Man Of Steel

The latest film incarnation of the classic Superman story, gets a much needed fresh take thanks to director Zack Snyder (300, Watchmen) and writers David Goyer and Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight Rises). So it goes without saying that Man Of Steel certainly has an impressive epic like feel to it, anchored by the performances of many of Hollywood's heavy hitters, including Amy Adams, Russel Crowe, Diane Lane, Laurence Fishburne, Kevin Costner, Michael Shannon, and Henry Cavill.  The story focuses on the origin of Superman (Cavill) and the destruction of his planet Krypton, that ultimately leads its former military leader General Zod (Michael Shannon) to earth in an attempt to rebuild that world.  Throughout the film, I was really most  impressed with Shannon's stellar performance at portraying this formidable and complicated villain of Superman, which given his previous work is really no surprise.  A fresh take is also given to the role of love interest Lois Lane as an integral part of the story, though the onscreen chemistry of the couple wasn't present.  But I reiterate in giving much credit to writers Goyer and Nolan for the shift in focus, that take into account the traditional old school fans of Superman and the more contemporary fan base that grew up watching Smalleville.  After the very successful Marvel franchises of Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor that culminated into the spectacular game changing The Avengers or the equally impressive Transformers franchise, it was time for DC to step up after the conclusion of their Batman trilogy and failure with no less than Green Lantern.  I won't say that Man Of Steel was the best, but Nolan, Snyder, and Goyer certainly saved Superman, resurrecting him from the ashes of 2006's Superman Returns and making him cinematically relevant to today's audience.  It was the least DC could do.  It's true that there are so many plot parallel's that damn near mimic the identical action plots of the Transformers or Marvel films.  If costumes and characters were changed, it could easily be one of those films.  But it certainly does work in an undeniably enjoyable and watchable way.  The strong epic and contemporarily relevant story,  infuse Man Of Steel with just enough substinance to keep DC afloat.