Friday, March 25, 2016

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice Review




Let Them Fight...

Cast: Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Jesse Eisenberg, Amy Adams
Director: Zack Snyder


Wow. This thing has been dragged through the friggin’ mud. While fans have been enjoying it, for the most part, critics have been tearing this thing a new one. They claim that it’s a boring, bombastic, hyper-violent mess. To see reviews like this would give me pause, except for the fact that there is a pretty large percentage of the audience that do like it. Some saying that this is exactly what they were expecting, and WANTED to see for a Batman vs. Superman movie.


These reactions made me unsure how to approach this movie. On the one hand, I'm a huge DC fan and I won't lie when I say I've been counting the days. On the other hand, I'm a reviewer, which means I also should look at this film as a whole, without my love for the characters. So what did I come up with? Is it the movie people were hoping for, or the mess that critics are claiming it to be? Let's dive in and find out...  



Plot:
Taking place 18 months after the events of Man of Steel, Superman(Henry Cavill) has been getting a mixed reception from the public, but Gotham’s own superhero, Batman(Ben Affleck), who suffered loss during the Metropolis attack, has turned his sights on the Alien and prepares to take him down. While that is going on, Lex Luthor(Jesse Eisenberg), is moving the pieces into place to take down both in one blow through manipulation, only to have Lois Lane(Amy Adams) beginning to search for the truth.



Likes:
Let’s kick this off by saying that there were quite a few good performances in this movie. Henry Cavill once again plays a fantastic Superman with Amy Adams as the emotional rock for him in the form of Lois Lane. These two were already good in my book, but they weren’t the only good performances of the night. Jeremy Irons, with what limited time we got from him, was a pretty good Alfred, being Bruce’s advice giver while maintaining the with that comes with the character. Speaking of which, Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne and Batman was actually pretty friggin’ awesome. He was logical, driven, and actually moved like Batman in a fight! His reasons for mistrusting Superman are understandable, with the opening being the end fight from Man of Steel from a civilian perspective… It’s terrifying! That being said, there were times where this Batman was a bit too brutal at times for my taste. He does kill people, not in the ‘Maybe, Maybe not’, there is no doubt when he uses a car as a wrecking ball against others(ALL THE WHILE WE SAW PEOPLE INSIDE). He also seems so focused on taking down Superman, that he isn’t noticing the good he does, and goes completely oblivious to the fact Lex is planning something. The last character who surprised me though was Wonder Woman. She interested me when she was Diana Prince with her mysterious nature and interactions with Bruce Wayne, and kicked ass as Wonder Woman during the final battle. I’ll admit I’m now more excited to see Wonder Woman’s movie after this film.



Now that we got the good characters out of the way let’s talk about the plot itself. Yes it’s majorly flawed, and in a little bit I’ll go into that, but let’s talk about the positives first. First off, I liked Lex’s plans to make people hate Superman. I won’t go into too much detail with how it was done, as that would spoil an entire side story, but by the end of it, it made Superman question himself and his place in the world. It’s the only real Lex Luthor thing in this movie(Trust me, we’ll get to him). The next thing is quite small, but I enjoyed the ripples from Man of Steel, both physical, with kryptonite being made in the ruins of the Kryptonian vessels, and political. In the wake of the Kryptonian attack, the people of this world are questioning do we need a Superman, which is a perfect kind of debate for this world. This may be a comic book world, but it’s still new to people like Superman, giving it a more realistic feel.



Dislikes:
I may have complimented a few good performances, but there is one that just did NOT fit this world… Yeah, just take a guess. Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor… It just wasn’t good. The character was played so eccentrically that he didn’t feel like Lex Luthor. The only time he felt like Lex was when he wasn’t on the screen when his plan unfolded. Speaking of plan, let’s talk about the OTHER villain of the movie, the one that doesn’t show up till the end of the movie: Doomsday. He literally comes out of left field as something big for the Trinity to fight. He actually reminded me of the first Uruk-Hai from the Fellowship of the Ring, the unnamed chief that kills Sean Bean’s character. He’s just there to show the strength of Aragorn, plus tease something more dangerous in the future. It’s basically the same here, down to how he bursts out of a chrysalis! I get you needed a big bad for the Trinity to fight, but surely there had to be someone that had that strength level but wasn’t the most iconic villain.



Now time for the biggest issues I had with the film; Editing, overly dark images, and unnecessary plotlines. The editing in the movie is really friggin’ bad, especially near the beginning when we are covering different stories. Two minutes were with the Daily Planet, then hard cut to the senator telling Lex off, then hard cut to Bruce trying to find a Russian, hard cut back to Clark seeing news about Batman, and you see what I’m getting at? It felt like drive-by editing in the beginning, but it did tighten up when the plotlines began to tie together. Speaking of plotlines, there are a few that just seem to go nowhere. The ones in mind are The Russian Search, The African village that supposedly was shot up because of Superman, and Wonder Woman trying to get data from Lexcorps’ database. They just happened and then they just shrug it off and continue on with the movie… Yeah, it got annoying, especially with some of the images in the first two plotlines being dark, something this movie has no shame of being. The movie can get dark, and some of it unsettled me. A prime example is a character is gagged and had something written on their forehead, before having kidnapped pictures taken… kinda messed up. I just felt there were bits that were unnecessary.

Bits and Pieces:
This movie is flawed. Very flawed. The villains are weak and the world can get too dark, but it is carried thanks to the help of the other performances, especially from Ben Affleck and Henry Cavill. It has plotlines that are unnecessary, but has thought to provoke stances on power and ‘The Need of a Superman’. Do I think the critics are being way too harsh? I’m kinda half with them and half against them. If you're a fan of DC, this movie is tailored for you, but if you aren’t familiar with it, I can’t recommend this for you.


7/10




11 comments:

  1. This is what happens when you pretend that a King Kong vs Godzilla boxing match as high art.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Clearly you havent seen the masterpiece that is King Kong vs. Godzilla XD

      Delete
  2. Your totally right Jody. This is a flawed movie, but I still had fun with it. I really like Ben afflack as batman & Gal gadot as Wonder Woman. Speaking of Wonder Woman does anyone the name of her soundtrack because damn..it got me pumped.

    The problems I had with the movie is Lois Lanes absolute uselessness. Which is a reason I ship Superman & Wonder Woman in the comics. And the other problem is Lex Luthers motivations in the movie. There seemed to be no reason for his plan or madness.

    But I got to give it to Lex just right before that bomb went off and the Cup of Piss for that Congress woman:) instant classic.

    This movie is decent, but only a must watch for the fans of the characters portrayed.
    6/10 for regular movie goers.
    7/10 for DC fans.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. See in a week or so im gonna do a small fanboy theory on Lex's madness, especially at the end of the film

      Delete
    2. The Wonder woman music was amazing. She kinda stole the movie IMO.

      SPOILERS!!!

      Jody to help answer a few questions I saw it twice. WW wanted those photos Lex had on her from the past but couldn't Crack the encryption, the village was to frame Superman as bad along with the bombing by Lex helping to anger Batman to fight, the Russian search I don't recall.

      I listened to one vocal podcast Saturday with sour opinions on the movie but they had no clue what the giant Omega symbol was either in the dream so their opinion is like calling piss Granny's Peach Tea.

      Delete
  3. I really enjoyed this movie a lot. Is it perfect NO but it's not a 30% like Rotten Tomatoes claims. I think the solo movies being more focused on Batman will be awesome based on what we got here. And I agree with the rating even told Jim this week 7 out of 10 before I read this.

    I would say the story is a hodge podge of the Dark Knight Batman & Death of Superman character arcs and I didn't hate it for that at all. For those complaining of a too dark tone Suicide Squad is out soon to tickle your funny bone so every movie doesn't need Steve Orlando 1 liners with explosions to be good.

    Just my ramblings on a tablet. Liked it more on 2nd viewing for what it's worth.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I hate to disagree but I must. This movie was such an incredible disappointment for me.

    Granted, I don't disagree with everything you said. For instance, I agree that Ben Affleck and Jeremy Irons were fantastic. That scene where Batman is fighting the Russians working for Lex is incredible. It was so incredible that I was willing to forgive Batman actually killing people as Zack Snyder is such a huge fan of older comics. In addition, I would agree that the editing is easily one of the worst things in the film and nearly makes the film unwatchable in my opinion. I shouldn't be entering a scene feeling like I missed half of it.

    However, this is where our opinions no longer match up.

    Let me first address Lex Luthor. I believe that it is a terrible interpretation of the character, however, Snyder is such a fan of older comics that he probably wanted "mad scientist" Lex rather than the Lex Luthor we know now (which began in the 1980s). That being said, Jesse Eisenberg is easily one of the most entertaining parts of the movie. Most of the characters aren't on screen long enough to draw attention to their good performances. Eisenberg is at least going for it in every scene he is in. Does it work all the time? No. Did I find him honestly menacing at some points? Yes.

    Next we come to Superman. Henry Cavill did not have a lot to work with but that doesn't excuse his dark and brooding version of Superman. When I (and I'd wager most people) think of Superman, I think of the man who stands for truth, justice, and the American way. He's honest, good, and optimistic. In this film, he is most pessimistic than Batman. You could argue that is because of the situation but to find no hope in this character is disheartening.

    Then Lois Lane is supposed to be some brilliant reporter who, on an emotional level of strength, can stand toe to toe with Superman. Aside from one scene where she tells him not to quit, she is mostly just around to create needless tension and to become a damsel in distress for most of the film. I don't believe her chemistry with Henry Cavill. When Superman dies at the end, I felt nothing despite Lois crying over his body. With such an emotionally charged moment, I would usually shed a tear, but nothing. How anyone can praise her performance is beyond me.

    There are a million other things I think are wrong with the film. The entire plot is very disjointed and in-cohesive, it will stop the flow of the plot for needless cameos to set up other movies or to have a random dream sequence, the Batman and Superman fight is actually only around 15 minutes, if you watch the trailers the plot is basically already known to you, and many many more.

    Here's my issue. There are a lot of people bad mouthing reviews because they believe that they are Marvel fanboys or are biased towards a traditional action film. However, look at Avengers: Age of Ultron. Critics overall enjoyed the film but they weren't hesitant to point out the problems with it. They hated the scenes that felt out of place, the rushed storylines, the stopping of the plot of set up Civil War, and many others. They are simply criticizing Batman V. Superman for the same things. The only difference is that is all Batman V. Superman is. Age of Ultron at least had various other storylines that were focused on and action sequences that were had decent length and were satisfying. We saw things in those fights that we hadn't seen before in the trailers. That's just not true with Batman V. Superman.

    Overall, I have to give credit for the good in this film but overall, the bad heavily outweighs it. I agree with most critics on this film.

    3/10

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I respect what your saying, cuz yeah you do make good points. I know not everyone will enjoy the film like i did, but im not gonna try to force it on you...but i will say next time, you might want to be careful with the spoilers in the comments.

      Delete
    2. man, I may be the only one who hasn't seen it yet, but everyone is getting me down. I am a bit of a curmudgeon to begin with so i really am betting I'm not going to love it.

      Delete
    3. You? a curmudgeon? never!

      But yeah i cant say I loved the movie. Like as a good friend, yeah XD

      Delete
    4. Jim I think you'll be higher than 3 of 10 on it. It's not perfect but entertaining none the less

      Delete