Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice Review

Tonight, my girlfriend and I went to see the new Batman movie...or Superman sequel...or crossover...thing.  Ever since it was announced that Ben Affleck would don the cowl and play the Caped Crusader, we have been anxiously awaiting this film's release to see what would happen.  Now that it came out, we decided to go and see what kind of film DC and Warner Bros. made to compete with Marvel's own Cinematic Universe.  Here is my review of Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice.

The Good:

One thing that really struck me was the dark overtones of the plot (Frank Miller was even given a "Special Thanks" in the credits).  The film begins with Bruce Wayne witnessing firsthand the destruction and chaos that was the battle between Superman and General Zod at the end of Man of Steel.  This makes for a surreal allegory to the September 11th terror attacks where citizens of a large city were witnessing their home come under attack, all while adding a HUGE boost of character development to Ben Affleck's Bruce Wayne and why he is determined to take out Superman (a man with unlimited power and one bad mood can destroy everything on earth).  It made the DC Universe a dark and scary place, but it offers potential for superhero stories.  On that note, Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne was good.  Ben Affleck as Batman?  Well...he was better than George Clooney (so, yay?).  One character that stole the show for me was Alfred, played craftily by the criminally underrated Jeremy Irons.  Gal Gadot was in the movie for a grand total of about MAYBE twenty minutes as Wonder Woman, but she shined in that short period of time.  I really liked when conversations about philosophy and moral obligations came up, citing Greek mythology and other stories.  The cameo by Neil deGrasse Tyson was wonderful as he discusses how humanity's sense of self changed over the years from Copernicus to Darwin to Superman.  The final battle (not the Superman vs. Batman fight) was CGI-porn, but it was exciting.

The Bad:
Ben Affleck was decent and Jeremy Irons was sublime, but I did not like Jesse Eisenberg's portrayal of Lex Luthor.  Instead of Luthor being a ruthless businessman and scientific genius, this Luthor was a spoiled rich kid with a bit of political leverage, a cathartic sense of destruction (plus Daddy issues), and maybe a doctorate in cellular biology with a minor in human and kryptonian psychology.  As good as the themes and overtones were, the overall plot felt hastily and haphazardly put together.  It's like there was a list of great ideas that would each have made for a good movie on their own, but Snyder and Co. decided to try and stuff them all into one film with everything coming out half-baked.

The Ugly:

Marvel hit a home run with it's Cinematic Universe, but that project's slowly been put together for the past eight years, with many of the characters getting at least one whole movie to themselves (even Ant-Man!) to focus on character development.  With Batman v. Superman, DC is trying put something comparable together in a much shorter time span.  To be fair, Wonder Woman is getting her own film (and we did get a snippet of her backstory in the third act) with The Flash and Aquaman each getting a film later, but we're getting these after the fact whereas Marvel introduced each of its characters one post-credits scene at a time (AFTER the main character's story was done).  DC did the opposite with a scene in the movie where we are watching videos of other future Justice League members The Flash, Aquaman, and Cyborg.  As fun as they were to watch, they didn't add anything to the Batman and Superman story and mainly served as advertisements for future films.  Batman v. Superman has already made Warner Bros. twice its money back and more ($581 million as of 4/3/2016 on a $250 million budget) based on hype as opposed to substance...and that's the problem I'm having.  While Marvel's hit a home run (so far), DC is desperately swinging for the fences with its own cinematic universe and it's already strike one.  I feel like I am getting more developed stories with the DC television universe (ie: The Flash, Green Arrow, and Supergirl), because writers are taking their time and building these characters up (to be fair though, developing a character over a thirteen hour story is easier than a two hour one).  But I digress, we will see how the other movies play out, including the upcoming Justice League movies.  That being said, Batman v Superman wasn't terrible as a popcorn flick.  It really wasn't, but it could have been a whole lot better, especially with two of DC's biggest franchise stars prominently in the middle of it.

The Other: So how was Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, and Laurence Fishburne as Superman, Lois Lane, and Perry White?  Well let me ask you this: How did you like Man of Steel?  ...  There you go, though I was a little bummed at no mention from Perry of "Great Caesar's Ghost".

Moment of Zen:

Download this for FREE at www.archive.org!  Superman shorts from the 1940's are in the public domain!