Original ‘General Zod’ Gives ‘Man Of Steel’ Lukewarm Review

Man of Steel is a hit at the box office and is doing pretty well with critics, as well. But one man isn’t really sold on Zack Snyder’s reboot of the Superman mythos: Terence Stamp, who played the villain “General Zod” in the original Superman film series.

Stamp played Zod (a role held in the reboot by Michael Shannon) in the original 1978 Superman film as a minor antagonist, and again as the primary antagonist in the sequel, Superman II.

But the 74-year-old British actor is admittedly “ambivalent” about 2013’s Man of Steel, saying that the recent string of superhero remakes is “sad,” though also adding that the new film is “a great compliment” to his Zod role.

“I’m kind of ambivalent about it, that it’s being made at all really. I think the movies that Donner shot … they were the benchmark for every one of those comic-book movies that were made afterwards,” he told the New York Post.

“So, in a way, it’s sad, although it’s a great compliment they’re being made … I have my doubts that this new one. I’m sure it’s bigger and better and louder, but I’ll be amazed if it has the same kind of ironic humor.”

Though he had a mixed reaction to the film in general, he paid high compliments to Shannon, who inherited Stamps’s original role.

“I wish that guy the best of luck” he said.

Stamp was nominated for an Oscar for the 1962 film Billy Budd, and described Superman as his “comeback movie.”

“I hadn’t worked for like eight years, and then I got that job,” he said.

Shannon’s performance as Zod has received plaudits even from critics who weren’t completely sold on the Superman reboot. For IGN, Jim Vejvoda wrote:

“Shannon is suitably creepy and imposing as Zod,” continuing that Man of Steel “lends some additional dimension to Zod that even the great Terence Stamp’s incarnation didn’t possess.”

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