The charges laid at Zack Snyder's feet are too numerous and well-documented to name them all here, but it's always worth throwing in one or two for good measure. Warner Bros' recent Superman reboot helmed by the 300 director went great guns at the box office but floundered critically with many fans of the character accusing Snyder's Superman of having nothing in common with the 'real' Kal-El. That might well be true - as the furore over Supes' murder of General Zod at the end of the film can attest to - but the thing is that we're never actually able to get into the character's head for long enough to know. Synder is primarily concerned with prettifying destruction and his work is the epitome of style over substance. When we see moments from Clark Kent's childhood that might shine a light on his personality, all we're really given are sepia-toned images meant to fill us with nostalgia and echo the iconography of Superman that we're all well aware of. It lends the film an empty, airless feel that's about as far from Clark Kent's learned humanity as you can get.
