4. Flashbacks
Borrowing an old trick from the
Batman Begins script, Goyer utilizes flashbacks to fill in Clark's backstory as a young alien child growing up on Earth. I enjoyed this approach as opposed to a more traditional linear narrative. While the editing of these sequences was not as seamless as they were in the Batman origin, Goyer and Snyder still managed to effective tell this part of the story. Using flashbacks was a very economical route for the filmmakers to take.
Man of Steel had a lot of ground to cover. We had to see the destruction of Krypton, Clark's childhood, Clark becoming Superman, and Zod's plan to take over Earth. Two and a half hours seems like a long time, but it's not in the grand scheme of things. Using essentially Cliff notes to highlight important events in Clark's upbringing in Smallville (very similar to how a young Bruce Wayne was shown in the beginning of
Batman Begins), Goyer and Snyder introduce the main elements and show what's going on inside Clark's head as he deals with accepting his greater purpose. Despite the limited screen time, we're still able to understand where Clark is coming from and what causes him to make the decisions he wants to make. Showcasing big things like the school bus rescue and Jonathan Kent dying in the tornado in brief flashback sequences was the best way to handle this part of an origin reboot since they are major parts of Clark's character development for this film.