Krypton's military leader, General Zod (Michael Shannon) responds to this news by fomenting rebellion its top scientist Jor-El (Russell Crowe) opts for putting his infant son, Kal-El, in a tiny spaceship and blasting him to Earth. There's just one catch: Due to the government's poor management of natural resources (it has taken the 'drill, baby, drill' mantra to improbable extremes) the planet is about to explode. The story begins on Krypton, a planet of floating robotic valets and winged mounts that would make a Nazgul sick with envy. What is open to question-and I confess to finding myself uncharacteristically ambivalent on the subject-is whether the resulting heavyweight summer blockbuster is very much fun. Man of Steel is an audacious undertaking, a stylistic and thematic mash-up of Avatar, The Matrix, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Independence Day, The Thing, Thor, and (especially) Bryan Singer's X-Men films. The tone is somber, the palette is grayish, and you can scarcely swing a cape without it getting snagged on some moral dilemma. Yes, the film is directed by Zack Snyder, but it is heavy (in all senses of the word) with the imprint of co-writer and co-producer Christopher Nolan, who's followed his decade with the caped crusader by taking on the task of rebooting DC Comics' other superstar superhero.

Welcome to the Dark Knight-ification of Superman.

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