We know Superman. His iconography of the all-American Boy Scout and his indisputable mantle as the poster child of superheroes is as inescapable as it is, perhaps, cinematically deterring. Today, he can do just about anything, including push planets to the exact moment of the beginning of time and universe.

In the Man of Steel, produced by Christopher Nolan and directed by Zach Snyder, Superman isn’t nearly as omnipotent as his recently beefed up comic self. The limits of making him cinematically apt, especially in Nolan and Snyder’s world, do make him near-indestructible; in their world, Superman is also a somewhat vague wanderer in search of his family tree.

Although not condescending to his ‘humanistic’ development, this origin story is right on the money — if Snyder’s and screenwriter David Goyer’s film-making passion were more sympathetic to the story’s execution.

We meet the adult Clark Kent (Henry Cavill) — a beefcake of a specimen with a physique borrowed from Adonis and the glint of innocent school boyishness in his eyes. He is a wandering adult, straying from jobs because he’s yet to find his place in ‘this’ world. As everyone (including Clark) knows, he’s not from our world, a fact his Earthly foster parents Jonathan and Martha Kent (Kevin Costner, Diane Lane) made clear to him when he was younger.

Clark (or as he was named in his native world, Kal-El) is a survivor of a highly civilised, and doomed Kryptonians. It is a place of calculated genetics without will. Structured breeding programmes produce people fit for specific employment and social placement. And as everyone is born out of a test-tube of sorts, the concept of a father and mother is lost to them.

Kal is born naturally and his parents Jor-El and Lara (Russell Crowe, Ayelet Zurer) see him as the lonesome survivor of a planet that’s set to implode. Flung away to Earth on a space pod, and found by the Kents, Clark learns about life’s responsibility.

A few surviving Kryptonians and war criminals come to Earth with a timer on place. Led by Zod (Michael Shannon), their demand is simple: hand over Kal-El or the planet bites the dust. Once Kal dons the Superman suit (a heritage outfit with a family symbol) the action becomes inexorable, big and at times incredibly fake. Kal fends off the other super-powered villains who have been bestowed superhuman abilities thanks to our sun’s incredible adverse effects on Kryptonian genetics.

The overblown sequencing of the climax is imported out of necessity; Man of Steel is, lest we forget, a gargantuan action flick with a lot of weight on its shoulders. Cavill, nonetheless, is nearly as appealing as Christopher Reeves. Amy Adams plays Lois Lane, and although she is quite an actress, her Lane is at odds with the spitfire we are accustomed to. There are other negating aspects to Man of Steel which I am sure matter to avid comic followers, and mean nothing to the average viewer.

Released by Warner Bros., Man of Steel is rated PG-13. Nothing too offensive here, however take my advice, and have a few aspirins handy.