I meant that a great deal of the angst generated by this movie seems to center on the fact that this character is not morally perfect. He stole clothes out of someone's car. OH NO! He trashed the truck-driver's truck. OH NO! He killed Zod. OH NO!!!! I mean, it is just ridiculous. Endless complaining, because he's not perfect.
I think what a lot of it is, is that Cavill is not Reeve. Nothing less than Reeve will do for a great many people, but unfortunately Reeve is dead and even if he were not, he was paralyzed. So, I guess because Reeve is no longer with us we should just shelve Superman forever.
That is just ridiculousness.
I think the majority of Superman's ideals come from learning the correct path from a good upbringing by nice decent parents.
No-one would claim he was committing the crime of the century by stealing those clothes. And i bet he could have actually asked for them and been given them.
The end result of his journey is that he will not steal, will not damage trucks, and WILL NOT KILL...
But he has to have an arc, so it's important to show him *having* to do those things even if it's only once, for him to realise how high his moral high ground truly is.
Those parts you mention are all a part of the hero's journey.
In the novel, he always has a beard, shaggy hair, goes by assumed names and never tells anyone his life story because he has spent the last fifteen years being true to Jonathan's belief that the world will fear him if he "comes out" to them.
But the series of events in the movie convince him that perhaps he DOES have a place here, and not one where people will fear him, but where he can give them hope.
Also, don't take a "Reeve will always be Superman to me" comment to mean a fan cannot watch a new Superman. Any reeve adoration is merely due to how iconic he is to a certain generation of people. You always take those comments too seriously. It doesn't mean Cavill didn't do a good job. It also doesn't mean anyone wanted Reeve to coma back to life to play the man of steel again. It's just a statement from a fan about how much Reeve embodied the role for our generation. Treat it as such. A statement from a fan, and not an attack on all you hold dear.
And regardless of that, Routh will always be the best Superman so far.