Batman V Superman – Dawn Of Justice: Review
It’s been nearly two years since Superman’s (Henry Cavill) colossal battle with Zod (Michael Shannon) devastated the city of Metropolis. The loss of life and collateral damage left many feeling angry and helpless, including crime-fighting billionaire Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck). Convinced that Superman is now a threat to humanity, Batman embarks on a personal vendetta to end his reign on Earth, while the conniving Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg) launches his own crusade against the Man of Steel.
The one movie that people have waited AGES for is finally here……Ok, maybe like 15 years or so but that’s still a long time. The film opens with Bruce Wayne bearing witness to the chaos and destruction that happens in the finale of Man Of Steel. I liked what they did there because in those opening moments they give you the reasoning as to why he despises Superman so much. The first half of the movie felt a lot like a superhero political thriller in a sense but not in the same way that Captain America: The Winter Soldier was able to perfect it. I went into the movie knowing that there had to be a significant amount of build up to get to the good stuff but there were moments where the people I was with started to fall asleep. That says a lot when about 6 people I was with started to dose off during different moments. I didn’t fall asleep but I do think that there was a bit too much build up and not enough action mixed in the first half to please the casual moviegoer. The second half was INSANE! Here is where ALL the action happened and it didn’t disappoint in that aspect. The fight scene in the third act had fantastic action and the funniest part to me was when Superman and Wonder Woman was fighting Doomsday and Batman was just kind of hanging back trying not to get too close. Why you ask? Well obviously he would get crushed in a second so I was glad that they addressed that without actually addressing it. We also got to see a few cameos from Cyborg, The Flash and Aquaman that were really cool to see on screen but I was kind of iffy on HOW they did it. Wonder Woman’s debut in full costume was a really big standout moment that literally gave me chills. I loved her fight scenes and I thought she was a fantastic version of the character. I think Gal Gadot proved every doubter wrong and made them all eat their words. I wasn’t that thrilled with Doomsday. They had “spoiled” his inclusion in the film and director Zack Snyder came out and said that the form that we saw wasn’t his final form and that he would look closer than what he looked like in the comics. With every major damage he sustained he enhanced himself just a little bit and for a minute there I thought he was going to go “Full Doomsday”…..he didn’t. He also had this energy blast that he emitted whenever he was severely damaged and I just didn’t get it. There really wasn’t any reason for it besides causing more destruction. Now for the performances……I thought Cavill was just as good as he was in Man Of Steel but I felt like they needed to give him a bit more depth and dramatics to allow him to branch out acting wise. Affleck performed fantastically as Bruce Wayne/Batman. His scenes were probably some of the best in the film and I thought Affleck brought out everything that the character was in The Dark Knight Returns. Eisenberg was my least favorite character translation. His interpretation of Lex was too maniacal and uppity when the typical Lex is usually very businessman like and his presence is demanding. This version felt a lot like a mix between an old school Joker and The Riddler and I just thought it was silly. There were a lot of problems with the movie but there were also a lot of very likeable things as well. All in all I thoroughly enjoyed the film and it felt great to finally see all these characters on screen at the same time. Would I see it in theaters again? Yes, without a doubt, even with its issues. I could probably go on and on about this film but I’ll refrain from doing that but the one thing that I will say is Don’t Let Anyone Tell You Not To See This Movie. Go see it yourself and make your decision about it without outside opinions…..even my own. 7/10
P.S. This review might be a little “everywhere”. There was just sooooooo much to talk about and I didn’t want to have you all reading forever so if there are specific things you all want to talk about then comment down below!
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