The red capes are coming and so are the DC fanboys because Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice has finally hit theaters. Being that I saw this movie a little later than usual, I felt the full blast of negative reviews oriented around this movie. Some friends of mine absolutely hated it while others didn't know how to feel about it. Well, I guess I'm in the minority because I genuinely liked this movie.
Being this is the internet, it's hard to really be in the middle of a spectrum. You either have to love something or you have to hate it. Here's one example of something I didn't love, but I didn't hate. I liked and disliked a bunch of things from this film. For starters, despite lacking a worthwhile plot and, in my opinion, really hindering the Superman character, the film was visually stunning. Zack Snyder knows how to create a really beautiful film and the action set pieces in this were incredible looking. The problem with Snyder's involvement with this film is although he created a great looking film, the script was lackluster. At times, I chuckled at what some characters were saying. Superman's character was written extremely poorly in this film. By the end of the film, I didn't care about Henry Cavill's character at all. I don't blame Cavill especially cause I liked him in Man of Steel. To me, he's a great Superman. This movie just didn't know to balance a plethora of characters. The script, at times, needed major improvements. This is also a result of poor editing. This film didn't understand the logic of clear transitions. A lot was going on at once and the studio really tried cramming a lot into a two and a half hour film. I know the first cut of this film was three hours and you can clearly see stuff was omitted. Whether or not those missing thirty minutes would've improved the film remains to be seen.
On the contrary, Batman's character was written beautifully. Ben Affleck murdered this role and portrayed by far the most interesting and exciting Batman/Bruce Wayne we've ever seen on the big screen. Ben Affleck was the major highlight of this film and a solo Batman film featuring him will be spectacular, I can guarantee that. Jeremy Irons as Alfred also worked beautifully. The relationship between the butler and the caped crusader felt real and natural. Anything Batman related in this film was absolutely on point. I know people will complain about his morals in this film. Batman does kill in this film. Yet, the film constantly hinted at his broken past and the logic of him abandoning his morals made a ton of sense. This is a new take on Batman and I'm looking forward to seeing more.
In terms of supporting cast, this is where the film also gets very shaky. I like Amy Adams. She's a great Lois Lane. But my god this script really did anything it could to include her in this film. I don't know what her contract was like but she was in a film called Batman v Superman way too much. This film was meant to focus on two characters colliding, not Superman saving his love interest every five minutes. It was almost as if she was contractually obligated to be in this film way too much. The other main supporting character was Jesse Eisenberg portraying Lex Luthor. Despite popular opinion, I admired his performance. It was a new take on DC's most infamous mastermind. His inspiration was clear cut and he was one of the few characters with meaningful dialogue. In my opinion, he was one of the highlights of this film.
Now, everybody wants to know where the Dawn of Justice section appears in this film. I can assure you that all members of the Justice League do appear in this film. Some more than others. From what the film shows, I'm so ready for this upcoming film. My inner child went insane seeing Aquaman and the Flash on the big screen for the first time ever. Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman worked extremely well. I was nervous about the casting but she plays a great character. Her stand alone film is something I look forward to. This movie sets up the future in a really fascinating way. Yet, it's a mess. I wouldn't have included any hint of the Justice League in this film. It really added elements to this film that some just didn't understand. There's a particular cameo that makes little to no sense unless you read comics. The issue with this film was that it was too much at once. It didn't tease anything. It shoved as much as it could into one film and really made this a cluster of storylines and ideas.
Despite my critiques, I enjoyed this film. DC's future seems bright. I just hope better writers and better editing comes as more DC films continue to come out.
Rating: C+
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