7 Man Of Steel Criticisms Which Were Completely Unfair

6. Jonathan Kent's Death

It is almost a prerequisite in a superhero movie for the protagonist to lose a loved one as a means of generating a motive for their superheroics. In Batman it was his parents, Spiderman had Uncle Ben and Superman has Jonathan Kent. In the pivotal scene, Clark and Jonathan are having an argument in the car over Clark's parentage. They soon come across a huge tornado tearing up the freeway leading Jonathan to perform some heroics of his own. The biggest criticism of this scene is that Clark did not help his father and essentially let him die needlessly. In their hurry to label the scene as 'ridiculous' and 'stupid' some of the detractors have failed to mention that Kevin Costner's portrayal of Pa Kent is the most affecting and emotional yet. Costner's Kent was very different to previous incarnations, to the point where he considers whether Clark should have let a busload of children die, and his demise was completely in keeping with his character. Pa Kent's concern over how his son would be accepted by the world was a theme running throughout the movie and this scene showed that perfectly. It was also vital in that it showed Clark, and the audience, that even though he is Superman he cannot and should not try to save everyone.