Its clear that they weren't focusing in on Clark the mild-manner reporter, but Kal'El/Clark Kent. Perhaps they want to save some of those elements for a sequel, which makes perfect sense from a story-telling standpoint. Its also an extreme likelihood that their version of Clark Kent mild manner reporter will be more akin to the one observed in STAS as oppose to the bumbling clumsy Clark depicted by Reeve. Personally I prefer the former. I'm also going to assume that when Luthor eventually surfaces, he will not be the Hackman version and that too imo is a plus. Take no offense yojoebro, but you seem to be more grounded to the nostalgia that is the Donnerverse, which is fine. However MOS seems to be gearing up to be its own thing.
Likely because modern audiences would have found such a scene to be cheesy and cliche. Clearly Snyder is trying to set a precedence regarding this modernize take on the character. Leaping tall buildings in a single bound and being more powerful than a locomotive is unnecessary as the film is saturated with enough action to demonstrate that. As far as his Americanized values are concerned, that too was showcased in the film.
The kiss between Clark and Lois is the only thing I really had an issue with. I felt that this was something that could have been held off until the sequel. I would have
liked to see their friendship as more platonic then progress from there. Since this is the first outing they don't need to blow their load in a single film, which is another
reason why I'm happy that they didn't showcase mild manner Clark until the final seconds of the film. Save some things for a sequel.
I believe it was implied early on, it just wasn't outright stated. From the very beginning its pretty well established that Kal'El was Krypton's first natural birth in centuries thus making him unique While everyone else is genetically grown to fulfill some type of role or purpose. If Zod is a soldier and general then one can easily infer early on that that was what he was engineered for. Not only did Zod explicitly state his purpose to Clark while onboard his ship in the middle of the film, but its easily discernible prior to Krypton's destruction.
It likely didn't need to be established beforehand because he likely was never placed in a situation in which it was an option until his final confrontation with Zod. Again its about subtlety as its already discernible that he has a respect for life and against physically harming others.
Well the Lego DC universe is suppose to be more lighthearted and fun. The whole cast including Batman are rather fun.