Man of Steel (2013)

Director: Zack Snyder

Starring: Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Michael Shannon, Kevin Costner

An alien child is evacuated from his dying world and sent to Earth to live among humans. His peace is threatened, when other survivors of his home planet invade Earth.

‘Man of Steel’ starts with the birth of Clark Kent, telling us where he comes from, who his parents are, and why he grew up on Earth. I enjoyed this detailed back story, making me root for him all the more.

Henry Cavill is perfectly cast as Clark Kent, or Superman. Despite being a superhero, Kent is filled with emotion and feelings like ordinary human beings, and Cavill lends credibility to the character. Cavill is also darn sexy! Amy Adams stars as his love interest, Lois Lane. Although the romance developed a bit too quickly for my taste, I did enjoy the chemistry and endearing moments between them. I somehow would have preferred Lois Lane to be dark-haired, and not red-haired. Just a personal preference to the character…

As for the visual effects and action sequences, wow it’s incredible! The action is fast-paced, and the visual effects are dazzling, making ‘Man of Steel’ a visual spectacle of note. For such a long film (almost 2½ hours), it was never boring and captivated me from beginning to end. Even when there were no action, I was so invested in the characters that I didn’t even miss the action. I found it compelling with interesting characters.

Michael Shannon stars as the film’s antagonist, General Zod, and I thought he, too, did a really good job. He was a fearless and determined character, and a worthy antagonist. In general, ‘Man of Steel’ is a top-notch production, fast-paced and exciting.

‘Man of Steel’ earned $668 million at the box office, on an estimated budget of $225 million. It received 53 award nominations.

Would I watch it again? Yes.