I am about to disagree with probably half the world; no worries, I have my flack jacket and helmet on. No spoilers, I promise.

I saw “Man of Steel” the weekend it released. I will say that I really liked it; however, I, for some reason, feel a need to defend why I like it as I read people’s posts/review about it. I will say that this was the first time I have looked forward to a Superman movie (let’s admit it, as cute as Brandon Routh is, “Superman Returns” was just God-awful.). Superman has never been my favorite. Not ever. Too much of a boy scout, always black and white with his morality, so perfectly good, etc. I could go on (that damn curl!) but I won’t. THIS movie made me feel and root for the Man of Steel. I thought that Henry Cavill played a young man in conflict very well. I have never before wanted to give Superman a big old hug and I certainly did with Cavill’s portrayal. I have watched Cavill as an actor ever since he played Albert in “The Count of Monte Cristo”, including his roles in “Tristan and Isolde”, “Stardust”, “The Tudors”, and “The Cold Light of Day”. I have always enjoyed him but I knew that this would be his greatest challenge yet. I think he met it.

We usually only get snapshots of Clark raised by a loving family, always knowing that he has a place with them. But your family isn’t the world and we must still face it some day. I appreciated Snyder’s glimpse into what growing up could have been like for someone like Clark, so unexplainable and frightening. I love the views of his humanity, as well as that of his parents. Their own fallibility as well as great courage and love in raising him, just as he shows Clark’s. Kryptonian or not, loving family with great morals or not, he grew up on earth with all of its baggage, judgement, and fears. That HAS to affect a young person and battling through it is no easy feat, not even for the man who would be Super. Thank you for that.

I honestly enjoyed most of the characters in this movie and the actors who portrayed them. The only ones that I probably wasn’t the most behind were Lois Lane and Perry White. Now, I’ve PLAYED Lois Lane, well I was told, and I felt that while Amy Adams did an admirable job, there was still more backbone, more fierceness to be had for Lois. At least in my mind. The other character I was just sort of meh about was Laurence Fishbourne’s Perry White, but you know I’ll watch him in almost anything. LOL He wasn’t bad at all, really, just peripheral.

I enjoyed the scenes from Krypton very much and found myself rather fascinated by them.

I do not have a canon history with Superman, so, while I’ve watched a lot of the cartoons, I haven’t read very many of the comics or seen really anything of the previous movies. Like I said, this was the first time I have ever looked forward to Superman. This is the story of a hero becoming. A man just starting out on his path. He is young, he is new, and he isn’t there yet. This is an ORIGIN STORY. He isn’t the icon that we all know. Yet. But I say: good start, “Man of Steel”. A very good start.