In preparation for the upcoming Batman v Superman movie I had another look at this film from a few years back and while it was better than the awful 2006 film Superman Returns it hasn’t held up as well given the superhero movies that have followed it. It follows the trend set by the Batman trilogy with dark themes running through the movie but being directed by Zack Snyder and with Christopher Nolan on board as consultant there’s no surprises there.

Credit must go for them starting the story on Krypton and giving a bit of back story as to how Superman ended up on earth. This is a planet on the brink of destruction and Superman’s father Jor-El (excellently portrayed by Russell Crowe) who decided to have a child the natural way, rather than through Kryptons biological breeding program, realises that he needs to jettison his son away before General Zod (Michael Shannon) can capture him. Zod and his followers are defeated and exiled however Krypton is still destroyed.

The action then cuts to earth where Superman is an adult, and while admirably played by Henry Cavill there is little focus on his life as Clark Kent and his younger years with only a few small snippets showing him as a child/teenager and the lack of use of Kevin Costner who shines in the few moments that he does appear in the movie was disappointing as this man is supposed to be the moral compass for Clark as he learn about his powers. So Superman learns of his past but re-activates a beacon which alerts Zod to his presence and brings him to earth. Zod wants to start terraforming earth and rebuild his planet of Krypton so Superman is torn as while he feels obliged to protect Earth he understands where Zod is coming from and even sympathizes with his motives

They throw in Lois Lane (Amy Adams) as almost a side plot and her battle with her editor (Laurence Fishburne in another underused acting part) to publish a story about a government conspiracy to hide the fact the they know about Superman’s buried ship and the interaction between Lois and Superman just doesn’t feel natural as there’s no development and it’s straight into the infatuation she has with the superhero. She starts as a strong, tough, driven woman who becomes a damsel in distress around Superman and that is a little disappointing.

Where the movie gain most credit is that through Superman and Zod’s battle, where earth is a destructive playground, at least the armed forces act like they should, lacking the understanding of who Superman is they treat both entities as an enemy and have to learn that Superman is actually on their side, and this weakens Superman’s position as he also needs to act as a protector while trying to battle Zod.

Forgetting the many plot holes and the under use of some great actors the movie was decent, spent some time in developing the back story of Krypton which was good but seemingly at the expense of leaving a hole in developing Superman childhood story. It was a step in the right direction to tie in Superman to the world already set up by the Batman trilogy but unless he makes a big impact this year Superman he may fail to re-establish himself as a center point of the DC universe that he deserves to be.

DJ Speaks Rating: 5 out of 10