Watching Snyder work is like watching a 12 year old boy direct Citizen Kane. Stylistically, he still has some great visual highlights - Krypton, an powerful foe, a new way to find purpose - but he fouls a lot of it up, breaking a cardinal rule with no real sense of consequence - an unfortunate kickoff to a new DCU.
Tym says
Apostasy. Some strong craft, undone by a climax so heinous it is unforgivable. Forever.
Superman always does what's right, and this film did him wrong. All the dumb profits in the world can't hide that.
WB also threw the excellent Superman Returns under the bus for this blood money.
The film looks cold and dead from foolishness; the contrast is too high and all the warm spectrum has been drained out. Director Snyder mimics trends, applying the chilly blue palette of horror films onto a film about the sun god. Impossibly stupid.
It pretends to equitable, but margins Lara on Krypton, wearies Martha, and damsels Lois at every turn.
It feigns ethics with Pa Kent but betrays them for a shock ending.
Instead of learning from the depth of Moore and Totleben's "Miracleman: Book Three" (1988), writer Goyer swiped John Byrne's Superman #22 (1988) at face value with no credit. Byrne's story, in which Superman compromises his core values under rigged circumstance, alienated fandom for the very reason that it was wrong.
This film is so much the opposite of the character that if it was called Bizarro, or turned out to be Earth 3, it would finally make sense.
In truth, Superman is super because of the mind and heart guiding his powers; his true supremacy lies in ethics, leadership, compassion, and humane options.
