Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice Review

Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, the film that launches DC's larger film universe and introduces audiences to a new Batman, yet does it succeed?

With a 29% on the Rotten Tomatoes and many mixed reviews, Batman V Superman is a divisive film. The question is whether or not it deserves such a harsh rating, and by the end of the review, the question will be answered. But admittedly, I feel like I need to say, "I told you so" because BvS is exactly the disjointed and pretentious narrative mess than the trailers implied, yet that does not mean it is all bad.

Directed by: Zack Snyder

Genre: Action, Comic Book, Sci-Fi,

Release Date: March 25, 2016

Running Time: 151 minutes

MMPA rating: PG-13

The Good: Ben Affleck is great, Batman looks awesome, Jeremy Irons is brilliantly cast, Wonder Woman is cool, Fun teases for Justice League, One incredible Batman action sequence, Stunning visuals at times, Entertaining action set pieces, Batman parts are excellent, Superb Zimmer OST,

The Bad: Batman kills!? WHAT THE HECK, Jesse Eisenberg is painful to watch, Henry Cavill is wooden, Zero character development, Too many plot threads for one movie, Doomsday is terribly shoehorned in, Disjointed and convoluted narrative, Lacking character motivations, Lazy Justice League setup, Lex's plan?, Laughable dialogue at times,

Plot: 5.2/10- BvS's plot is all over the place. The first two Acts are serious and heavy with drama, with the Batman parts being brilliant, and the Superman parts falling flat. There are discussions of Superman as an almost religious figure, and while some may say that adds thematic depth, it boils down to about ten minutes of news reports blatantly discussing the topic with zero subtly. The theme is essentially dropped as a theme towards the end as soon as the action begins, so it feels hollow.

Many plot points and mature tone of the first half are just dropped as soon as the action starts, and the poor execution across the board does not help either. There are so many missed opportunities throughout the film. However, there are hints of greatness, yet nothing comes to fruition with the final Act being a big throwdown with rushed narrative elements. As for the film as a whole, there are far too many narrative aspects, setup for future films, and general lack of cohesion between the various aspects to really feel like a competent narrative. Additionally, certain plot elements are far too convenient, especially with Lex's plan. However, the film address Man of Steel's largest criticism of pointless destruction with a well executed scene of Bruce Wayne running through the carnage.

Characterization: 5.0/10- Batman V Superman's characters are a big mixed bag. Batman, essentially the star of the film, is mostly brilliant. This Batman is old and seasoned, having fought crime for over 20 years at this point. Affleck's Batman is the most comic book accurate one in live-action yet, except for one very important thing: HE KILLS PEOPLE! With no explanation, Batman fires his machine guns on the Batwing and blows vehicles up with people in them. You never see any specific death scenes, but it is obvious that people are dying. The strange part is that there are no mentions the fact that he kills people. I literally threw my hands up in the air in the theater when he did for the first few times. A one-off line by Alfred, who is great in the film, could have explained everything, but nope, nothing, as if he isn't killing people. So the problem isn't that Batman is killing people, but rather there is no acknowledgement of why or even confirmation that he is killing. Regardless of this strange aspect, Batman is easily the best part of the film as he is a bad*ss and does a little detective/espionage work. Even the Bruce Wayne aspect of the character is arguably better than Bale's portrayal, and Batman's motivations are the only character motivations that make sense. If anything, BvS made me wish this Batman had his own solo film with more of this gritty bad*ss detective version of the character.

Superman is even more poorly portrayed than in Man of Steel. Clark Kent and Lois have one good scene together towards the beginning, but everything else about Superman's character is flat and lacking in character development. Nothing about Superman is particularly well done. He is just boring and void of character development. Superman is basically a plot device in that his mere existence creates the conflict, yet not his on-screen actions. Overall, Superman is awfully dull, lacks motivation, and Lois struggles to remain relevant throughout the film.

Lex Luthor is a joke, maybe even more so than Gene Hackman's Lex in the original Superman. His motivations are weak, his character trait of being insane is lazy, and he only serves to drag the film down. As expected, Doomsday is literally just a creature for the heroes to fight for visual spectacle with a shoehorned in creation.

Wonder Woman is the only other character with any significance, and she is definitely an afterthought. However, the hints at her backstory and her scenes towards the end make me more excited for her solo film than even the Justice League. She doesn't do a lot, but what he does do is cool.

Direction: 7.9/10- Visually, Zack Snyder is at his best with a fairly solid balance of artistic style and realism. The dark and washed out colors are not nearly as bad as Man of Steel, and honestly, this is what I have come to expect from Snyder. Some scenes are simply stunning. Unfortunately, the visuals are often undermined by disjointed editing between scenes. The Batman scenes are great, and Affleck's input is clearly seen by the superior performances and camera framing, whereas the Superman scenes are more dull and uninteresting, much like Man of Steel.

However, Snyder does not disappoint in the action, well, at least for the most part. When the action does start, it never really stops as it moves from action set piece to the next, which mostly works. Any scene with Batman is exactly what I have been waiting for since the Batman: Arkham Asylum video games, particularly the scene towards the end. This Batman is brutal, fast, strong, and uses all his gadgets to the fullest. The big throwdown between Batman and Superman is fun, yet felt lacking. It is essentially two guys punching each other and throwing each other through walls, nothing original. Lastly, the big battle at the end is mostly CGI, and it is fine I suppose; nothing special or exciting, but a decent spectacle. As a whole, the action is all fun, entertaining, and well directed. However, in this age of Marvel movies, Mad Max, and Kingsman, many action flicks lack the X-Factor in their action sequences and BvS is no exception. Fellow critic and guest author,  Jordan Rath, makes a brilliant in his review with "Almost every Marvel movie I've ever been to has something where I go 'Hmm! I've never seen that before!' BvS has titans locking horns, yes, but the actual fight isn't all that innovative." And Jordan is right. There is nothing that matches the originality of Marvel's action sequences, except for that one aforementioned Batman scene.

Acting: 5.1/10- BvS is a massive mixed bag of brilliant, decent, and atrocious performances from the cast. Ben Affleck is undoubtedly brilliant. He is one of the best live-action portrayals of Batman. Henry Cavill is wooden, and his laughable dialogue and delivery doesn't help. He is horribly dull with no charm or depth. Cavill says his lines in the most mundane way possible. Come on Snyder, when are you going to learn how to direct actors!? Jesse Eisenberg is awful. You might hear the term "Cringe-worthy" thrown around, but Eisenberg's performance is the embodiment of the term. It was painful and uncomfortable to watch Eisenberg's take on Lex. Later in the film, he improves a bit, but still, he is the worst part of the film and drags it down a few notches. Sure, Eisenberg always plays a spastic, out-of-control character, which sometimes works, but this a whole new level of awfulness, except for a few decent scenes. Jeremy Irons as Alfred and Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman give performances that make me excited for their future portrayals. Amy Adams is average at best, and the rest of the cast do their jobs and nothing more.

Special effects: 7.8/10- Until the final big fight, the special effects are consistent, even when certain scenes are obviously CGI. Nothing amazed me, yet nothing looked awful. Doomsday looked decent, but not nearly as well done as other recent CGI characters, like the Hulk, Gollum, or Groot.

Soundtrack: 8.6/10- Hans Zimmer and Junkie XL's score is quite strong. There are points in the film where it was noticeably brilliant, specifically the track "Is She With You?," and the rest is fitting for the film.

Humor: N/A- BvS balances the lack of humor better than Man of Steel, yet is still mostly humorless, so my expectations were essentially matched.

Entertainment Value: 8.5/10- Despite the two and a half hour runtime, Dawn of Justice is an entertaining watch. Batman's parts are a lot of fun, and the novelty of the DC's Big Three on screen for the first time is great. Oddly enough, critiquing such a flawed, yet decently entertaining, film is a joy itself as a writer. However, if you did not grow up watching DC cartoons or reading comics and have not been excited for Batman and Superman to finally meet on the big screen, then BvS is likely underwhelming.

Overall: 7.0/10- Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice is an enjoyable watch for some viewers, myself included. However, the plot is all over the place, the characters, aside from Batman, are flat, and the action, while entertaining, is nothing mind blowing. In fact, my score is much higher than my individual category scores indicate because this is not a "great" movie, just a decent one with tons of missed potential. But there is something about the novelty and mostly brilliant portrayal of Batman that makes the movie more enjoyable and memorable than it ever should be. More objectively, BvS deserves a 6.2/10, but personal factors push it up to a 7.0/10.

Closing comments: Batman V Superman is basically a guilty pleasure at times. If you adamantly hate the film, by all means do so, because there is plenty aspects of the film that are worthy of the 29% Tomatoe rating. However, if you managed to find certain parts enjoyable, that's great too. But I'm sure most can agree that this is not the type of start that the DC Cinematic Universe needed to convince everyone that DC can make great movies. Well, at least they can make decent ones. And lastly, if you did not already plan to see the film in theaters, just wait for the Blu-Ray/DVD because you aren't missing much.

Recommended for: DC fans, Batman fans,

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Top 10 DC Comics Movies: Part 1

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is about to hit theaters soon! And while DC Comics' film adaptations might not be nearly as vast as Marvel's collection of films, DC actually produced the first massively successful superhero film in Superman (1978). Sure, there were superhero serials shown and the old Adam West Batman film, but Superman was the first film to really take things seriously, or at least mostly seriously. For this list, DC's popular collection of Direct-to-DVD animated films will not be included, with a focus on any theatrically released films, animated or not. Also, I am not a DC hater. The Dark Knight is one of my favorite films ever, and, as always, I have not seen every film.

10: Man of Steel

More or less placing tenth by default, Man of Steel is Zack Snyder's attempt to launch the DC Cinematic Universe. Did he succeed? Well, we will have to wait and find out when Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice hit theaters. But as a film on its own, Man of Steel is a moderately fun action flick with dull, lifeless characters, and cool special effects, even if the wanton destruction is disregarded.

9: Watchmen

Another Zack Snyder flick, Watchmen is an interesting film. Based on the legendary graphic novel of the same name, Watchmen is a deconstruction of the superhero, and the source material featured deep commentary on the genre, human characters, and an enthralling narrative. On the other hand, the film contains the shell of the fascinating themes contained within the original story. First, I watched the movie and found it to be decent, yet nothing remarkable, although the sexual content was extreme. Then I read the graphic novel and realized just how incredible the story should have been. But on the flipside, Watchmen serves as a visually stunning adaptation of the graphic novel that accurately adapts many of the visual aspect, while leaving the story and characters mostly wooden. Here’s hoping for that miniseries adaptation of Watchmen!

8: Superman II

Due to creative differences, the director of the original Superman film, Richard Donner, left the project and Richard Lester took the helm. Years later, a second cut of the film, titled "Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut," was released using a combination of deleted scenes and the original footage. While I have not seen that cut, the original Superman II is still a fun film. General Zod is an entertaining, theatrical villain, and Christopher Reeve is an exceptional Clark Kent/Superman.

7: Batman

While Superman launched superhero films onto the big screen, Tim Burton's Batman effectively proved that the genre wasn't dead after two failed Superman sequels. Michael Keaton also proved that he was more than "Mr. Mom" as he played a competent Bruce Wayne and Batman. But of course, Jack Nicholson stole the show as The Joker in his iconic turn as the character. Certain elements of the film might not hold up today, but Tim Burton's gothic style was the perfect fit to bring Batman back to the masses! And who can forget that iconic Danny Elfman score!

6: Road to Perdition

Did you think all comic book movies had to be about superheroes? Well, Road to Perdition is an Oscar winning mobster film starring Tom Hanks and directed by Sam Mendes, the man behind Skyfall and Spectre. Road to Perdition is ultimately a story of father and son bonding with the backdrop of a 1930s mobster revenge tale. Mendes' cinematography is stunning, and Tom Hanks' performance is reliably exceptional as expected. If you like crime dramas and want to see one of the more unique comic book films, give Road to Perdition a watch.

Are these any of your favorites? Please comment below and let me know!

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Wonder Woman Movie First Look

The first official picture from the upcoming Wonder Woman film is released, as well as a listing of the cast. The picture shows Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman in a hood, and it really does not show anything else. 

Patty Jenkins is set to direct and the cast is as follows: Chris Pine as Captain Steve Trevor, Robin Wright (House of Cards), Danny Huston (Clash of the Titans, X-Men Origins: Wolverine), David Thewlis (the Harry Potter films), Ewen Bremner (Trainspotting), Saïd Taghmaoui (G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra), Elena Anaya (The Skin I Live In, Van Helsing) and Lucy Davis (Shaun of the Dead, UK's The Office).

Source: IGN.com

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Batman v Superman Trailer Review/Breakdown

After the ridiculous amount photos and posters, the teaser trailer for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is here, and it is presents some interesting things to discuss. 

Opening with a narration by Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor and others that discuss how Superman is a savior, and maybe someone like him is too powerful to be allowed free reign. For one, Eisenberg's voice starts out different than expected, but as he talks more, all I can see is the usual Eisenberg that we have seen so many times. At this point, I need to see him in action before I make my judgment. 

The more interesting aspect of the trailer is the Superman statue. Sure, Superman is virtually an all powerful being, but he is responsible for countless deaths in Metropolis, which Man of Steel completely glossed over. So, are the masses praising Superman out of fear or out of gratitude? Or maybe both. Thematically, the movie raises an interesting idea of Superman essentially being worshiped. The comparison to others with power that people follow, like Hitler or Stalin, presents potentially fascinating ideas. However, considering how poorly Man of Steel implemented its themes, I have a feeling that the movie is going to turn out to be a pretentious mess, thematically at least. Of course, the DC fanboys will praise it for being "dark" and "edgy" but it will just fall flat on its face. On the other hand, you never know, maybe the movie will surprise us. 

Another issue I have is that Superman as a character is painfully bland. He lacks any charm or relatable humanity. Watching this trailer made me realize just how unlikable this version of Superman is. I am not the type of Superman fan that complains about changes to the comic book, but I do like the character in the general. Unless Kal-El is developed quickly, there will be no reason for the audience to care about him or his fight against Batman. Even though I know very little about this version of Batman, I am already on his side. 

Ultimately, do I think this is going to be a amazing movie? Probably not, unless the script is a significant improvement over Man of Steel, but it should at least be a good movie that is fun to watch. If Zack Snyder is good at one thing, it is action sequences (even if they are repetitive).

Ironically, I am more excited about the new episodes of Arrow and The Flash this week than I am for this movie. With that said, I still want to see if BvS crashes and burns or rises up the ashes. Below are screenshots with my commentary.

My guess that this is Mexico, which makes it seem like Superman goes on tour.

Something about the special effects here look off. Hopefully it will be fixed in the film.

Now this is an interest picture. It is difficult to see, but if you look at the shoulder patches on the soldiers, you will see Superman's "S" logo. Now this is an exciting idea, because Superman appears to have a task force specifically for him, and maybe he did not even want it in the first place.

Who is that looking up at Superman? Is he just a random guy that Superman saves or someone important?

Now this is where the trailer gets really interesting. Superman being worshiped is an intriguing idea. While I have my doubts about the execution of the concept, it is very reminiscent of The Dark Knight Returns in certain respects, although Superman is almost portrayed as villainous.

*Broody Ben Batfleck is brooding.* Could Affleck look any more brooding? With that said, I am on board with Affleck as Bruce Wayne. He definitely has the jawline and the actin talent.

Since Superman has his own task force, this gives Batman some lackeys to fight, and that is exactly what this shot looks like.

Our first look at Batfleck in the normal Batman suit. As expected, this is heavily inspired by The Dark Knight Returns' version of Batman. I assume Affleck's costume is majorly bulked up because he is not nearly that big in real life.

The classic Batman looking over the city. However, this is another failed effects shot. It looks too stiff, and the cape is just wrong.

"I am Iron Bat!" Bruce Wayne takes a page out of Tony Stark's book by creating a mechanical suit to battle a superpowered being. Also, his voice changing tech is exactly what Batman needed, which is similar to CW's Arrow.

"Tell me, do you bleed? You will." Now this is the money shot of the trailer. The big confrontation of between Batman and Superman. Somehow, the movie must introduce a reasonable explanation for how Batman is going to fight Superman. Superman can move faster than the speed of sound to the point where he can dismantle Batman's mechanical suit before Batman even realizes it. Without Kryptonite or a similar plot device, Batman stands no reasonable chance. Maybe, they are going to have a brooding contest to see which of these emo guys can be more depressed (just kidding).

My impression of the logo is kind of meh. It looks too fat, but it is fine.

What did you think of the trailer? Please comment below and check back tomorrow for the final part of my Top 10 Villains list.

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Batman v. Superman Full Teaser Trailer

The full official Batman v. Superman Teaser Trailer is here! And it is interesting to say the be least. Due to it being leaked, DC decided to just go ahead and release, which is not a terrible idea, except for the fact that everyone is raving about how awesome the Star Wars trailer is. Hopefully, by Monday, I will have a full trailer breakdown with screenshots, commentary, and my thoughts. However, I will say that it has some good elements.

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Batman v. Superman Teaser Trailer

Update: The full teaser trailer is now released. Check it out by clicking here!

A new teaser has been released for Batman v. Superman, and it is literally 20 seconds of us looking at the Batman and Superman costumes. Apparently, the first real teaser trailer is set to be released in IMAX screenings with an internet release surely on the way. Despite how dull the film is likely to be with Snyder at the helm, I am interested in what the movie is going to look like, and if it actually going to be as colorless as we all joke about. The full trailer is said to have been leaked online, but as with any leak, it has been taken down, so we will just have to wait for the official release. What do you think of the teaser? Please comment below and let me know.

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New Batman v Superman Lex Luthor Picture

Yet another picture from Batman v Superman has been released, and this time it is of a bald Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor. Considering the lack of color in all of these promotional images, either Jack Snyder is color blind (I would not be surprised) or the movie is being filmed in black and white. In all seriousness, this new picture is yet another instance of what we have come to expect from this film. Well, at least Lex is bald now, but I still do not see Eisenberg as the character. What do you think? Please comment below and let me know, and check back tomorrow for a movie review.

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Jason Momoa as Aquaman Official Picture

The first official pictures of Jason Momoa as Aquaman in DC's upcoming films, presumably Batman v Superman, is here! Yes, I realize that this is old news, but I had a cold for the last week, so I am behind on all this stuff. Anyway, this looks more or less like we would expect a Jason Momoa as Aquaman would turn out. It is kind of a hybrid of the 90s and early 00s Aquaman from my era combined with Momoa's role in Game on Thrones (well, somewhat). Of course, the colors are washed out and dull, while that may just be because of the filters used on the picture, DC is trying their hardest to make the most visually dull and uninteresting heroes possible, and they are certainly succeeding in that respect. However, of all the costumes revealed thus far, this is my favorite since he does look bad*ss. Ever since watching Jason Momoa in Stargate Atlantis, I have always liked the actor, so out of the casting choices DC has made, he is also my favorite. Sure, this Aquaman bears little resemblance with most comic book incarnations, but to paraphrase Jeremy Jahns, how many people are actually Aquaman fans? Ever since the Super Friends, he is essentially a joke, so it will take a lot to make him cool, and DC is trying just that. Also, to be clear, until I either watch Batman v Superman or see a mind-blowing trailer, nothing will make care all that much about these upcoming DC films. We already know that they will likely be dull, colorless, and lacking in any of the charm that Marvel, or even DC's shows like The Flash and Arrow, contain, so we will just have to wait and see. Please let me know what you think of the Aquaman costume in the comments below!

Current Aquaman.

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