MAN OF STEEL

comic book action/adventure

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS

Russel Crowe: Scientist Jor-El

Ayelet Zurer: his wife Lara

Michael Shannon: rebel leader General Zod

Cooper Timberline: 9-year old Clark Kent

Kevin Costner: Clark’s earth-father Jonathan

Diane Lane: Clark’s earth-mother Martha

Henry Cavill: the adult Clark

Amy Adams: Lois Lane, reporter for the Daily Planet newspaper

Laurence Fishburne: Perry White, the Daily Planet Editor in Chief

REVIEW

Loud movies loaded with copious CGI will certainly appeal to those whose literary choice is a comic book. For the rest of us it is an assault: not just to our ears but to our intelligence as though we expect nothing more of a movie than a series of hand-to-hand combat scenes that quickly become tedious all to the strains of an overbearing thumping score.

Without a  good story line and solid character development, a movie is just a bore and a waste of time. Instead of having us look up in the sky to see if it’s a bird or a plane and then discover it’s Superman we get to look at one scene of destruction, devastation and mayhem after another. At 2 hours and 23 minutes it is too long except for the die-hard fan who can’t get enough of this stuff.

Not being one of them, I should have walked out earlier.

CLASSIFICATION

 for some language, intense sequences of sci-fi violence, action and destruction.

FOR NITPICKERS ONLY

• General Zod says Krypton is on the verge of implosion; in fact, just the opposite happens shortly thereafter.
• The Coast Guard helicopter pilot identifies the aircraft as number 6502 whereas the tail number is actually 6011.
• Two Canadian soldiers in uniform are in the bar. No member of the Canadian forces is allowed to be in a public drinking establishment while in uniform.
• The captain of the C-17 Globemaster tells the co-pilot to take over the controls which he does and says “co-pilot in charge”. The correct handoff is “I have control”.
• The aircraft is some distance from the city when permission is requested to drop the bomb; some ten minutes later permission is granted and they are no closer than before.
• The news network is seen by viewers all over the world and they are all watching it at night; somewhere it has to be daylight.