WARNING!!!!! POST FULL OF SPOILERS!!!!! DON'T READ FURTHER WITHOUT SEEING THE MOVIE!!!!!
I saw Man of Steel and REALLY REALLY enjoyed it, I'd call it a masterpiece even!
That said, it hit on something I've always felt about Supes, and am about to take to the bank here. Supes is an idea, not something to necessarily be taken this seriously. There is a ground between serious and laughable, and that ground covers "Ridiculously Stylized" which is where this movie fits in. That said, it does that job spectacularly, and when your hero's most telling attribute is his iconic nature(I mean, what else makes superman interesting? NOTHING! THAT'S WHAT!!!)
I don't agree with Bob's obvious anger at some of the action taken in this Superman movie, because it's all symbolic. No Superman didn't have to fight in a small town where obviously tons of people died when THE STREETS CAUGHT ON FIRE!!!!! But this scene didn't truly represent that to me, because I understood that no people being seen was the artistic telling that these people just didn't die. This gets compounded throughout the movie as the director shows off what is apocalyptic levels of chaos that only Superman can overcome, pushing the Superman Icon in the only place it can move forward.
In fact they REALLY push it, and REALLY show off his creed by having him never attack his classmates despite them attacking him, being alienated but still willing to act as a savior. They pushed the "Space Jesus" them to the max, because that is the heart of this character. He is the incredible humble god who walks like a man.
To that light, Zod's death is easily a one-time thing, and the air of the moment was that superman didn't want to do this thing. Zod didn't just threaten a family of four, he stated that he wouldn't let this fight end without one of them dying, and superman fought and fought for that not to be the case FINALLY killing him when not doing so meant the direct death of others. Something Superman is tired of "seeing", all symbolic.
I can't take Man of Steel as a realistic look at superman no matter how much they try to justify his powers. I look at it as over the top action from the silver age, and that is what I felt I got. I didn't get the "90s comic" vibe that MovieBob got, and I felt the Writing, Production, Direction all understood their source material very well. Yes, they did throw in elements to make a very boring character interesting, giving him humanity(He watched his father die when he could have saved him, because his father insisted on him keeping his secret and he mentions this being a core factor in him randomly saving people from there on out. Furthermore, the element of him getting panic attacks from his powers is not only something I can understand greatly(I get panic attacks, and they basically showed off what super "hyper-vigilance" would look like.) and works in his power set to give him something he had to deal with that was very human. It bridged the gap from unbelievably powerful, to relatable.)
All this said, I do hope that they don't make Superman kill from here on out, and would also bring up Batman in that regard. In "Batman Begins" he kills Ra's Al Ghul and yet Batman in the comics just doesn't kill. He doesn't kill, use guns, or go against the police, these are all things he has developed into his creed because of what he has experienced fighting crime, and it's the distinction that stops him from being a crazy guy who wears a cape, and commits vigilantism. I hope that Superman killing Zod stays with him in future films and makes him wary of ever doing it again, after his reaction to Zod's death it would be easy to use it as the reason he doesn't kill.
