4. Clark's Past
There's not much to be known about Clark's past. 10 seasons of Smallville will do that for anyone and then some, but I enjoyed the way Snyder shot the bits and pieces of Clark's past. The little details of a door slamming, laundry hanging to dry, and the country grass presented a nice little collage of how Clark grew up in humble surroundings. However, the see-sawing between Clark's past and present hindered the flow of the film. Again, we weren't given enough time in the past and in the present to really grasp the emotions of Clark's identity crisis and self-doubt. Each snippet was a piece to the puzzle, but it felt like some pieces were missing. Pa Kent holding Clark back from using his powers because the world wasn't ready for it yet was an appropriate theme for the world we live in, but Pa Kent handled it pretty well. If the world wasn't ready for Clark, maybe he could've taught him how to hone his powers or how to be human. If Krypton had become machine like and Clark was the first natural birth in ages, then it'd fit the theme of the film to have Clark to be more human, more normal to hide his abilities. This could've been done in a pivotal scene where Clark ends up overusing his powers and hurting someone he cares about. He would then be more reticent to use his abilities and reluctant to don the cape which he magically appears in with a shaven face in the middle of the film. There would be a struggle the film was lacking before; whereas Clark was a vagabond wandering around looking for answers, he'd be actively fighting against himself for a purpose he knows he must fulfill and not wanting to repeat the past and risk hurting people, which he certainly did going through skyscrapers like butter in mid-day Metropolis.