Story: A major aspect to this reboot is the story. What's done with this film is a complete wiping of everything that has come before.
Prologue: The film starts out by detailing how Krypton came to ruin and how Kal-el, superman, escaped. Kal's birth is told to be the first natural birth that has happened on Krypton for a long time. Before, and of late, Kryptonians were breed to be either warriors or doctors, there was no choice involved anymore. This is where the characters of Zod and Kal's father, Jol-el, differ. Zod starts an uprising against the current Krypton council over the usage of mining for energy from the planet's core. Jol went in a less aggressive path and taking the cortex that helped breed the kryptonians, he sends it and his son off to earth. I loved the detail that was put into this backstory and found it gave Man of Steel its first solid footing.
Earth: As Kal air ship lands in kansas, the film jumps to present time with Kal, on earth known as Clark, is working a job as a fishing hand. What bothered me about this part was I began thinking, he's been jumping from job to job for who knows how long and then somehow people find out about him, just like that. How was he able to stay hidden for so long and then suddenly his identity as Kal-El is blown. That is the only thing I don't understand. Flashbacks are given at certain points which give specific details into Kal's learning and how he adapted to the way of life on earth. Seeing the film a second time I now see that the flashbacks worked well, and did not make the film feel uneven. I also discovered that Kal did over-hear two army vets talk of how the army found an object frozen beneath the ice. Now, here is the real issue I did not get of this. How does Kal now that the ship is related to him. It could be anything. But, I guess he needed to just go and find out.
Three things happen next as we are treated to Kal's first interaction with Lois Lane (Amy Adams), a holographic representation of his real father ( a great change from the original) and his obtaining of his suit. I did feel that him getting the suit so early on in the film was a bit of a let down. I would have preferred more of a build up to him obtaining the suit. There is a nice sequence though that details him practicing how to fly. Another question, how is it he never tried flying before and just starts learning it now?
Other characters are eventually introduced, Lois Lane, Perry White, a Jenny Olsen (female or sister to Jimmy). What was disappointing was the under development on Daily Planet and Perry. Such key ingredients within the franchise and we barely get anytime to get to know these new versions of the characters. Though the movie is more about Superman/Kal and his learning path and not his experiences at the Daily Planet, that comes later.
The whole film eventually collimates in Zod wanting to turn Earth into a new krypton, much like in Transformers: Dark of the Moon when Sentinel Prime wanted to enslave mankind and turn the world into a new Cybertron. The movie ends on a great note, bringing the franchise into familiar territory and hopefully better developed side characters.
Man of Steel gave great recreations of Zod and Krypton, Kal and his parents (Earth and Krypton). Kal was made as more of a real character in this reboot and the film really made you rote for him. Even the undeveloped characters I still cared about. The story gets real intense near the end and does in fact draw similar references to real life tragedies.
While popular characters of Superman were left on the side lines its understandable seeing as the main focus of the film was to remake Superman as more of a real man and give some depth to his backstory, it's all there and it's very in depth. I do have to add that the update on the Zod's villainous sidekick Faora was extremely applause worthy, great actress and some solid work on the character.
Part 2 - Visuals, acting, music and direction
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