‘I grew up in Kansas,’’ says the dimpled superhero of the unabashedly crowd-pleasing blockbuster “Man of Steel’’ as he faces attempted rendition as an enemy alien. “I’m as American as they come.’’
Deploying an impeccable American accent, Brit Henry Cavill may be as charming as the late great Christopher Reeve — or Reeve’s unfortunate doppelganger Brandon Routh, who donned a more traditional Superman costume in “Superman Returns,’’ an underrated attempt to reboot the franchise seven years ago.
Neither Cavill’s Superman nor his alter ego Clark Kent are required to turn on much charm in what’s definitely not your father or your mother’s Man of Steel movie. Like producer and co-story writer Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight’’ — and dare we say it, any number of films spun off from the rival Marvel Universe — this is a darker and more angsty take on the classic DC Comics character with lots more of the kind of action that fans have come to expect.
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In fact, without really giving anything away, the last 45 minutes of “Man of Steel’’ seem like a deliberate, and quite successful attempt to top the sheer destruction wreaked on Manhattan in the climax of “Marvel’s The Avengers’’ (called, of course, Metropolis here). The special effects are better, too.
“Man of Steel’’ wipes the slate clean and begins again with a new version of the origin story, taking advantage of 35 years of advances in special effects and the bigger pool of Oscar winners and nominees available for superhero movies.
Beginning with the birth of Kal-El (finally ending all speculation about whether Superman is circumcised), the film pits Russell Crowe (in very good form) as his dad, Jor-El, Krypton’s foremost scientist, against the evil General Zod (a splendid Michael Shannon), who ends up getting expelled into the Phantom Zone with his minions.
Baby Kal-El is sent to Earth in a rocket — the retro-futuristic designs owe a tremendous debt to “Alien’’ — as his parents die in the destruction of Krypton, though the spirit of Jor-El is brought back for more expository curtain calls than the ghost of Hamlet’s father.
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Clark Kent is first seen making a rescue from a flaming oil platform at sea. There are then multiple flashbacks to his troubled childhood and adolescence, where he’s tormented by his superpowers.
Diane Lane plays his understanding mother and Kevin Costner his wise farmer dad, who advises his adopted son to hide his powers to avoid scaring Earthlings — which has unfortunate personal consequences during a tornado that way outdoes anything you’re going to see outside of a special edition of “Storm Chasers.’’
Lois Lane (Amy Adams), who still works at the Daily Planet, first encounters Supe somewhere on assignment in the Arctic. But they don’t lock lips till they foil a convoluted plot by General Zod — the second defrosted super villain in the last month if you’re keeping track (Khan in “Star Trek” is the other) — to turn Earth into a second Krypton.
I’ve not been a fan of director Zack Snyder (“Sucker Punch’’) in the past, but under Nolan’s supervision he largely lays off the ADD editing and does a highly respectable, and sometimes inspired job of retooling the basic Superman mythology in “Man of Steel.’’
lou.lumenick@nypost.com