The progression of the Superman movie is, well, showing a lack of progression. For all its special effects, high profile stars and big budget marketing, Man of Steel has failed at one thing: outdoing its predecessor.

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That’s right, a quick peek at Rotten Tomatoes – the film review aggregator site – shows us that the critics preferred Superman Returns to Man of Steel, with the former standing at 76% and the latter on a mere 70%. Of course, the scores are close enough to argue that an inflation of expectations has acted in the 2006 film’s favour; Man of Steel comes after a flurry of hugely popular super hero movies, and probably was never going to justify the hype. That’s not to say Henry Cavill’s turn as the caped steel man is awful – “'Man of Steel' is punchy, engaging and fun, even if it slips into a final 45 minutes of explosions and fights during which reason starts to vanish and the science gets muddy,” say Time Out. “It's a thumping, gauntlet-clad fist of a movie, making its impact with brute force, then letting shockwaves reverberate through you,” say The Telegraph.

Henry CavillLook, there's Superman, but that's not Louis Lane...

Man of Steel gets its full release this Friday, June 14th, and we’ll get a good idea of how it’s performed on Monday when the box office figures are released. It’s a pretty safe bet that, despite some indecision from the critics – the latest Superman film will prove a success financially, which is what the studios really care about.

Henry CavillHenry Cavill has got Clark Kent and his secret self down