动作科幻片《超人：钢铁之躯》

    The film spends a lot of time on the distant, doomed* Krypton planet in the early sequences and director Zack Snyder mixed dark sci-fi high tech with explosions* and planetary eruptions*. Here we meet Jor-El and Lara Lor-Van (Russell Crowe and Ayelet Zurer), parents of newborn Kal-El. Their planet is dying and they decide to launch their son off* into the stars and a hopeful new home.

    The effort is complicated* by the evil General Zod (Michael Shannon), who’s out to destroy Kal-El.

    Once on Earth, the alien* is taken in by loving parents (Kevin Costner and Diane Lane), christened Clark Kent and raised on a farm outside Smallville, Kansas. Clark, now in his early 30s, is still bewildered* by the origins and meaning of his supernatural powers.

    Snyder and screenwriter David S. Goyer — working from a story developed by Goyer and “Dark Knight” genius Christopher Nolan, who is also a producer on “Man of Steel” — like using flashbacks* and messages from dead characters to help fill in the story. It works nicely as we get to know both of Superman’s fathers, Crowe’s no-nonsense Jor-El, and Costner’s good-natured Jonathan Kent.

    Costner is especially good. “You’re the answer, son,” he tells young Clark, who wonders where he came from. “You’re the answer to, ‘Are we alone in the universe?’”

    British actor Henry Cavill plays the adult Clark Kent. Cavill manages to create a conflicted* man, emotionally* vulnerable* even with his superpower.

    Eventually, the U.S. military discovers an ancient Kryptonian scout* ship under polar ice and Clark, shadowed* by reporter Lois Lane (Amy Adams), learns who he is and where he came from. Unwittingly*, however, he triggers the ship’s homing beacon*, alerting Zod to* his presence. Soon the general and his soldiers arrive on Earth demanding Kal-El’s surrender*, setting the stage for a Kryptonian showdown*.

    Snyder has succeeded in creating a new-age Superman. “Man of Steel” is about figuring out how to channel your powers, about how to work for good on a planet swirling with perpetual* evil, about leaps of faith*, fathers and sons, old worlds and new, fate and destiny*. (SD-Agencies)