Rating of
2.5/4
Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice - Movie Review
Matthew Brady - wrote on 03/27/16
Batman: "Tell me, do you bleed? You will".
Dutch: "If it bleeds, we can kill it".
Superman has become the savior of Metropolis - but also a threat to many who fear his god-like abilities could lead to disaster. Gotham City's own Batman is among them, and he goes to confront the Man of Steel - but as these two titans clash, a new evil arises - one that poses a far greater threat to mankind.
The wait is finally over everyone, but was it worth waiting three years for? kind of. But how amazing is it that two of the most iconic superheros of all time are finally facing off with each other in one single movie. Unfortunately, not everyone was excited for it after the very mixed 'Man of Steel', as fans either loved it, liked it or hated the movie. Everyone was Curious, but also worried about Zack Snyder directing this movie, since he normally choices style over substance in his movies. Everything got worse when it comes to news, as the movie kept getting delayed, some casting choices that people got really angry over and the fact that movie was too crowed with it's characters. But hey, maybe Snyder has learnt from his mistakes from Man of Steel and might actually give us the faithful Frank Miller adaptation we've been waiting for.
After seeing the movie myself and letting it sink in for a while, I don't think this movie was terrible or good, but it could have been much better then the one we got. Batman v Superman has many problems with the plot, pacing and characters, but there's also some good things in it as well that I will get to later on in the review.
I think Zack Snyder took a bold move by taking the biggest criticism of "Man of Steel" was that Superman lets way too many people die (or just wasn't heroic enough), into the main story line of Dawn of Justice. I think it's a great way of replying back to the biggest problems fans or moviegoers had with Man of Steel, as it shows that you are aware and care of what people say. In this movie, Snyder sure dose make it as close as the comic when it comes to visuals and making it seem like the comic is leaping out of the comic book page on to the big screen, but sadly, Zack Snyder did what I feared he would do and that's doing the style over substance, with pretentious symbolism and very messy directing. Just when I thought he would fix the problems from Man of Steel, but instead make bigger problems in this movie. Now I don't want to give off the impression that I'm disliking Zack Snyder, because I don't want to, as I think he is a brilliant visual director with many ideas that doesn't always work out. I'm not a hater Snyder, but I had to be honest with you.
Ben Affleck as Batman was probably the biggest "WTF" casting ever and even I was a bit turned off by it when it was first announced, since at the time I wanted Josh Brolin to be cast as Batman. But just like Michael Keaton as Batman, Daniel Craig as James Bond and Heath Ledger as The Joker, we were all wrong to judge something without seeing it and that's once again the case here, as Ben Affleck wasn't the worse part of this movie, but rather the best part. Ben Affleck absolutely nailed it as Batman and I'm glad he proved everyone wrong. It's always a pleasure seeing annoying fanboys being proven wrong (like always). I can't wait to see that solo Batman movie starring Ben Affleck.
The fight scenes between Batman & Superman was really short and I wish it was a little longer, but it was enjoyable. Jeremy Irons as Alfred was excellent and perfect casting choice. Henry Cavill did a decent job playing Superman and the music in the film was pretty good. Gal Gadot did fine as Wonder Women, but her acting was a bit wooden and I hope she dose improve in the upcoming Wonder Woman movie that's coming out in 2017.
Now for the problems: Jesse Eisenberg was god awful as Lex Luther. I don't understand how some people think he's performance was good in this movie, because he was really cringe worthy and laughable. People will find away to defend his performance and over analysis the sh*t out of it to the point where it's really reaching for it. I don't put all the blame on Eisenberg, since it's mostly the directing and the writing that's the blame. It's awful to see a good actor like Jesse Eisenberg sadly being miss cast in a role that should have went to someone else.
Doomsday is in this movie and this isn't a spoiler as it's already been spoiled in the trailers and advertisements. Doomsday is one of the best villains in DC comics, because it's best known for being the one that killed Superman, but in this movie he's nothing but a big CGI monster that was shoehorned in the last few minutes. Also Doomsday looks like that troll monster from Fellowship of the Ring mixed with a Ninja Turtle. It's that bad.
The film itself is joyless and kind of dull at times, because every superhero movie (Mostly DC films) always try to be that dark and gritty movie that it's never going to be. This is 2 hours & 22 minutes of DC trying to catch up with Marvel, now I'm not comparing this to Marvel movies like some critics are, but it's very noticeable that this movie is leeching off the Marvel formal of setting up future movies.
Overall Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is a very messy movie that really dose lose focus on what it's doing. This is called "Batman v Superman", how is this movie not the most awesome thing in the world? it's kind of disappointing just thinking about it. If you like this movie and disagree with me on the problems I had with this movie, then that's fine and I'm glad you enjoyed the movie better than I did.
Zach Snyder explains the hidden meaning of Batman v Superman: www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVIB9sGYeUw
