3. The Invasion Scene
As Krypton's core can no longer sustain the planet, the newborn Kal-El is urgently dispatched to Earth so that he may survive. Accompanying him is the codex, a Kryptonian macguffin that ensures the future of their race, which his father Jor-El (Russell Crowe) had stolen. After General Zod (Michael Shannon) is released from priso- I mean, the Phantom Zone, he heads to Earth in order to track down the codex and demand that Kal-El be handed over. But of course, what with being a comic book villain, he cannot resist a spot of theatricality... And so, as Earth is plunged into darkness, the rather chilling message 'YOU ARE NOT ALONE' fizzes across every screen in sight. Conveniently, it is translated into all languages. This may be a vintage brand of schlock, the type usually reserved for '50s B movies - but it works, damnit. Just then the scrambled outline of Zod's face appears, his features hollowed out as though a skull. He warns the people of Earth that an intruder, an imposter, is walking among them: ''He will look like you but he is not one of you''. It's a bit rich from a bloke in a spaceship hovering above America, but still. Now we realise that, despite the script's apparent reluctance to cast Zod as a tyrant (hitherto a leader claiming to have his people's interests at heart, now a power-mad soldier on a vengeance mission) he may be a formidable foe after all.