- The start held a great deal of promise for me.
- And then, about 20 minutes in, they decided to skip character development and go for every plot point about which they had a even a fleeting thought. Costner’s character isn’t given enough attention. Indeed, either is Clark.
- Which might not have bothered me so much if Adams’ Lane had been been developed. But she wasn’t either. She was just another plot device, and a poorly written and used one at that. Which also translated to poorly acted. There was simply no chemistry between she and Cavill’s Superman.
- The action scenes were choppy. The filmmakers wanted so badly to show speed that they moved the characters through so much air space so quickly that I often had a hard time following who was doing what to whom.
- Some of the effects were great.
- Director Zach Snyder and Producer/Writer Christopher Nolan tried to go for the same sort of gritty, dark and philosophical vein that Nolan’s Dark Knight films captured. I don’t know if Superman lends itself as well to that concept as does Batman. Even if he does, they didn’t execute it as well in this one.
- Which is to say I was never truly gripped by this flick. I was never truly invested. Mostly I was just bored. This year alone, I have enjoyed at least two action flicks (Iron Man 3 & Jack the Giant Slayer) more.
- Final Grade: D
jjames reviews 