"Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice" Movie Review

Before going to see this movie, I was well aware of the split between general audience members and critics in regards to "Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice". While it's been receiving low ratings on sites such as Rotten Tomatoes from critics at 29%, general viewers have been praising it, raising their initial ratings into the 70% bracket. 

While I am no comic nerd by any means, I am a fan of Batman. I've never owned a Batman comic in my life, nor have I read one; however I grew up watching Adam West's portrayal of the Caped Crusader, as well as watching Batman the Animated Series, and enjoying seeing Micheal Keaton bring the character to life in Batman and Batman Returns. I can also openly admit that when I was young, I enjoyed Batman Forever. I can't say the same about Batman and Robin; but that's another story entirely. The point is- I like me some Batman. 

I will admit that I was much more excited for the release of Suicide Squad in August, I was pretty interested to see Batman V. Superman- after all, this film in addition to Man of Steel, are basically laying all of the groundwork for the DCEU; with Aquaman, The Flash and others following this movie, there was a lot riding on it's success. The pressure was on. 

After sitting through this film, I can see why a lot of critics are panning it, however, I don't quite understand why they're giving it so low of a score, and that's something I don't say regularly. 

Here are my thoughts. 

I remember a few years ago when it was announced that Ben Affleck was cast to play Bruce Wayne/Batman for this movie. There was outrage, indignation, and general upset. And for all of the problems I felt this movie had, Affleck wasn't one of them; he was actually the best part of the movie. I actually really enjoyed his acting as the Dark Knight. DC movies/stories are sometimes hard to relate to, since all of the heroes are held at the utmost pinnacle of morality, but Batman has always been the one who was the most relate-able, at least in my eyes. He has a dark past, a lonely existence, and while he does try to do the best he can, sometimes he does make mistakes and he owns up to it, and works harder not to do it again. That was a quality of the character I was so glad to see they kept in this story, and Affleck really made you believe that he was that character. Frankly, I also feel that he did a much better job portraying Batman than Christian Bale did. That's my opinion and I'm sticking to it. 

Superman saves Lois [found on Google Images]

One thing I also heard people had a problem with in this movie was the fact that Batman was using guns and shooting people. As a reminder, Zach Snyder broke the DC "no-kill" rules in Man of Steel when Superman killed Zod, so that is something that seems to be continuing in these films. For me, however, it didn't really effect my view of the movie in any way. The movie also brought in these really weird dream sequences throughout the movie, and at times it almost felt like I was watching A Nightmare in Wayne Manor, as it was hard to tell when you were in a dream or in the present. These little sequences were a little unnecessary and could be taken completely out of the film and the story wouldn't have suffered from it. 

Henry Cavill as Superman gave another performance that was just like the performance he gave in Man of Steel; I didn't really care for that film, so I could have taken it or left it. However, compared to other cinematic Supermen, Cavill is holding his own. 

Gal Gadot who portrays Diana Prince/Wonder Woman was really fun to watch. The one gripe I had though, was I wish she had more screen time. 

Though I generally liked the heroes in this film, they're only as good as their villains. And to me, that is where this film hit a bit of a rough patch. When I learned that Jesse Eisenberg was cast as Superman's nemesis Lex Luthor; I generally like Eisenberg's work, so I was interested to see what he would do as this character. While I can say that he did give a great performance, I can't help but feel that he would make a much better Riddler than Lex Luthor. His character was quirky, twitchy and sinister, and I have always seen Lex Luthor as someone who was more serious, sophisticated and sinister. The studio took a risk in hiring him- while it may not have been the best casting decision, at least the performance was earnest. 

We're also introduced to Doomsday in this film, which upped the ante for the film. He really did add to the action in the film, and I thought it was a bold move to have him in here this early in the franchise. You Superman films out there should know what I'm talking about. 

The supporting cast was really enjoyable- I had no issues with any of their performances. Gold star everyone! 

Ben Affleck as Batman [found on Google Images]

I was a little worried to see this film; I honestly thought it was going to be another Transformers 4- way too much info crammed into the movie, too much destruction porn, and no convincing acting. While the length of the film was ridiculous (2 1/2 hours!!!), and there was a LOT of info, exposition and buildup, and also a ton of destruction porn, I'm happy to say I didn't find this movie anywhere NEAR as horrible as Transformers 4. Why? I honestly attribute it to the great casting. If it wasn't for a good cast of characters, even the weakest links; it was way better than Transformers 4. I've been nervous attending nerd-centered films for reasons like that, but this year so far I've been pleasantly surprised, and may actually try giving them a fair shot again. 

The only other issues I had with this film were: 

Shaky cam- I HATE SHAKY CAM; it's what I hated about Man of Steel, and this film is no different. Also, drowning everything in grey/blue filters could have probably been skipped, but that's just my personal opinion. 

This was a VERY serious movie; on the whole it made sense to be serious because of the story they built up through Bruce's eyes, but a little bit of lightening up wouldn't have hurt anything. While it was easy to connect with Bruce's struggle as well as parts of Clark's struggle, it really was lacking in any joy. The only scene where I felt any stab of levity was early in the
film in a scene between Lois and Clark. What made the first Avengers movie so enjoyable was while there was serious trouble throughout the movie, silver linings were aplenty, and when the team came together and won the fight there was just so much joy and excitement for that. In this film, while it was cool to see Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman come together for a common goal, it was just that; cool. It didn't leave the audience cheering like it did in the Avengers and I think that's where Marvel tops DC every time; there's just more happiness and excitement with the seriousness. 

I can see why critics don't think too fondly of it, however I do feel that 29% from Rotten Tomatoes is a bit exaggerated; I agree more with Metacritic and IMDB (Metacritic being the lowest score I would give this movie). I personally would put it somewhere in the 50%-70% bracket. 

Wonder Woman makes a brilliant entrance [found on Google Images]

Overall, it wasn't the worst film I've seen, but it also wasn't the best. If you're a fan of DC comics and heros, it may be worth seeing in theaters, but it would probably be a better rent from Redbox or DVD purchase. Having said that, I recently heard that in the wake of the negative reviews of Batman v. Superman, parts of Suicide Squad have gone back into editing to add more humor and to lighten the movie up a little more, because apparently it had the same amount of seriousness that this film had. I am a little worried now, but not enough to not go see it. The crew/writers/producers/director of Batman v. Superman are definitely learning from this release, and hopefully they can take these lessons forward in their new films.