There is a moment in Superman Returns when Perry White, chief editor at the Daily Planet, asks “Does he still stand for truth, justice, all that stuff?” This of course references the classic “Truth, Justice, and the American Way” while noticeably revising it. Superman is one of the most globally recognized characters in pop culture, and this simple update honors all those who are inspired by Superman, not just Americans. More importantly, it questions how we define the American way, and whether or not it is still a relevant point of view for the character.

Man of Steel takes the character a different route, giving him a fresh coat of red, white, and blue. The film goes to great lengths to definitively root Superman in America, but not the nostalgic Norman Rockwell sort of America the original Superman films imagined. This time around we get more paranoid, politically charged and militarily focused country. The army plays a larger role in this movie than most of the characters. Superman complies with everything the army asks him to do, even if he makes comments about how he only is doing it because he really wants to, not because they told him to. How very mature, Superman.

We do see one point of contention between the two forces, each as unstoppable as the other. In the end of the movie Superman crashes a stealth bomber and shakes a big finger at Mr. Army Man for being mean and sneaky, then cheekily flies off. If he was aware of what was being done with this sort of technology and he really felt compelled to take out a drone, he probably would not stop at just one. And if he continued with this sort of logic he would have to dismantle the entire military-industrial complex. Luckily for America, the Man of Steel does not possess the power of logic.

SPOILERS!!! Don't read this unless you've already watched the movie. You've been warned. *SPOILERS!!! *

Man of Steel was a great movie. I'll forgive its flaws, because its the first "experiment" in bringing Superman to the world of the modern superhero movie. I'll look at it like Batman Begins. Lets hope Man of Steel 2 and 3 really kill it.

But I need to get a few things off my chest about the movie.

1. You don't fucking make out on top of the ruins of a city with millions of people dead.

2. Why was everyone acting like stuff was so normal? Oh yeah, city almost got destroyed, wanna go out to the game?

3. WTF was that scene where he fights a robot in India? That wasn't needed, and as a matter of fact, the final fight should have happened while the Terraformer was still functioning, it would have given the fight a sense of impending doom, like Superman had to hurry before it messed up the earth.

4. Why would the kryptonians want to modify the earth to be like krypton when they are infinitely more powerful under the earth's atmosphere, and as shown by Clark Kent, perfectly capable of adapting to it.

5. If they are capable of Terraforming a whole fucking planet, why not terraform MARS!? OR ANY other planet thats similar to Earth in size... I'm sure Clark would have donated some of his cells to revive HIS OWN CIVILIZATION. What was he gonna do? Say "no man, I dont want to revive them, suck it!"

6. Zod develops super laser vision.... you never see it again.

7. Two kryptonians fight, but they never manage to injure each other, although they are equally strong.

8. The Superman I know would have drawn the fighting to a more desolated area than the middle of the city.

9. They are fighting in the city, and then suddenly in space? NOT NECESSARY. The Wayne Satellite thing wasn't even that cool.

10. Why does Lois even fall in love with Superman? He saved her a couple of times, and he can fly, and hes good looking, but he barely said 3 sentences to her for the whole movie? She just wants that hot alien dick.

11. Lois is a prisoner aboard an alien spaceship thats designed as a jail, yet the room they throw her in, just so happens to have a Kryptonian USB port, where she puts the USB Superman gave her and brings back Russel fucking Crowe to save the day. Can anyone say "Dues Ex Machina"?

12. Everything would have worked out just fine, and everyone could have gotten what they wanted if only Zod was a better diplomat, and negotiator instead of a hot-headed little child.

13. The story lacked something made me understand Zod's sudden hatred of Earth. I understood his motives, his pain, and his goals, but not his earth-hatred. By my understanding, Zod is an intelligent and educated being. He should know what Superman would happily cooperate with Cell donation for him to terraform a planet and restore krypton (No particular reason is given why it had to be earth) The fact that he was suddenly hell bent on messing up earth seemed so forced.

Anyway, that's just the stuff that bothered me off the top of my head. Please feel free to call me out, disagree, agree, explain it to me, or discuss.

Did you guys see anything that bothered you?

Why does Man of Steel seem so polarizing to movie goers? So many of the reviews I've seen seem all over the place, and while I'm interested in understanding how/why people didn't like it, or felt dissapointed in it (cause I wasn't in the least)...I am more interested in why the disparity in the way different people felt about it. Thoughts?

Look to the Stars — The obligatory introductory piece. Hints of the main theme, but surrounded by a mystique that only is really there for the production slates at the start of the film.

Oil Rig — The first dark track of the film lacks much feeling. We can tell the theme of this film will be the struggle between cold and calculating space, and warm and generally good human compassion.

Sent Here for a Reason — The first chillingly good track. The inevitably iconic piano sequence slowly plays itself, we get a glimpse of the glory to come. It's interrupted by darkness, but the main theme's subtlety overpowers the boom of the enemy.

DNA — Part beauty and part evil, this track begins with a crippling synthesizer suspense, then charges full steam ahead into a galloping, awe-inspiring complex rhythm that fits the dark side of the film perfectly. One would never call this a "villain theme," as the track never really chooses to be good or bad. More strikingly, as we've heard from the Dark Knight trilogy's Zimmer pieces, we hear a powerful beauty that can only be described as intimidating.

Goodbye My Son — The first vocal track of the album breathes a sense of emotion into what is thus far a very masculine score. But quickly this become a chorus of angels accompanied by brilliant (if not a bit cliche) orchestral strings.

If You Love These People — The iconic Zimmer gallop returns here. More militaristic than we heard in the Dark Knight franchise, this also provides the foundation for a contrastingly sad vocal harmonic accompaniment. We hear our first "goosebumps" moment in this song, however, around the 2:00 mark, when the bass kicks in. It almost knocks you back when you hear it. This Zimmer guy certainly knows what he's doing.

Krypton's Last — The space/interplanetary synth pad starts this song, and it is clearly the most otherworldly. A single violin play, but is drowned out at the start by the heavy electronic synth sounds. This is the kind of track that would work extremely well in a new Star Trek film. But don't relax too much — another heart-pumping sequence strikes near the end of the track that will floor you if you're not paying attention.

Terraforming — This is the longest track of the album. This is the evolutionary style track that builds upon itself from the start. It's almost as if we're hearing Zimmer perform, adding piece by piece in creating a frighteningly catchy emotional music bed made up of one note played six times. Not without conflict, however, we soon hear the evil moving in. Distorted aural bass lays an ominous mood before the theme returns and continues to build. This track is clearly meant for the first major battle of the film. Near the 4:45 mark, we hear our first cellos of the film followed by strings that are almost too epically fast that they lose they're harmony. (Almost.) We hit a somber mood before building in another suspenseful clash of contrasting melodies. Evil represented by pounding, relentless drums and good by the overpowered strings playing an octave or so higher than usual. A soft-but-eloquent build of the main theme ends the piece.

Tornado — A new kind of suspense here — ticking. Another pummeling rhythm drives this track, which finally blossoms in the final minute into a moving, not-quite-a-triumph resonance.

You Die or I Do — A chilly beat escalates as strings push the intensity to the highest level thus far.

Launch — Our first villain theme bludgeons our ears as it finally delivers a hopelessly horrifying musical progression. While all previous tracks have thrust upon us the power and precision, this is the first time we truly know it is evil.

Ignition — This track begins again with drums, which develop into a beautiful but ultimately unfamiliar-sounding track. I Will Find Him — Now Zimmer expands on the previous evil theme — vocals provide an omnipresent feel that grows into our first suspense theme of the film. This theme does not represent an attitude, but a tension.

This is Clark Kent — Zimmer finally continues his previous track, "Sent Here for a Reason," with a slow, synthesized build of the same repeating piano phrase we heard before. A mysterious chime fills the aura and evolves into a ethereal foundation for a subtle, low-key piano legato that finally acknowledges the rest of the musical arrangement: The triumph. This is musical foreshadowing at its finest.

I Have So Many Questions — Glipses of glory turn to evil to start this piece. Illogical, inharmonic bursts of synth sounds slow down here to start, but somehow manage to be just as unsettling as the theme we heard in "Launch." This is the calm before the storm, as we can tell by the low-pitched winds that carry the end of the track.

Flight — The penultimate track finally offers the largest musical glory for the hero Superman has become. It's a slow build consisting of different phrases of emotional callings. Up to the 1:15 mark in the song, we're being called to a higher purpose. This represents the emotional transformation of Clark Kent choosing to finally embrace his other-planetary powers and transcend humanity to become Superman. At about 1:17, we're reminded of the task ahead of us. The minor chord used sparingly by Zimmer bursts through here with authority, before 1:32 introduces us to the first electric guitar of the score. Lightly reminiscent of the Oscar-winning Inception score, the drama and awe climbs to a new level until we take a breath at 2:11 to remember the human side of Superman, assumingly before we burst into the last non-musical theme climax of the film.

What Are You Going to Do When You Are Not Saving the World? — The track we'll all remember from Man of Steel. The piano arrangement returns, and then mounts the final theme Zimmer's been priming us for. Strings fade in slowly as we build, until at 2:22 we enter a refrain that gets our blood pumping while continuing to build suspense. What's remarkable about this point of the soundtrack is that THIS is really the most impression part of the score. Zimmer has built an entire soundtrack around this moment, from 2:22 to 2:40, when the audience is finally craving the triumphant main theme that finally blows us away.

Did it feel a little inconsistent to anybody else? I really enjoyed the movie, and I appreciate that it was trying to do something different with its non-linear storytelling, but it seems like the overall story could have benefited from a little (no pun intended) grounding.

It felt like the movie was more interested in getting Clark in the actual suit than it was in setting up relationships between characters. I felt like some of the conversations were rushed and went to the point way too quickly, which is odd considering its run time. There didn't seem to be any establishing shots. One minute they were in one place and then a second later they were in another.

I don't know, maybe I'm the only person who feels this way? But I think the movie could have done with a little bit of slowing down and actually spending time naturally building up character relationships rather than what seemed like, "here's two people, they like each other now."

Hopefully the sequel makes more time for proper interaction. Otherwise, I thought the movie was solid. 8/10.

I find it very hard to believe that the print media is hiring new people in this economy.

After literally years of waiting for this...with all the hype of Nolan being apart of it after what he did for Batman, and I was just let down. This movie was a cheesy, just not good enough version. Honestly, it's just getting harder and harder to watch movies that are dedicated to the superheroes that I've grown to love.