Man of Steel

The first thirty minutes reminded me of so many other movies. The creature Jor El mounted in the skies of Krypton reminded me of Avatar. The hatchery reminded me of The Matrix. The way Jor El fits into his battle armor reminded me of Iron Man.

It was a bizarre case of deja-vu.

Even with this issue, I thought Man of Steel was a fantastic superhero movie. Henry Cavill is a perfect fit for the Last Son of Krypton. His Superman was one of the best performances in a film that had plenty of talented actors. Russell Crowe does a fine job as Jor El, Kevin Costner is the "every man" in Jonathan Kent. I am one of the viewers who would have been happier with more scenes with Jonathan and Clark growing up. He's worth some flashbacks in the sequels.

The movie is worth it just for those three performances.

Amy Adams is a good Lois Lane. My only complaint is she's in almost every scene: she's the press allowed on the ice where the military found an alien spacecraft. Then she's the one human allowed to go on General Zod's craft. When the military plans a dangerous mission on a C-130, somehow it's Lois who joins the group. It got to the point where I began wondering if they should have called the movie, "Man of Steel: featuring Lois Lane".

The final (LONG and loud) battle reminded me of Transformers meets Avengers. With the tag-battle having a Matrix Revolutions flavor. How long can you watch two people pummel each other, knowing they can keep going for a long time...

These feelings of replication are unfortunate because the film actually serves the performers very well. The emotion fits perfectly with the action which gives credence to the characters.

I'll look forward to the Blu-ray release.

Zach Snyder did a good job. I just hope the sequel doesn't copy from as many other films.