Film What can I say... It is not bad, but...
I was quite anticipated for thia movie. And... I saw a good movie that is also kind of a mess.
Good:
- Great cast (maybe except Eisenburg): Acting is a whole lot better than in Man of Steel. Probably becaus of Ben Affleck, Gal Gadot and Jeremy Irons. They're beyond excellent.
- Still fantastic OST: It's a bit worse than Man of Steel, but it stands out among many superhero movies. Because of its usage of leitmotifs (there are distinct Clark, Bruce, Batman, Lex and Diana's themes). That's a huge plus for me.
- Visual: I guess it's due to collaboration between of Larry Fong and Zack Snyder, but cinematography is better than in Man of Steel. Costume designs are magnificent, along with other things (except for Doomsday)
- Action: As always. It's visceral and unrelenting. I still believe that warehouse sequence is one of the best superhero action scenes of all time.
- Batman, Wonder Woman and Alfred: They are easily best parts of the movie.
- Deconstruction element (with added dose of Reconstruction): I think this movie did it better than Civil War movie. However, this could have been done better, if the whole 3rd act was changed. However, I really appreciate how this movie doesn't say "humans suck, they suck and humanity sucks". It admits that it's flawed, but also says that we can get better. I really liked that, even though it could have been more handled better.
Meh
- Supes: Disappointed that he didn't get the focus he deserved. And his death scene, while presented beautifully, should have been saved for next films.
- Lois's subplot: Kind of feel nothing about this.
- Lex: There is a potentially great super villain in him, but it's ruined by too much ham. And that ding (or CinemaSins) scene.
- Batman's character: It turned pretty iffy later on. Everything else is excellent.
Bad:
- Whole "Martha" business: Need I explain more? If the purpose was to show Batman that Supes is essentially a human, then there were better ways to do that.
- In fact, the whole 3rd act (except warehouse): This drastically lowered the movie's quality. There are many goods in it, but overall... Almoat hated it.
- Fucking set ups: Just... stop with it. I've come to hate all cinematic universes (yes, including Marvel) just because of this fucking flaw. Remove that video teasers, remove Flash and remove nods to Apokalips. Knightmare could have been just a dystopia ruled by Superman without parademons.
There are many minuses in this movie, but I still like it. 6/10 or 7/10 (it fluctuates quite often). To be more accurate, I would rate about 8/10 to the first two acts, then 5/10 to the final act, which results in 6 or 7/10 overall. It's not horrible like, say, Fant4stic or Suicide Squad, but it can't be denied that it's a flawed movie and it's worse than Man of Steel.
Film The good and bad stuff is equally present
Batman v Superman is not a terrible movie, nor is it an excellent one. But there are great elements to it, as well as bad ones. Let's go through them.
- The Good Stuff:
- The musical score is amazing, especially "Is She With You?"
- Affleck was GREAT as Batman. Hell, most of the performances were great as well.
- Snyder has shown once again that he is an EXCELLENT action director.
- The titular fight scene is a ton of fun to watch.
- The warehouse fight scene is incredible.
- The Ultimate Edition cleared up some of the more confusing plot points.
- The Bad Stuff:
- Eisenberg's bizarre version of Lex Luthor was cringeworthy.
- The titular fight ended on an anticlimax, regardless of how one feels about the whole "Martha" thing.
- Even though I enjoyed Affleck, Batman's characterization was a tad questionable.
- Superman was Out of Focus, big time.
- The whole movie was bogged down due to constant setup for Justice League.
Film Skip to the 2:00:00 mark (extended edition). It's the only thing worth watching.
The title is Batman v Superman, and that's where the Batman v Superman fight is. It's what you're there for. It's the only part of the movie that's done well - you see the Dark Knight and the Man of Steel slug it out.
Everything else about the movie? Not worth your time. The two hours preceding that fight is a whole lot of nonsensical plots, poor dialogue, and shoehorned trailers for the DC extended universe.
They try to make this a "deep" movie with philosophy about gods and stuff like that, but there is absolutely nothing in the actual plot and writing to support it. It wants to pretend to be a thinking man's movie, but if you actually step back and think about things, it's got more holes than a sieve.
For example - like any bad Superman story - Superman just forgets he has certain superpowers when the plot demands it. Batman, too, just forgets that he's Batman sometimes. For example (minor spoilers) he sneaks on to a dock to spy on some bad guys. He manages to secretly get a homing beacon on a truck with cargo. Good, nobody noticed. 10 seconds later, before the truck has even moved anywhere, he decides to just BLOW EVERYTHING UP BAM BAM GUNS CAR CHASE WOHOOOO. The movie is filled with this kind of schitzophrenic plot decisions that make no sense.
This review is based off the extended edition - and no, the added scenes don't help. For example (minor spoiler) - at the beginning of the movie, a compound is shot up by mercenaries to frame Superman for something. Now you'd ask, "These people were killed by bullets. Superman doesn't use bullets." And you're right! The extended edition adds some more scenes, and now you get to find out that these were special bullets were created by Lexcorp! DUN DUN DUN... oh wait, that wasn't the issue. You're still trying to frame Superman by killing people with bullets. Who cares who was behind it? You probably assumed it was Lex Luthor anyway, he does all the evil stuff in the whole movie already.
It's things like this that really cause the movie to be incapable of supporting its own weight. It tries to be a heavy film, but falls flat. It swings hard but it was facing the wrong direction the whole time. It almost succeeds at being a turn-your-brain-off action flick, but the real action only happens at the 2 hour mark. For people who don't want to pay attention, that's a LONG TIME to be bored before real action happens. For people who DO pay attention... it's so jumbled and messy and nonsensical it would have been better if you hadn't. So don't bore yourself with faux-philosophy and fluff drama that add up to nothing for the first two hours. Skip to the good stuff, watch them slug it out, you're not actually missing anything important.
Film Great visuals, great acting, great everything except the plot
The main problem of this movie is its convoluteness and pacing. The dark tone can work, as Man of Steel shows. But for a movie called Batman v Superman there is too much unnecessary stuff and not enough of Batman and Superman fighting. The action is almost entirely concentrated near the end of the movie. By that I mean that it starts around 1:49 - the point when most movies roll the credits. Before that there is about one notable action sequence - the car chase that ends with Superman stoppong the Batmobile and having a word with Batman. But here we run into another common problem for this film: this scene is cool in itself but it doesn't really move the plot of the movie. Batman's view on Superman doesn't change, Superman's view on Batman doesn't change and the tracker lets Batman get what he wanted anyway. Compare the first Avengers movie. Almost every action scene there was moving the plot: Thor and Iron Man fighting results in Thor joining the heroes, fight on the Helicarrier results in Loki escaping, the team scattered etc. The only action scene that changed basically nothing was... a car chase.
Why did I call it a common problem for this film? In the first 1,5 hours a lot of stuff happens - stuff that's interesting to watch, sure - but it feels like in terms of Bv S conflict they are running in circles. Batman's issues with Superman are established at the beginning - his core motivation when he actually goes into the fight is essentially the same he starts with. As for Superman's issues with Batman not being given enough focus - yeah, that's really necessary when he fights him because Lex Luthor blackmails him into it.
Doomsday would really work better for Man of Steel 2 for several reasons. To put it short, Death of Superman is something that should've been adapted in a movie focusing on Superman. Without DD Wonder Woman could've been cut as well, since her role is basically 1) advertise her future solo film 2) advertise the future JL film and 3) be there for the final fight.
Now, don't get me wrong: the fight IS awesome and Gadot is good. In fact, the whole movie is full of cool visuals and the acting is good in general. Yes, Eisenberg's Lex doesn't have much in common with the original, but he is playing basically who he was told to play: a nutty fussy evil businessman with daddy issues. The problem is the story. They should either have kept the focus entirely on Batman and Superman or just not bothered and done Justice League film right away. No, really. It would have the draw of having Batman and Superman in it too and the rest of the League (barring WW) will have their origins established there anyway.
Despite the aforementioned flaws, this movie is generally an enjoyable experience. However it could've been so much more...
Film Critically flawed, but still enjoyable. Definitely worth your time and money.
The biggest problem with this movie is that it should've been a sequel. It spends so much time setting up both its own plot, characters, and relationships and broader setting details that it's honestly kind of a chore in places. Wouldn't it be better if we'd had a movie to establish Lex and his antagonistic relationship with both heroes? And, you know, with all that time, shouldn't they have at least tried to give Lex a little motivation?
No, the biggest problem with this movie is Lex Luthor. In a film of entertaining, impactful performances that both respect their source material and come across as sincere, every second this twitchy, faux-eloquent twerp is on-screen is a pain. A terrible interpretation of the character, and an ill-fitting and annoying performance even considered on its own dubious merits.
No, the biggest problem with the film is the studio. I can tell that, like Man of Steel before it, it got shredded in the editing room, and the problem is made worse with hamfisted, Iron Man II-esque attempts at setting up a crossover. They hurt the film almost as badly as they did in that picture.
No, the biggest problem with the film is Snyder. His terrible instinct for what the fans want to see strikes again, causing an almost constant stream of anti-fanservice, and revealing a critically-flawed understanding of both the source material and the criticism his previous film received.
That said...
It's still a thoroughly entertaining sit, and I recommend it. Choppy editing aside, it's a technically proficient work, with great lighting, camera direction that improves on Man of Steel in every way, music, and sound-mixing. And the action is exciting without being relentless.
And, again, with the exception of Eisenburg's Luthor, everyone does a great job with their characters. Special shout-out to Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman, since she does a great job of acting with her face and body language rather than her lines in several key scenes. I also liked the rare subtlety with which the film's most important message, about the negative effects of dehumanization and demonization, was conveyed.
I have my fanboy gripes, of course. Batman may kill people with guns, for instance, though comic book rules often ensure people rarely die in explosions. And he wins his climactic duel with Supes, something DC editorial has always been careful not to let him do, extenuating circumstances aside. Plus, seeing as how the film clumsily attempted to adapt elements of two iconic comics simultaneously, I'm sad we'll probably never get better ones.
But... at the end of the day, this isn't a terrible, unwatchable abomination. Just a potentially-great movie brought down to being merely good by flaws and wasted potential. It is most certainly worth seeing, and I hope that, like the Marvel films its corporate masters are clearly trying to ape, the series it's clumsily trying to launch will improve with time.
Film I don't get it
SPOILERS
This happens surprisingly often. I go to a movie, and absolutely love it and go home expecting to chat with people about how great it was....and it gets horrible reviews.
How does that keep happening to me?
As you can probably guess from that intro I absolute loved this movie. No joke it's probably one of my top 5 favorite movies of all time. I loved every scene of it. It managed to top Man of Steel for me, which I didn't think everything would.
But every single thing in this movie just worked for me. People claim their wasn't comedy but I remember laughing several times in the theater out loud (and I don't generally have that kind of reaction even to funny movies...I particularly remember the "Crime in Gotham? Breaking News: Water is Wet" line.) The action was amazing to watch, the fight with Doomsday an absolute spectacle. The dialogue was sharp with so many hidden layers, and so many things set up for the future of the DC Universe like the Flash appearing to Batman, visions of Darkseid and Apokalips.
I wonder if it's because I'm such a DC Fan, maybe I have rose-tinted glasses for the movie? But it seems like online the people most against are DC fans so I don't think that's it. I just really really love this movie. I am a casual fan of Batman and a huge fan of Wonder Woman and Superman and it was so just exciting to see them all together!
Trying to think back to common complaints about it....I hear a lot of people complaining about Jesse Eistenberg's performance.....I thought it was good....maybe it's because English isn't my first language, I don't know. I think most people seem to think the performances were good, I mean Ben Affleck as Batman was amazing, and that beginning of the movie! OMG I felt like I "got" Batman at the beginning of that movie more then I ever got Batman.
I guess if there was anything I would criticize I would want Superman to be in the movie before but that's a nitpick, it wasn't huge in my mind. I have seen this movie twice in theaters and definitely plan to watch it more in my home. It's a bit sad to me that others don't seem to get the same enjoyment out of it that I did. Oh well.
5/5
Film Flawed, but still enjoyable if you're open-minded
As someone who looks at the scores of every movie before seeing them, I was worried as I prepared to see this movie and was expecting it to be a huge flop. Ironically enough that may be what saved the film in my eyes. Because I was expecting it to be atrocious, the good parts kinda stood out to me more.
Look, it's not a secret anymore. In this movie, Batman kills people. That's a huge change from his Thou Shalt Not Kill policy he is known for, and quite honestly if you can overlook that, then you can enjoy this movie. That said, Ben Affleck still gives off a powerful performance, and if you look at Luthor's behaviour as more eccentric than bad then in your eyes nobody is really a bad actor.
Because I was willing to go into this movie without caring about what any character is supposed to be like from Comics, I can say that I came out the theaters pleasantly surprised.
The movie has a large amount of flaws, sure. But it's still a good experience that I don't regret spending my time and money on.
Film There are good parts, outweighed by the bad ones
While I enjoyed Mo S, I did acknowledge that it was severely flawed movie and I hoped Zack Snyder would have improved on what held the first movie back. Sadly, B v S cannot be called an improvement over M o S in any way as it repeats the same flaws and add some of its own.
While I did like Batfleck, your enjoyment of character will depend on how much you like Frank Miller's incarnation. Wonder Woman was great for the time she was in (not kidding my audience clapped when she appeared in costume), she was essentially the same character as Black Widow in Iron Man 2, in the sense she does jack for the entirety of the movie except the end to kick ass and set up more characters to appear.
Lex Luthor was an abysmal villain - he isn't the industrial executive who thinks Superman holds back humanity's progress, but some Riddler/Joker combo. I called it that Jesse Eisenberg was horribly miscast since the day it was announced, and I was proven correct.
The final fight between the heroes and Doomsday was definitely the best part and it delivers; however the biggest problem but the pacing. Its so horrendously slow and lacks action sequences to keep you interested for the most part. This movie is really long and has like 3 major action pieces (the battle of Metropolis flashback from Bruce's POV, a chase sequence with the Batmobile and the climatic fight at the end) in a two and half hour long picture. Some moments of levity would help, it doesn't have to be like the MCU movies where they crack a stupid joke every fucking five minutes and it doesn't take itself seriously, but ffs put something to distract us and not leave us bored.
4/10 - There are some parts I genuinely loved it, but I can't bring myself to defend the movie. I want the DCEU to succeed as I don't want the same thing that happened with Spider-Man happen with the DC movies as a whole, but Zack Snyder cannot be in creative charge. There needs to be someone who can look at the mistakes made in these past movies, and at very least not repeat them again for the future.
A R-Rated version is coming out in Blu-ray and at the time of this review's writing, Warner is seriously considering putting it out on theaters to boost its box office. But I hardly believe an R-Rated version can fix any of the issues B v S had, specially with pacing.
Film Bv S - The Abbreviation Looks Like My Face, Sideways, After Watching The Movie
The very best thing about Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice is that there is a trailer for Lego Batman: The Movie before it. Coming out of the film, my biggest regret is that I didn't use the 2 hours 31 minutes I just wasted to watch the Lego Batman trailer on youtube 151 times.
My review of Man of Steel was basically a list of idiotic things in the movie. Bv S gets a bigger list. This is just a few of my favourites:
- Kevin Costner comes back from the dead and builds on his terrible advice from the last movie, telling Superman that trying to save stuff only breaks more stuff, so you might as well not bother.
- Lois Lane's sole purpose is to be a constant liability. Her one notable act in the entire movie was to accidentally make it harder for the heroes to kill the final villain.
- Early on we are shown some Tuareg (or "Toe-rag", as Lois pronounces it) terrorists in "Niaromi, Africa". The rest of the movie is set in "Metropolis", but it doesn't inform us which continent that city is in. I'm guessing Australia.
- Lex Luthor keeps clumsily trying to frame Superman for some reason. Even though no one would believe Superman would shoot a load of terrorists, or use an exploding wheelchair to kill the senate.
- Lex Luthor sends a senator a jar of piss.
- Lex Luthor has no reason to do anything in this movie, he just does it. In the most annoying voice possible.
- The word "War" is used about a hundred times in this movie, exclusively to describe things that aren't wars.
- Superman can't decide whether he answers to anyone or not. He bitches about Batman for being a vigilante but constantly ignores the government and threatens to murder people.
- Metropolis is apparently across the river from Gotham, meaning this entire time, Superman has never previously thought about going to Gotham to either confront Batman, or help deal with any of Batman's enemies.
- Wonder Woman only appears on screen whilst in slow motion. I think they only managed to get ten seconds of footage of her, and realised their mistake afterwards in editing when they needed her on screen for five minutes.
On balance, this is somehow a worse movie than Man of Steel. I suppose I should take some solace in the fact that we might get a Wonder Woman movie out of it yet, but I hope to god Snyder isn't given the chance to do make it. As long as everyone forgets he made 300, they won't squander another Grecian hero on him.
Film Things that don't make sense in Batman v Superman (spoilers!) (duh)
- Which was Luthor's plan, exactly? He manipulates Batman to fight Superman, and creates Doomsday in the meantime. If he expected Batman to kill Superman, why does he create Doomsday? And if he expected Superman to survive his fight with Batman, why bother with it at all? And let's say that Doomsday does kill Superman. Then what? Is Doomsday supposed to be less of a threat than Superman?
- Batman has studied Superman for YEARS. Right or wrong, his notion that he's a grave threat is solid and well fundamented. So why does he change his mind when he simply mentions his mother? He is still a nigh-omnipotent alien, capable of mass destruction.
- What would Superman have said to the comitee? Does he submit to the government control? Does he do what he thinks is right? Team Iron Man or Team Captain America? The explosion leaves us without answer.
- I can understand Raven or Zatanna having prophetic dreams, but Batman? He's just a common man! He can't have those dreams. Also, Team "protect the future", or Team "change the future"?
- So, Batman is now a psycho killer. I can understand that, even if it isn't the Batman I have usually seen. But then, if Batman does not have a problem with killing, why is the Joker still alive?
- Why does Luthor need to set up a trap to frame Superman for being destructive? The guy obliterated a whole city, for God's sake! Does he need to do that all weeks so people remember that?
- Why is Wonder Woman so interested in that photo? WWI was a century ago. If nobody noticed in a whole century that there was an Amazon warrior out there, nobody ever will. And she should have done this some decades ago, when photos were a physical thing. Now that they are digital, her quest is pointless. A computer file in a place like that surly has lots of backup copies, and even a deleted file may be retrieved from a device if really needed. But the photo is not a good proof of anything, anyway. It's just a woman with a spear and a weird clothing.
- Why Perry isn't interested in a story about a violent vigilante costumed like a bat, and wants to talk about sports instead? Isn't his newspaper supposed to sell newspapers? Perhaps the Daily Planet should fire him and hire J. Jonah Jameson instead.
- Flash comes from the future and says "You're right about him. You've always been right. She's the key, Lois." That doesn't make sense with the events of the film. Lois convinced Batman that he was wrong, not that he was right. So what the hell was Flash talking about?
- In all the time that Batman has been preparing for the big fight, why didn't he discover his secret identity, or his relation with the Kents, that such reveal came as a big surprise? So much for the "world's greatest detective". And now that we are at it, how is it that he did not notice the activities of Lexcorp, and he's easily manipulated by Luthor? Let's say that clear: LUTHOR MANIPULATES BATMAN. I have a bad feeling about this...
Film I really don't know what to make of this movie
Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice is kind of a big enigma to me. On one hand, I find myself unable to get mad at people for not liking it, because, well, almost all of their criticisms are 100% justified. But on the other hand, I just can't bring myself to hate this movie, because for all the things it did wrong, I genuinely feel like it did some parts really well. There even are parts where I can't decide weither they were great or terrible.
For starter, remember how people complained about Man of Steel being too grim and colorless? Well, forget about that; it was all rainbows and sunshine compared to this movie. I rarely say that, but BvS was too dark, both literally and figuratively; Not only are some action scenes really hard to follow because of the darkness, but a good chunk of it felt like it came out of a horror movie. They really played up the Sociopathic Hero aspect of Batman, and while I can't decide weither I consider that a good thing or not, I can see how this will piss off fans of the character. And while I disagree with people saying Luthor is more like the Joker in this version, I definitely agree his level of psychosis gives Heath Ledger a run for his money. This movie is dark and serious all the way through, with very little, if any, joke, and that's one thing I feel plays against it;
Plot-wise, I will once again have to agree with most fans: this movie is a mess. The writers clearly tried to do too much at the same time, and it shows; there are enough stories in this to make at least three, maybe four or five different movies. And a lot of them are done well or have potential to be great, but they are not glued well together and get kinda confusing.
Still, I am relucant to call this movie bad. The actors gave good performances for the most part; Ben Affleck was a good Bruce Wayne, and while his Batman was psycho, he played him awesomely. Henry Cavill did an okay Superman, though sometimes I wish he could act a bit more emotional (Capitol scene, anyone?), and Wonder Woman was great, definitely leaving an impact despite how little we learn about her. The visuals, when you can actually see them, are spectacular and really feel comic-booky without being Narm; I genuinely enjoyed Aquaman's cameo for example, though like many scenes there was little point to it besides preparing the field for Justice League, and the fight scenes are spectacular, showing us the full extent of how powerful these characters are. That movie was many things, but dull it wasn't; there was a real athmosphere to it, and I honestly wouldn't mind seeing the next movies.... if they could just have A BIT more humor and levity.
I would recommand seeing this movie and making your own opinion of it. Weither it's good or bad is up to you, but at least it would be an interesting experience.
Film False Start
A meandering plot, shallow characters, little motivation, and repetitive fight scenes mar what is supposed to be the start of a new franchise. The characters are all deeply depressed, show little motivation in their actions, and more or less growl and pout their ways from one plot point to the next in a movie that somehow manages to feel rushed and under developed while still clocking in at nearly three hours. There is a very good reason this movie is at 29% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Film I love it. I absolutely love it.
I completely, wholeheartedly, unironically love this film. Every scene, every shot, every character.
B.v.S gave me everything I didn't know I wanted to see in a comic book movie. I had a huge smile on my face the entire time. I was happier than when I watched Deadpool.
This doesn't mean that the negative reviews are wrong. To be fair, I went in with extremely low expectations (and I was also /slightly/ intoxicated) but the movie is so strange, so batshit insane, that it feels impossible to judge properly. Like, if I wanted to give it a letter grade, I'd have to first make up a new alien alphabet. It takes a sledgehammer to every traditional rule of filmmaking I can think of. Watching it felt like watching the birth of a new genre, and we just haven't found a name for it yet.
The main problem with the film is the way scenes flow into one another, namely in that they don't. Because of the haphazard way it's edited, the film's plot can be hard to follow. The trick that I discovered is to stop thinking of the movie as a whole, but rather a series of short films with unifying themes. Whenever it suddenly cuts to something completely irrelevant, don't think about how it connects to the scene that just ended, don't try to predict what's going to happen in the next scene, just pay attention to whatever's currently on screen and enjoy.
I'm not saying it's a work of cinematic genius that the critics just don't understand or anything, but it's so confident in its ideas and choices that I let it fool me several times. It feels like it was made by a child, in the best possible way. It's 100 times better than Man of Steel and 50 times better than Age of Ultron (B.v.S doesn't end every epic moment with an insufferable joke, like the Marvel movies do).
All-in-all, I love this movie. Does it have humongous flaws? So does my sister, but I don't love her any less. Maybe you'll love it too, or maybe you'll hate it, but this is a movie that takes huge risks and deserves to at least be watched and talked about.
Film Lowest common denominator, not very great a movie.
(Spoilers)
CONs:
- The movie’s a failure if you are looking for a good anti-Superman plot (or even just a good realistic plot). I’d recommend reading something like The Metropolitan Man instead.
- It’s too stretched-out. I reckon something like 60 minutes could’ve been chopped off without negatively affecting the outcome quality.
- They went with the lazy approach of making the antagonist, Lex Luthor, into the clichéd crazy (super)villain cardboard cutout.
- I’m not sure if this counts as a Product Placement, but halfway through the movie there was a sequence of scenes that was essentially an injected trailer for the upcoming Justice League movie. It felt very artificial and forced, and had almost nothing to do with this film’s plotline.
- Somebody’s reportedly astroturfing the movie’s IMDB rating and reviews.
PROs:
- It has a good soundtrack, considering.
- The choice for Wonder Woman’s actress (Gal Gadot) is if not spot on than at least quite fortunate.
- Wonder Woman’s old picture seemed cool.
Film Dawn Of...Somthing.
After seeing Dawn Of Justice, I can give it no higher than a 5/10.
The action is incredible and on point. Batman fights like he came right out of the Arkham games, and Superman, Wonder Woman, and Doomsday all deliver on how powerful they are in the comics. The other set-pieces like Bruce witnessing the Superman/Zod fight and the Senate bombing are executed well.
Nearly all the actors turn out good performances, and their character interactions provide some of the better moments in the film. However, Bruce and Clark don't interact that much before their big fight in Act 3. It leaves me feeling rather hollow to both the confrontation and conclusion due to its abruptness.
Jesse Eisenberg's Lex Luthor was terrible. The entire time I was wondering if the Joker was supposed to be the main villain, and at the last minute they changed his name to Lex Luthor. His dialogue and delivery are awful for someone trying to convince me that Lex Luthor is in the film.
Both the Knightmare and Justice League teases are unnecessary. While thankfully Warner looked at why Iron Man 2 and The Amazing Spider-Man 2 couldn't pull this off and keep the other superheroes as cameos, it doesn't change the fact that their presence doesn't add anything to the film I'm watching.
Overall, I feel like there are 2 or 3 good movies in Dawn of Justice, but for some reason Warner decided to stuff all this into 1 movie. It leaves me with the feeling that Dawn of Justice has a lot of plot points, rather than a plot, so you end up jumping around with little rhyme or reason or narrative connection. If you can accept the mythic storytelling Zack Synder was going for, then I imagine your opinion of the film will be higher than mine. For myself and others, it feels like Zack tried to make Watchmen again, but didn't get it to work out.
Film This film is kinda the opposite of what it wants to be.
The DCEU's goal so far seems to be to stand out from the MCU by making movies that are darker and try for a more theme-centric approach than the super character driven of the MCU. That's completely fine and in fact I think copying Marvel would be bad for them, but with this movie DC has proved that they simply cannot reach their lofty narrative ambitions.
While there are some good moments in this film and pretty much all the actors turn out respectable performances with the material they were given (except maybe eisenberg, who I don't find bad per se but uneven), the movie spends too much of its time and effort trying to look big and epic, with all the THEMES and (admittedly good) action sequences and just comes across as self-important when it's missing the things that would have made this an actually good movie.
For a movie that promises Batman Vs Superman, it actually doesn't have them interacting that much. In fact I think Batman actually talks more to Wonder Woman than he does to Superman. They have only two encounters before the big epic fight, it feels like it happens way too soon and leaves their confrontation and the conclusion to the whole thing feeling much more hollow than it should.
It's unfortunate because the scenes where the characters actually interact with each other and act like human beings with personal and worthwhile relationships, the movie is great, but there just aren't enough of those moments and they aren't good enough on their own to create a good foundation for the action to have real narrative weight.
This is a movie over two hours long, and I still feel like Batman and Superman didn't really build a significant relationship. How underwhelming is that?
Oh and the Justice League stuff is completely unnecessary, and makes the movie feel like it exists more to be a setup for JL rather than be its own movie with a complete story. I like Gal Gadot as WW but there was plenty you could have done with just these two characters that meant she didn't need to be in this movie.
It's just so ironic that in trying to be completely different from Marvel they end up having some of the same problems but MUCH worse. Even though I have been very critical of Marvel over the years, given how mediocre I find a lot of their movies, I can freely admit that none of their movies felt this hollow.
People tend to criticize the MCU films for being like fluff, and I hate to say this, but I feel like this movie is even worse than them in that regard. If the MCU are like comic books, this movie is like a BAD comic book: It's big, loud, stylish and self-important but has even less substance than most of the weaker Marvel movies. And this is coming from someone who actually didn't think Mo S was that bad and really appreciated what it was trying to do.
Film So Much Win
This is exactly what I thought it would be. I've been hyped for this movie since forever and it did not disappoint. 110% pure awesome.
Superman is the hero we all want him to be. A true hero through and through. He's here to save the world and look great while doing it!
Wondy is hot, hey I had to say it, and a total badass. The entire movie you're just waiting for her to cut loose, and then when she does the payoff is worth it.
Batsy is a bit batty and explosion happy, but he's still great in his role. You can feel the pain that he's going through the whole movie and we get a fantastic showing of both his combat skills and detective skills.
Lex was a huge surprise in this movie. I was not expecting him to be as fun as he was. He's silly, but it's a ruse to hide his inner darkness. This Lex isn't the bumbling clown that Classic Donner Lex was, this version is sinister, ruthless and an utter monster.
The Boss Fight at the end is nothing short of incredible. It just keeps getting more and more intense and you start to wonder if the heroes have any chance at all of winning. THAT is tension. THAT is what I want to see in the final fight at the end of a superhero movie, not a million puns and quips while fighting a pathetic robot army made of paper mache.
I loved this movie and I am proud to say it. I had a big smile on my face the whole way through. This is a great, fun, roller coaster ride all the way through.
I give Batman V Superman: Dawn Of World's Finest Justice 10/10 Stars!
Pure Awesome.
Film Not Perfect, Not For Everyone. But Then Again, What Is?
I just watched this after reading several negative reviews. While I can't say anyone was wrong for disliking it, I can at least see why, unlike with Man of Steel where everyone who hated it seemed to jump to conclusions that held no water under scrutiny.
I can say with confidence that I wasn't bored. Jesse Eisenberg steals whatever scene he's in. Henry Cavill plays Superman with more confidence. Ben Affleck strikes a balance between gruff thug and selfless hero. The only major problem I had was that all the action was placed in the third act when there were plenty of chances in acts 1 and 2.
Anyway, I can't guarantee that you'll be on the edge of your seat like I was, but in an industry where Disney is getting bigger, the definition of "a great movie" may be on the verge of compromise. So if you're curious but don't want to vote with your wallet, I'd recommend buying a ticket to "The Witch" or any film with low publicity and then sneaking into the next cinema.
7/10
Film It takes skill to fail so thoroughly
I am one of the people who enjoyed 'Man of Steel'. When I first saw the previous movie, I was reasonably satisfied. We all know Superman as a paragon of compassion, but we also live in a more cynical world. So it seems only natural that the start of Superman's saga would be gloomy and grim. Clark fights his way through a cynical world to rise up above it as a beacon of hope.
Even the neck-snap didn't bother me. Superman's refusal to ever kill is an important part of his character, so I figured this would be the origin of that trait. In this version he sees firsthand what it is to take a life and vows never to do so again. He vows never to kill again, because he feels he has too much power to allow that of himself. Because it's an offering of peace to a frightened world. Cool. A little edgy, but that's what I prepared myself for.
That is not the story I was given. Bv S is not interested in rising above its darkness. Bv S revels in it. Characters do not go through redemption, do not overcome their mistakes, do not reach the light at the end of the tunnel, because Bv S is a story written by a nihilist who doesn't believe in compassion or hope or human decency. Bv S is the sort of story I could see present-day Frank Miller writing, except I imagine even he would balk at the prospect of having Superman kill AGAIN in the first twenty minutes.
Superman kills one man, and Batman kills at least a dozen. Batman tortures with his bat-brand, and spends most of the movie plotting to run Clark through with a kryptonite spear because he might be a threat - no kryptonite nugget on his person as insurance. No plan to neutralize him, should he ever go rogue. It is a straight-up murder plot.
I could go on and on about the film's lack of humor, lack of levity, its refusal to even entertain the ideals of hope, decency and the human spirit that both characters are founded on, but I'm already two-thirds of the way through my word-limit, so I'll move on to the technical side of writing.
The plot is a damned one-wheeled truck with a busted muffler. It's big, it's loud, and it's belching smoke every which way, but it aint getting anywhere.
The first hour or so hovers around the question of "Can Superman be trusted, or is he more powerful than any one man should be?" And that's a reasonably interesting plot... premise. Very little is actually done with this question. It meanders about in a frightened world for an hour, and nothing is really done. Lex Luthor's portrayal didn't bother me until I realized I had no idea what his motivation was. Doomsday had no buildup, so I had no investment in his scenes. Batman's fight with Superman was far too long - though I'd argue including at all is far too long.
Really, I could devote a novel to how much this movie just failed utterly at, but with 3,000 characters, I'll leave you with this: BVS was literally the worst superhero movie ever made.
Yes, even worse than THAT one.