MAN OF STEEL REVIEW

When I first saw the film’s trailer, I expected the film to be as serious & epic as Christopher Nolan’s “Dark Knight”. Alas! The trailer was rather misleading. Man Of Steel is a half-great movie: meaning the first half, which primarily focusses on: (a) The ‘origin’ part of Kal-El/Superman(Henry Cavill); (b)The enmity between Jor-El(Russel Crowe) and Zod(Michael Shannon) and (c) How Superman adapts to planet Earth. It includes a well-choreographed ship-rescue scene. On the contrary, the second-half of the film is sheer spectacle at the cost of resonance. There is little substance supporting the wonderfully executed CGI-based action sequences and splendid lead performances. The messed-up screenplay too is a major culprit worth mentioning. It’s a restrained rip-off from Christopher Reeves’ Superman-II(1980) where the antagonist General Zod confronts ‘Earthlings’ and their loyal saviour Superman. The mildly-disappointing climactic battle between them bears a striking similarity to the showdown that Thor and Loki engaged in the film THOR and the brilliant Edward Norton-Tim Roth face-off in THE INCREDIBLE HULK. What I sorely missed in MAN OF STEEL was the pleasure of Superman’s day-to-day crime-fighting existence and the diabolic presence of his most dangerous nemesis Lex Luthor, which was marginally compensated by the presence of the charming Amy Adams(Lois Lane). I sincerely hope the sequel covers all these flaws to make it a more enjoyable experience for us. My Verdict: A heart-breaking 6/10