The only way to do Superman justice in films, imo, is to give him a foil relevant to both his humanity and his inhumanity. He needs to be caught in the middle and make a choice. Imo, choice is the defining feature of Superman and the fact that such an immensely powerful entity chooses to be good is inspirational.
Man of Steel tried to mix things up a bit and had Clark feeling lost and unsure of who/what he was. This concept is fine, but for this to have any gravity he needs to be departing from something he already was. He was effectively formless and taking his first form, rather than radically changing forms throughout the course of the movie. What I'm trying to say is: the concept isn't fit for an origin story.
In MoS, militant martians come to earth searching for a codex and threatening the planet. There's no choice here. The decision is made for him. Superman himself is in peril and therefore he has to protect himself and, by extension, the people he cares about.
I think there's definitely a place to tell a story about Superman as a fish who ponders his large size in a small pond, but an 'origin' story isn't it. That's something that needs to come after he fails significantly for the first time and doesn't feel like he can be who he was anymore.
Also, I watched some clips from MoS to inform my writing of this and the battle of Smallville feels like they were trying to remake the Matrix... the dialogue is so out of place, stilted and weird. Not a fan of the characters interactions at all.
e: fuck, you could literally make a trilogy about Supes contending with his Humanity (movie 1, fights Luthor), fighting an external threat that challenges his inhumanity (movie 2, fights Braniac or Darkseid) and then addressing where he belongs in the universe (movie 3 fights Luthor at a cost, encounters Zod).
