Batman Vs Superman: Dawn Of Justice Review

Just got back from a screening of Batman VS. Superman: Dawn Of Justice.

 

           Let me start by saying I am a long time fan of both Batman and Superman so going into this movie, I was already a Die Hard fan. I enjoyed Michael Keaton's Batman films, liked Batman Forever, found Batman and Robin to be ridiculously awful that it's actually entertaining, and absolutely adored The Dark Knight Trilogy. On the Superman side, I enjoyed the first two Christopher Reeves movies, liked Superman Returns and feels that it gets a lot of unnecessary hate although it does have some problems, and thoroughly enjoyed Man Of Steel. The latter has proven to be a very divisive film for many comic book fans, and while it does have certain questionable traits such as Superman allowing his human father to be killed by a Tornado and fighting villains in heavily populated areas, I enjoyed it very much as a film. Snyder gave us great scenes in that film such as the entire opening on Krypton, the moments between Jonathan and Clark Kent, and Clark flying for the first time, those scenes were amazing. I also dug Hans Zimmer's new Superman theme and felt that the new Superman franchise was on the right track despite some flaws. Going into Batman vs Superman, I chose to ignore the harsh bashing this movie received from critics going in and wanted to judge for myself whether Zack Snyder delivered on making a worthy Superhero film that brought these two great titans together. I guess the question on everyone's minds reading this blog is did Zack Snyder do a good job, and is the movie deserving of all the relentless bashing it's received? The answer to both is simply YES and NO.

        Batman VS Superman, is a highly entertaining and very strong sequel to Man Of Steel, taking everything that Snyder set up with the previous film and expanding on it with this entry. The story is bigger as well as having a fresh batch of new characters being introduced such as the new dark knight played brilliantly by Ben Affleck, Wonder Woman played by Gal Gadot, whose proven to be terrific casting for her part and comes off as being badass, Lex Luthor played very nicely by Jesse Eisenberg, although he received a lot of criticism by critics for his performance which is a shame because he covers creepiness and sinister very well. Holly Hunter shines in her brief but effective role of a Senator bent on questioning Superman's loyalty and morals when controversy emerges. The film also brings back key players from the first film such as Lois Lane played typically by Amy Adams doing her best impression as Amy Adams. Laurence Fishburne reprises his role as Perry White doing a solid job with the part as he's given more opportunity to comfortably ease into the role of Lois boss. A question that may arise for the viewer when watching the scenes at the Daily Planet is the whereabouts of Jimmy Olsen? Diane Lane reprises her role as Martha Kent even though her role isn't that large but she still gives the role a charming feel to it. Much like the case with Man Of Steel, the performances here are all solid as everyone does a great job and feels right for their characters.

       The three key performances that carry this film is Ben Affleck's performance as Bruce Wayne/Batman. He defies all expectations with his grittier and more darker Batman with a much better alter ego voice that puts Christian Bales to shame. Jeremy Irons is the second best performance as he takes the character of Alfred, and gives him more of a fun and sarcastic feel while caring deeply for Bruce. The Alfred and Bruce Wayne in this film are the ones that feel very much like the characters from the animated show, making them work together as a team more so than Alfred being a fatherly figure and Bruce working alone. Alfred is Bruce's Butler, father figure, and wingman all rolled into one here as he assists Bruce while he's out on his mission. The third best performance goes to Henry Cavill, who feels more confident in the role of Superman this time around because he's had time to ease into the part and acts more like Superman. The scenes he shares with Lois hit all the right notes emotion wise and the moments he shares with Affleck's Batman are utterly badass. When they finally have their epic showdown, it's essentially every fanboys dream come true,.

      Looking at the films technical aspects, many critics have felt the urge to criticize the pacing and story structure of the film. The film runs at a length equal to that of The Dark Knight with 152 minutes, but the pacing of the film is neither super quick nor painful. The film takes time developing several major character arcs such as Batman, Superman, Lex Luthor, and Wonder Woman and eventually ends up having to juggle them all simultaneously. Some people say that the film is poorly paced, but I feel the opposite. The action is restrained in the first half to set up the characters and the plot for the latter half of the movie which is when the action and conflicts come into play. Hans Zimmer's score remains effective when reusing elements from Man Of Steel and creating a theme for Lex Luthor and Wonder Woman, but one finds disappointment when he doesn't try to develop a theme for Affleck's Batman. Perhaps it's because he felt conflicted to do it after completing work on The Dark Knight trilogy that he didn't want to overshadow his work on that film, but one does feel disappointment that he didn't try to create a brand new theme for the character. The story arc of Batman is darker in tone than Nolan's universe, but one can feel the homage to Batman Begins with the origin scenes of young Bruce witnessing his parents murder and falling down the hole as a kid. Affleck's first scene as Batman is a great intro and shows the heroism and serious tone of his character. Within the first 5 minutes of him being on screen, you are immediately sold on the idea that this guy that everyone despised upon being casted in such an important role, is now officially the new Dark Knight. While it's debatable on whether Affleck is better than past interpretations of Batman such as Michael Keaton and Christian Bales, he definitely will go down as one of the best ever depicted on the big screen. As for Visual effects, Snyder is a great visionary filmmaker but one feels that he places a little too much emphasis on the special effects rather than making further developing his characters.

 

        At the end of the day, it's all a matter of opinion on how Zack Snyder did with bringing Batman vs Superman to the big screen. For me, Snyder has done strong work on these first two installments in the new Superman and D.C universe, but I also feel that his work can be very divisive with fans. Snyder makes decisions with the story and characters that not every Batman and Superman fan is going to necessarily agree with and in some cases will enrage them. The film contains exhilarating action and spectacle, but I feel a better suited director for creating deeper character development and has a more firm balance between visual effects and story is necessary. If D.C comics and Warner Brothers want to see this universe play out much like the Marvel universe has been flourishing over the last 8 years, then perhaps it's time to let someone else direct the future movies. Batman vs. Superman, is a good Superhero film that's made for the Die Hard fans in particular and is most certainly not a film for everyone. Much like how Man Of Steel pleased many Superman fans and divided others, Batman vs Superman will prove to be no different when all is said and done. Not everyone will walk out of this film feeling fully satisfied and will take issue to some of the movies story choices, but the film is certainly not deserving of the bashing it's taken from critics. It's highly entertaining and has great Superhero moments like Man of Steel did, which will make audiences feel good. But great moments may not be enough for some fans, as they may feel that such a powerful story about two great heroes fighting each other isn't being given it's full potential by Snyder. It's true that much of the film is effects driven but I think many audiences will find satisfaction in knowing that Afflecks Batman defies all expectation, Wonder Woman is not only gorgeous but steals the show with the limited amount of screen time she has, and Superman acts more like Superman this time. This D.C comics fan was satisfied and here's hoping that you will be too.

                                                                                                                              4 out of 5 stars