Man of Steel Good Points and Bad:
Henry Cavill: Good. There was a lot of comic faithful, including myself, that were afraid cavill was chosen only for his chiseled good looks. (See Channing Tatum in GI Joe, See Ryan Reynolds in Green Lantern). I am happy to say I was wrong. As Clark Kent, Cavill really shines. He embodies a confident, yet non-sleazy, grace as Clark. When he stands up for the girl at the bar, when he is just hanging out with his mom, you can feel the person he is underneath. I got chills when Clark watches his father die. As superman, I am slightly meh, cuz Snyder made him spew out action movie cliches. Not to mention the action scenes were slightly numbing, so perhaps I was not as sensitive to Cavill's performance at that point. Great job Mr. Cavill, see you in two years for the sequel!!
Action Scenes: Bad point and good point. I wanted to see a 2013 interpretation of two alien titans battling on the streets of New York. I did get to see that, but only at the end of the movie, and it only lasted six minutes!! My eyes widened and I felt over joyous for those six minutes. However the movie spends twenty minutes on the pizza box holder battle (world engine). That entire sequence was superflouous and even slightly silly. If Snyder did NOTHING else except cut those twenty minutes out, the movie would have gotten a better rating.
Potential for a sequel: Good Point. I want to see Mr. Cavill reprise his role, because he performed well. The ambiance, and general feel of this Superman world is also quite superb. I DO NOT want to see another thirty minutes of action scene vomit. Zack snyder is also fit for a sequel, but he ABSOLUTELY has to make sure the sequel flows better, puts in more heart, and less action scene vomit.
Critics Review: Can you blame them? They only rate what they see on hand, not on its potential for a sequel. The character development and the heart was in the movie, but awkwardly sequenced into the movie. The second half of the movie was action scene vomit, so its fitting they only gave this a 50-50 "so, so" rating.
My final opinion: When you buy this on dvd or blu ray, skip over the pizza box holder battle, and you will see that this movie is actually quite good. Christoper Reeve was an angel of a man. I believe he would have accepted and admired BOTH Brandon and Henry. Overall, this movie is good, and sets up a lot of potential for a sequel. (Hopefully with less action scene vomit).