BATMAN V SUPERMAN, HAS A PLETHORA OF GREAT IDEAS SOMEWHERE BURIED IN THE BADLY EDITED AND AT TIMES POORLY WRITTEN AND STRUCTURE FILM. STILL IT IS ABLE TO HAVE A FEW GLOWING MOMENTS, HIGHLIGHTS AND A INTERESTING LAUNCH PAD FOR THE DC UNIVERSE.
So here we are guys, another super hero movie another day. This one however is different because this is the very first time that BATMAN, SUPERMAN AND WONDER WOMAN ALL SHARE THE SAME SCREEN, HOLY SHIT!!! I just wish it was in a better film. *hangs head*
Batman v Superman is directed by fan boy extraordinaire Zack Snyder, scripted by Academy Award winner Chris Terrio and comic book film scribe veteran David S. Goyer. It stars Henry Cavill, Ben Affleck, Amy Adams, Gal Gadot, Jesse Eisenberg and Holly Hunter.
When Gotham’s own vigilante feels threaten towards Metropolis’s Man of Steel, fearing if left unchecked he might go rouge, Batman (Ben Affleck) travels to Metropolis to take him down, unknowingly a pawn of the grander plan orchestrated by the young, manic, genius Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg),who wishes to pit Superman (Henry Cavill) and Batman against each other for the sake of a larger picture neither is aware of…oh and Wonder Woman briefly shows up.
Screenwriter Max Landis described this film as “a dark and gritty Batman Forever” and after further reflection on my part, I think he’s right. Look, there is a lot to lov–er, really like about this movie. Some of the ideas it brings up about the respected characters and the turns it takes are really inspired and cool. Namely this rendition of Batman, which is one of the most interesting aspects of the movie, there has been a lot of talk about Affleck’s Batman being the best representation of the character…eh I have to disagree but I think he’s the best Batman to fit this world that Zack Snyder has created.
Affleck pours everything he has into this character and fully commits to it, one hundred percent. There is no wasted frame when Affleck comes on the screen, the dialogue he’s given though a little operatic (more on that latter), is perfect for this take on Batman. This world weary, grim driven take on the character subverts the standard aspects of the character that we all know, turning it into something enjoyable whenever the character shows up. He makes for a brilliant Bruce Wayne, convincingly playing up the playboy side of the character to make it and the dark tortured soul wrestling with a burning rage that is always bubbling towards the surface of the character’s psyche and it’s beautiful. Almost very James Bond esq.
The action scenes featuring Affleck’s Batman are the highlights of the movie. The car chases, take-downs, scene chewy dialogue, it all works thanks to Affleck. Unfortunately his motivation for wanting to take down the Man of Steel though sound, doesn’t hold much water when given a deeper thought. Shame since its the crux of the film, speaking of Superman.
The character in this movie is uh– while everything surrounding the character is great and really interesting the character himself is plain and dull. Henry Cavill, God bless him, does his best to deliver some really interesting and sometimes really bad lines that the script has for Superman, but overall the character comes off significantly less interesting and just a debby downer, never does Superman smile or laugh. This might have been what Zack was going for exploring the repercussions of always wanting to attempt to make the right decisions and how that can weigh a character like this down, THAT’S REALLY INTERESTING!!!
Something of the likes we haven’t seen before, but the character doesn’t really grow throughout the movie and virtually stays the same from the beginning to the end of the film. The character’s interplay with Lois Lane (Amy Adams) is boring , especially the dialouge they give the two actors to say to each other. To the fact that Adams is for the first half of the film is a useless side character and the latter half a damsel in distress. It’s something that is really, unforgivable.
THE. BEST. THING. This film has going for it is the ideas its presents, and the operatic sense of scale and scope that Snyder brings to this telling us a mythological opera as it unfolds in front of our eyes, including the final showdown between the titular characters is fun to look at although a little comic bookie and hokey is sure to thrill fans of these characters and I couldn’t help but smile. It all fits into this operatic tapestry that Snyder is setting up AND SPEAKING OF OPERATIC!!!
Jesse Esienberg’s Luthor, HOLY SHIT!! This is cringe at it’s finest, his performance though holding promise at first, becomes a distracting interpretation on what is “supposed” to be Lex Luthor, but ends up being a manic young man who just desperately needs to take his meds. Luthor leads into some larger schemes and ideas (I know I’m repeating myself with the usage of that word) but it’s true. Luthor leads into a larger world that is hinted at throughout the film unfortunately–
The Easter Eggs and tie-ins to the larger “mythology” of these characters if you will, is forced and out of place, and sometimes down right weird, they are thrown in randomly in between scenes that just happen out of occurrence and don’t really make the story flow, and it isn’t help by the music cues of the score.
The good part of the hinting mythology is Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman who when she first comes on brightens up the screen and gives us an enigmatic take into what will end up becoming this universe’s flagstaff female character. However what ever enthusiasm Gadot brings to the role is burned out towards the end of the film. There are a few ticks she does that excites me as a fan but overall her performance does a decline the longer she’s own screen as much as it pains me to say that.
Most of the good and most of the bad within this film are being screamed about by the two camps that either love and hate this film, which deems it unnecessary to go into further details about the movie. So I’ll just end it with…
Zack Snyder’s mythological tale is good on concepts but bad on execution and in turn just becomes an okay film that if worked on a little could’ve been something extraordinary.
RATING
FRUSTRATING!!!
Reel Badass Studios 