Was “Man of Steel” really that bad?

As many of you know the movie Man of Steel starring Henry Cavill has not been held up a good Superman movie. I have heard it called lackluster, crappy, garbage…etc. I personally think those words and sentiment is unwarranted. Sure, the movie is not perfect and there is some stuff I didn’t like about it.

First, I think they didn’t set up Clark very good. That side of Superman is extremely important, and you lose something when Clark does really show up. He is the humanity of Superman and helps set him apart from other super heroes. Clark, unlike most alter egos, is very simple and humble. He’s not a billion, a test pilot or even a police forensic analyst. He’s just a report out doing a normal 9-5 job. Here is this man who could do anything in the world he wants and he is content to be normal. To me that’s extraordinary and worth the time to set up in a story.

Second, I don’t like the way they killed off Jonathan Kent. Unlike the first movie in 1978 where Clark didn’t know he could have saved his father, this time he stands there knowing he can but on a simple wave off by his dad he doesn’t. That is out of character for Clark or Superman and was a bad idea.

Third, Let’s face it. Lois was terrible. Amy Adams is a fine actress, but she just can’t pull off Lois Lane. Especially after seeing Erica Durance play her for years on Smallville.

Lastly, the absence of the Superman theme. It just doesn’t have the same feel without it.

I am sure there are a few more things I could nitpick about but those were my biggest complaints. Despite those things, there was a lot of good there.

First, Henry is a great Superman! Sure, his Clark needs some work, but I think that is easily fixable. He looks sound and acts like you expect Superman to. When you see him run out on the helipad and grab the failing structure, you see Superman. Top notch in my book.

Second, after the terrible fight scenes in the original Superman movies we finally got a realistic battle with Superman and a supervillain and it didn’t disappoint. These scenes could not have been any bigger or better.

Third, Krypton was really cool. The design of the one from the original never really made sense to me. How would grow food on a planet of nothing but crystals and all the white clothes made no sense. Don’t get me wrong, it was very cool back the day but still not logical.

Fourth, Jor-El was great in this movie. Russell Crowe mailed it. This is the kind of guy that would risk everything to save his son. No matter the cost, his son was going to live. Crowe is great in just about anything and he brought his A-game.

Finally, for the first time we got to see some of the struggle a boy would have to go through if he had these powers. Learning to control them. Learning to hide in plain sight. This would not be an easy thing to do and they should that. Unfortunately, that didn’t translate well in the adult Clark scenes but it was great seeing a young Clark struggle and it not just be because he wants to show off.

The long and short of this is that I think this was a pretty good movie and they could easily fix the mistakes with a sequel to it. It’s a shame they kind of gave up on it so quickly and tried the silly Batman vs Superman, which was a God-awful movie. If you haven’t seen it or maybe saw it when it first came out, give it watch and see if you again or disagree with me.