Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) (Theatrical Cut) - Film Review

Review:

*Originally written on March 25th, 2016*

Well, here we are, after years of waiting, so much hype, so much backlash and some mixed trailers, the movie fight of the century is here, and it's just OK? It's sure looking to be the most divisive and polarizing film of the year, which is completely well founded. Batman v Superman is entertaining, it even has moments of greatness, but is just far too packed with too much for it to be a great film.

After the events of Man of Steel, mankind is divided by the presence of Superman, many see him to be a hero and a god, others see him as a threat to humanity. Batman is one of those people who thinks he must be stopped, leading to a face off between the two.

Where do I begin with this? The biggest problem is just how stuffed with characters and plots in such a short runtime. It reeked of studio interference. So much could have been trimmed and cut, but was instead kept in because DC are desperately trying to catch up with Marvel, so they can build their own superhero universe and eventually their Justice League film.

Batman and Superman facing off

It doesn't make for great storytelling. There is so much rammed in here that it just seems to jump from scene to scene without any real sense of pace. It was entertaining, don't get me wrong, but a lot of it feels like they were going through a checklist of stuff they needed to add to hint at the wider canon. Far too much dream sequence stuff too, there was some cool visuals, but urgh, it just took away from the film.

I will say I loved the elements of trying to show the fallout of Man of Steel's events. And it even goes into the morality side of being a hero. That has always seemed to be DC's thing, looking at the more mature and adult themes of superhero ethics. Which I love and appreciate, it even made for a compelling first half before it degraded into CGI bombast.

It terms of good. Ben Affleck absolutely killed it as Bruce Wayne and Batman, everyone who complained about his casting must feel embarrassed now. I wouldn't say he was better than Bale, but there certainly is potential and I cannot wait to see what they do with his solo films. His action felt more smooth and Nolan's films and looked inspired by the 'Arkham' game series, which isn't a bad thing. Also, a Batman that killed. THANK YOU, I have been waiting to see Batman do this for so long, I know he has before in previous films, but here it is embraced, he shoots, breaks necks and blows up criminals. Loved the no half measures approach.

Then on the other hand we had Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor, who was woefully miscast. He completely hams it up, playing that utter genius psycho with some kind of asperger's. He felt like something from a completely different film. Saying that, he is still the best villain of the film, the final boss of the film (yes, the one that was spoiled in the trailers) is just a generic CGI abomination that looked like utter wank.

Jesse Eisenberg hamming it up as an awful Lex Luthor

Henry Cavill is reliable as he was in Man of Steel. He's pretty wizard and a great Superman, he's good as Clark Kent too, but I find it funny that he's terrible at being a journalist, although it makes sense. I liked seeing a Superman with remorse for some of the things he was inadvertently responsible for. Again, a Superman that kills, fantastic.

The action scenes suffer from the same problems of Man of Steel, it just eventually succumbs into a bombastic CGI fest that just feels plastic and looks fake. The titular fight between the two leads is also pretty disappointing and one sided. Snyder once again delivers some gorgeous visuals that look really nice despite the dark cinematography. I did really love Hans Zimmer and Junkie XL's score, which was awesome and epic.

With not a lot of screen time, Gal Gadot left a decent impact as Wonder Woman, she showed a lot more acting chops than the Fast and Furious series managed to let her. I just got a lot more interested in her solo film.

Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman

So yeah, that was Batman v Superman, a messy, but entertaining watch, it's stylish and has a bit going for it, it's just a shame that is was so packed with so much forced side plots and characters in order to build a world, as there could have been a much better and focused film underneath.

6/10 Dans

Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice is out now on 4K UHD, Blu-ray and DVD now in the UK
Watch the trailer below:

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