MAN OF STEEL

DIRECTOR: Zack Snyder

CAST: Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Michael Shannon

★★

When the first "MAN OF STEEL" trailers were released, you could have been forgiven to think that Terrence Malick (Tree Of Life) was behind the latest superman outing with its haunting voice-over and close-ups of, uh, pencil erasers, The final two-and-a-half hour film however is less Terrence Malick and more a Michael Bay explosion filled popcorn flick.

Like all Comic-book super hero movies made these days Warner Bros. and director Zack Snyder (300, Watchmen) aimed to make "MAN OF STEEL" (or 'Superman Begins') a darker - grittier film than its predecessors. But instead it is cold and heartless, despite Warner Bros acquiring Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight Trilogy) to produce what was arguably the most anticipated movie for 2013. In an opening scene similar to that of the 2009's Star Trek, the planet Krypton is moments before destruction and Jor-El (Russell Crowe) has just become a father to our beloved hero Kal-El. Without any time for some father-son bonding, the child is sent to Earth for refuge and to give the planet "something to strive for". Jump 33 years to the future and a bearded, reserved and a muscular Clark Kent, is working on a fishing boat and is quickly jumping into action on a flaming oil rig to save workers trapped onboard. It turns out that Clark (Henry Cavill), conflicted about revealing his alien heritage, has kept moving around the globe whilst reminiscing on his childhood where, under the supervision of Ma and Pa Kent, had to learn to control his senses so he could blend in with his adoptive home.

Meanwhile we are introduced to the instinctive reporter of Lois Lane (played by an underused Amy Adams). And after a near death experience, Lois investigates the origins of her mysterious savior. Before Lois can say "Look! up in the sky!" Her story is soon interrupted by the appearance of our antagonist and fellow Kryptonian General Zod (Michael Shannon), who has come to earth with the old fashioned plan of 'Taking over the Planet' and turning Earth onto the new Krypton. Cue rampant destruction and loss of life in both Smallville and Metropolis. "MAN OF STEEL" ends up just being another summer movie about bad guys toppling skyscrapers, nothing we haven't seen before in "The Avengers", Batman or the Spiderman Movies. The best visuals are in the trailers and the use of 3D is not worth the extra admission price. The moments between Clark and Earth-Father Jonothan Kent (Kevin Costner) give the film some much needed soul and warmth, but these moments are soon gone to soon and we recede back into the cold. Do we get to meet mild-mannered reporter Clark Kent with the dark framed glasses? Not quite. Is there romantic chemistry between prize-winning journalist Lois Lane and Clark? Nope. There's not even any 'Tony Stark style clever one-liners to make the audience smile.