to the original 1978 film, how Clark becomes Superman overall occurs much differently.
This film has a much grittier feel than the original movies with Christopher Reeve or the Superman Returns reboot with Brandon Routh. This version of Superman is not the "big blue boy scout," but you can see he has that in him, and Clark is not written as a bumbling character to hide his identity. This version of Lois is also written much differently than the prior versions of the character, who had no idea that Clark is Superman. She immediately (almost) finds out about Clark and his abilities before he puts on the suit and before she falls in love with him. Also, where the other movies injected some comedy into their stories, this one does not.
For those who get the blu-ray set, there are three discs, two blu-rays, and one DVD. The first blu-ray disc and the DVD have the movie and about an hour's worth of behind-the-scenes and making-of material. The second Blu-ray disc has a version of the movie that is playable in an in-movie mode in which clips from the cast and crew are interspersed throughout the movie explaining how various scenes were shot, how they approached making the movie or a particular scene in the movie, and the like. It adds about 30 additional minutes to the running time of the movie, but it is entertaining to watch. Then, there is a mockumentary about Krypton and Kryptonian technology left behind in the aftermath of the invasion detailing what the military and scientists learned about the Kryptonian technology.
Overall, the movie is very good. Very well written and acted. Yes, it changed Superman's origin story a bit, but as I said above, it still stayed true to the overall mythology. Henry Cavill did a great job in the role. Not only did he play a good Clark and Superman, he got absolutely jacked for the role and pulled off the superhero look. He, wisely, did not try to mimic Christopher Reeve or any of the other actors who have played the role. He made it his own and ran with it, as did Amy Adams with her version of Lois. Of course, the movie sets up the larger DC Cinematic Universe that would go on to include characters like Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, etc., but they really kept this a contained Superman movie. It was very well done and is definitely worth watching.
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