As far as I know, it's never been confirmed that Man Of Steel is supposed to be the start of a DC Cinematic Universe. Even if a Justice League movie has entered the vague planning stages, no one has officially said that Man of Steel should be considered anything other than a standalone film.
And what's this about Lois having super speed? I don't remember that being in the movie.
I haven't seen the movie but I'm going to argue that the sequel will be better.
It's never been confirmed officially, yes, but with those clues all over the place, those foreshadowings? It's clear what DC and WB is intended with this movie. Of course, if Man of Steel fails (I hope not), DC will state that their plan of making shared universe doesn't concern Man of Steel or just push back their superhero movie projects. Again.
Spoiler Alert . . . You took that sentence too literally, it seems. Sorry if it sounded like I was being serious. Remember the final duel of Superman and Zod? They crash to the ground like meteors, landing very far from where Lois is watching. They have a struggle in a big hall, and then after Supes snaps Zod's neck, Lois appear. You need a super speed to do that.
How do we know it's that far? Especially with the hundreds of working cars present. It wouldn't be that far fetched for her to be able to make it there. At least, it wouldn't be any more far fetched than any other movie, that is.
And while I agree that the shaky cam does make it hard sometimes to tell what is going on, but I feel it's justified in this case. This movie, above all else, seems to emphasis the fact that Kryptonians have super speed, so two guys going super fast is going to be hard to see no matter what. It was nice that the camera does help give the audience the feel of going at dizzying speeds like that.
Working cars? Every car in Metropolis has been thrown to the sky and back by Zod's *snerk* World Machine (that name is not ridiculous only when Michael Shannon said it, please understand.)! But I get your point. That bit was more of me making fun of the scene than criticizing it. Seeing Superman cradling Lois for comfort after that has guaranteed my forgiveness.
I personally believe that as a director, you have to make sure that the audience will be comfortable watching your movie from the beginning to end. Yes, it's brilliant in a way, but to me, it's also distracting if overdone.
Well, I wanted dizzying intensity more than comfort watching this as I wanted the movie the play up the fact that Superman and Zod are, well, superhuman. I do understand your point, though, and I actually generally dislike shaky cam in movies and tv shows (for similar reasons of comfort and coherency like you), but it was justified story-wise for me.
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A Moderate Start
I am mildly disappointed. Man of Steel is a good modern superhero film, but for something that's supposed to be a start of DC Cinematic Universe, it leaves a lot of rooms that need improvements.
Let's start with the good things. First and foremost: the action. Man of Steel provides the largest scale of action and best visual effects I've ever seen in any superhero movie. The Avengers and Iron Man 3 are soundly K.O'd.
The actors are great. I can feel the characters' emotion through even their slightest gestures and expressions. Special mentions go to the menacing General Zod and his minions, Pa and Ma Kent, and Russell Crowe's Jor-El. The theme of identity crisis and making choices is cool, realistic, and perfectly fits with Superman.
And don't forget Hans Zimmer's majestic soundtrack.
Now here come the bugs.
Goyer has obviously been influenced by Chris Nolan's storytelling, but I wish Nolan had been more involved in the writing of the script. It's overall story and structure is great, but it could really use some refinements. Flashbacks and time skips happen pretty often, almost randomly at times. They mostly work as narratives but don't have as much impact as say, Batman Begins' or The Dark Knight Rises'.
Slow motion isn't used in this film, something I both miss and feel relieved about. To compensate, Snyder shot this film with single setup hand-held camera. That's awesome. Shooting with this method, if being done correctly, will allow the audience to feel the experience of being in the film, running around with the hero as if chronicling his adventure like a good pal.
Unfortunately, Snyder just has to force its usage to an unhealthy dose. Hell, the entire film was shot this way. Really, when Supes and Zod clash in the air, it becomes hard to tell where and who they are when the camera covers the area around them. They never really ruin the moment, but they cause those awesome moments to never reach their fullest.
Other than that, there are several hilariously weak plot points like Lois suddenly has super speed, people suddenly know this and that, unclear time frame, egregiously cheesy dialogues and some lack of character developments.
In conclusion, Man of Steel is good but doesn't reach its full potential. However, I do hope to see more of Henry Cavill in the blue suit in a hopefully better and improved sequel.