Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice - Rewind Review #2 (Non-Spoiler/Spoiler)
Release date (US): March 20th, 2016
Directed By: Zach Snyder
Rating: PG-13
Starring: Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Jesse Eisenberg, Diane Lane, Amy Adams, Jeremy Irons, Gal Gadot, Laurnece Fishburne,
Blurb/Synopsis: It's been nearly two years since Superman's colossal battle with Zod devastated the city of Metropolis. The loss of life and collateral damage left many feeling angry and helpless, including crime-fighting billionaire Bruce Wayne. 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 launches his own crusade against the Man of Steel.
Expectations/Background: I saw Man of Steel, many years ago when it was released, and I was mildly impressed. That's the best way to put it. It was a good movie - but there was nothing in particular that stood out to me, and at times it bored me slightly. However, with the Comic-Con announcement that Batman would be facing off against the Man of Steel come 2016, my excitement levels went through the roof. Ben Affleck was announced as the Caped Crusader and the Internet lost their minds - but I stood pat. I waited to see official concept art or photos, and sure enough, they came. And he looked every bit like Batman as I had hoped (except in one picture where he looked like he was wearing five layers of fake padding...). And the first trailers, they looked great. Jesse Eisenberg threw me off very much, but I shrugged him off. This was going to be the fight of the century. In the back of my mind, I wondered how this movie would fare, seeing as this and Captain America: Civil War were to be released on the same date. Marvel had had a better track record than DC thus far, but soon enough, DC moved it off of the date to lat eMarch. And then the second trailer arrived. And my emotions went from pure excitement to mild confusion. Doomsday? Why Doomsday? And why reveal the Trinity in a trailer? It remained unclear to me. But I still went into the film hopeful that it would exceed my expectations after the disappointing second trailer.
The Movie: This is a rewind review, so I'm examining this film having first seen it over a year ago, but having recently rewatched it with a fresh new perspective. And to this day, I have no idea what to think about the film. Do I hate it? No I don't. Do I like it though? Absolutely not.
Positives: There are bright spots in this film. Ben Affleck as Batman - absolutely floored. This is the Batman that everyone has wanted to see for ages. The gritty, technologically advanced Bruce Wayne that is ruthless and driven. This is the Caped Crusader almost directly from the Dark Knight Returns.
As for Superman, I'll put him in the positives. He's fine. Nothing more or less than what I saw from him in Man of Steel. Henry Cavill puts in a performance that I certainly won't remember, but he fits the costume and the physique perfectly. And there are some bold and interesting plot choices and directions that they take the character, which I applaud them for. As for his supporting cast, Lois Lane and Perry White were both good as usual, being played by two stand-out actors. It's funny because whenever Fishburne came onscreen, I couldn't help but enjoy his character.
As usual, for a Zach Snyder film, this film looks beautiful. It has a great cinematography at times, and is shot very well. And the action is shot extremely well. You can see what's going on, and the action is gritty when it needs to be.
Going back to the characters for a second, I found for the first hour of the film, their motivations were very clearly hashed out, and I enjoyed that quite a bit. It was espcially clear after the opening sequence, which was done quite well.
Those were the positives...
Negatives: Going back to Batman, remember how I said that he was a great character? Save for one thing - he kills people. Ruthlessly. I know that his character is ruthless in the comic books, I do. But in the comics, he is also motivated not to kill because he knows that his ruthlessness is bordering good and evil. But in this film? No chance. If you stand in his way, you're dead. Which lead me to an interesting question. What stops him from killing the Joker? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. The only reason Joker is such a great villain to Batman is because Batman can't kill him because of how he doesn't kill and how Joker manipulates him, and Joker can't kill Batman because of how much physically stronger Batman is. But in this world? If Batman meets Joker and doesn't kill him, I don't know what to say.
This is a slight spoiler, so I'll save it for the end, but if you've seen the second trailer you know what I'm talking about. And it's bad. It's rushed, forced into the third act without any motivation behind it, and just sits there, like a splotch of black on a white canvas. It's very bad.
Let's also give some attention to Jesse Eisenberg's Lex Luthor. When I first heard he was going to be in this film, I said the same thing as I did about Affleck: "Let's give him a chance." And so I went into this film open minded. But boy, was I wrong. I can say, with conviction, I hated his performance. I don't want to dwell too much on his character, but I can say this (that summarizes my thoughts): Eisenberg's Luthor belongs more in the Christopher Reeve's campy, cheesy Superman than in this movie. Enough said.
This just all leads to my final point: while there are some great elements to the film, this film is a gigantic mess. It seriously is. It's a huge juggling act that lost its balance around the hour and a half mark and just plummeted from the tightrope into the end of the film. The way this film sets up other films is lazy, and contrived. The motivations are thrown out the window by the two hour mark. And the film just doesn't know what it wants to be.
Character Ranking
1. Batman
2. Alfred
3. Wonder Woman
4. Perry White
5. Superman
6. Lois Lane
7. Martha Kent
8. Lex Luthor
9. *Spoiler*
The Villain(s): You've basically heard my thoughts on the villains. Luthor is about as awful as it gets these days in comic book movies. I'd put him on par with Jamie Foxx's Electro. No, I'd put him below. Jamie Foxx was told to act like that and was given terrible dialogue. Jesse Eisenberg was given decent lines and delivered them like he was a ten year old child on a sugar high. And as for the *spoiler* villain that most of you know about, like I said, it's bad.
The Music/Score: I love Han Zimmer I really do. He has composed some amazing scores for some amazing films. But his collaboration with Junkie XL left me thinking, "What is going on?" When he hearkens back to Superman's theme from Man of Steel is when the music is at its best. But Batman's new theme is loud, over the top, and just insanely bad. It's a chorus singing the same note at 500 volume with a bass drum beating. It's so weird.
**READER DISCRETION ADVISED - SPOILER ALERT - IF YOU WANT TO AVOID SPOILERS SKIP TO "VERDICT"**
Spoilers: Doomsday is bad. Really bad. The way they shove him into the movie is just horrendous and the CGI blog that is Doomsday made me cringe when I first saw him. And going back to the whole "motivations changing" point, I hated how they did that. Batman has a clear motivation, which is good. Superman's motivation is that Batman is a vigilante that needs to be stopped. Great. But then Luthor captures Superman's mom and the entire plot goes out the window.
As for Wonder Woman she was fine. You know I love the solo film that she was in this year, but in BvS, she was just fine. Nothing really standout about her in this movie, and like a lot of other things, she was shoehorned into the film.
SPOILER ALERT OVER
The Verdict: This film is not good, and it is not awful. But it is right smack in-between, which frustrated me. It shouldn't have been like this - a film about Batman and Superman should have been an instant critical hit. But sadly, amidst a great performance by Ben Affleck and a great first act, the film sinks under its own weight and can't recover. Letter Grade: C. Number Score: 4.2
**IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER**: Letter grades and Number grades do not mean the same thing. Just because I give a film an A does not mean it gets a 9.5 or above. They do not line up like a traditional school grading system To see specifics, see below.
A- to A+: Amazing
B- to B+: Enjoyable, but Flawed
C- to C+: Redeemable in some cases, but heavily Flawed
D- to D+: Nothing but Flaws
F: A Failure of a Film
9-10: Nearly Perfect to Perfect
8-9: Very Good
7-8: Good
6-7: Okay
5-6: Average/Mediocre
4-5: Apparently Flawed
3-4: Heavily Flawed
2-3: A complete and utter mess
0-2: A Failure of a Film
Directed By: Zach Snyder
Rating: PG-13
Starring: Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Jesse Eisenberg, Diane Lane, Amy Adams, Jeremy Irons, Gal Gadot, Laurnece Fishburne,
Blurb/Synopsis: It's been nearly two years since Superman's colossal battle with Zod devastated the city of Metropolis. The loss of life and collateral damage left many feeling angry and helpless, including crime-fighting billionaire Bruce Wayne. 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 launches his own crusade against the Man of Steel.
Expectations/Background: I saw Man of Steel, many years ago when it was released, and I was mildly impressed. That's the best way to put it. It was a good movie - but there was nothing in particular that stood out to me, and at times it bored me slightly. However, with the Comic-Con announcement that Batman would be facing off against the Man of Steel come 2016, my excitement levels went through the roof. Ben Affleck was announced as the Caped Crusader and the Internet lost their minds - but I stood pat. I waited to see official concept art or photos, and sure enough, they came. And he looked every bit like Batman as I had hoped (except in one picture where he looked like he was wearing five layers of fake padding...). And the first trailers, they looked great. Jesse Eisenberg threw me off very much, but I shrugged him off. This was going to be the fight of the century. In the back of my mind, I wondered how this movie would fare, seeing as this and Captain America: Civil War were to be released on the same date. Marvel had had a better track record than DC thus far, but soon enough, DC moved it off of the date to lat eMarch. And then the second trailer arrived. And my emotions went from pure excitement to mild confusion. Doomsday? Why Doomsday? And why reveal the Trinity in a trailer? It remained unclear to me. But I still went into the film hopeful that it would exceed my expectations after the disappointing second trailer.
The Movie: This is a rewind review, so I'm examining this film having first seen it over a year ago, but having recently rewatched it with a fresh new perspective. And to this day, I have no idea what to think about the film. Do I hate it? No I don't. Do I like it though? Absolutely not.
Positives: There are bright spots in this film. Ben Affleck as Batman - absolutely floored. This is the Batman that everyone has wanted to see for ages. The gritty, technologically advanced Bruce Wayne that is ruthless and driven. This is the Caped Crusader almost directly from the Dark Knight Returns.
As for Superman, I'll put him in the positives. He's fine. Nothing more or less than what I saw from him in Man of Steel. Henry Cavill puts in a performance that I certainly won't remember, but he fits the costume and the physique perfectly. And there are some bold and interesting plot choices and directions that they take the character, which I applaud them for. As for his supporting cast, Lois Lane and Perry White were both good as usual, being played by two stand-out actors. It's funny because whenever Fishburne came onscreen, I couldn't help but enjoy his character.
As usual, for a Zach Snyder film, this film looks beautiful. It has a great cinematography at times, and is shot very well. And the action is shot extremely well. You can see what's going on, and the action is gritty when it needs to be.
Going back to the characters for a second, I found for the first hour of the film, their motivations were very clearly hashed out, and I enjoyed that quite a bit. It was espcially clear after the opening sequence, which was done quite well.
Those were the positives...
Negatives: Going back to Batman, remember how I said that he was a great character? Save for one thing - he kills people. Ruthlessly. I know that his character is ruthless in the comic books, I do. But in the comics, he is also motivated not to kill because he knows that his ruthlessness is bordering good and evil. But in this film? No chance. If you stand in his way, you're dead. Which lead me to an interesting question. What stops him from killing the Joker? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. The only reason Joker is such a great villain to Batman is because Batman can't kill him because of how he doesn't kill and how Joker manipulates him, and Joker can't kill Batman because of how much physically stronger Batman is. But in this world? If Batman meets Joker and doesn't kill him, I don't know what to say.
This is a slight spoiler, so I'll save it for the end, but if you've seen the second trailer you know what I'm talking about. And it's bad. It's rushed, forced into the third act without any motivation behind it, and just sits there, like a splotch of black on a white canvas. It's very bad.
Let's also give some attention to Jesse Eisenberg's Lex Luthor. When I first heard he was going to be in this film, I said the same thing as I did about Affleck: "Let's give him a chance." And so I went into this film open minded. But boy, was I wrong. I can say, with conviction, I hated his performance. I don't want to dwell too much on his character, but I can say this (that summarizes my thoughts): Eisenberg's Luthor belongs more in the Christopher Reeve's campy, cheesy Superman than in this movie. Enough said.
This just all leads to my final point: while there are some great elements to the film, this film is a gigantic mess. It seriously is. It's a huge juggling act that lost its balance around the hour and a half mark and just plummeted from the tightrope into the end of the film. The way this film sets up other films is lazy, and contrived. The motivations are thrown out the window by the two hour mark. And the film just doesn't know what it wants to be.
Character Ranking
1. Batman
2. Alfred
3. Wonder Woman
4. Perry White
5. Superman
6. Lois Lane
7. Martha Kent
8. Lex Luthor
9. *Spoiler*
The Villain(s): You've basically heard my thoughts on the villains. Luthor is about as awful as it gets these days in comic book movies. I'd put him on par with Jamie Foxx's Electro. No, I'd put him below. Jamie Foxx was told to act like that and was given terrible dialogue. Jesse Eisenberg was given decent lines and delivered them like he was a ten year old child on a sugar high. And as for the *spoiler* villain that most of you know about, like I said, it's bad.
The Music/Score: I love Han Zimmer I really do. He has composed some amazing scores for some amazing films. But his collaboration with Junkie XL left me thinking, "What is going on?" When he hearkens back to Superman's theme from Man of Steel is when the music is at its best. But Batman's new theme is loud, over the top, and just insanely bad. It's a chorus singing the same note at 500 volume with a bass drum beating. It's so weird.
**READER DISCRETION ADVISED - SPOILER ALERT - IF YOU WANT TO AVOID SPOILERS SKIP TO "VERDICT"**
Spoilers: Doomsday is bad. Really bad. The way they shove him into the movie is just horrendous and the CGI blog that is Doomsday made me cringe when I first saw him. And going back to the whole "motivations changing" point, I hated how they did that. Batman has a clear motivation, which is good. Superman's motivation is that Batman is a vigilante that needs to be stopped. Great. But then Luthor captures Superman's mom and the entire plot goes out the window.
As for Wonder Woman she was fine. You know I love the solo film that she was in this year, but in BvS, she was just fine. Nothing really standout about her in this movie, and like a lot of other things, she was shoehorned into the film.
SPOILER ALERT OVER
The Verdict: This film is not good, and it is not awful. But it is right smack in-between, which frustrated me. It shouldn't have been like this - a film about Batman and Superman should have been an instant critical hit. But sadly, amidst a great performance by Ben Affleck and a great first act, the film sinks under its own weight and can't recover. Letter Grade: C. Number Score: 4.2
**IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER**: Letter grades and Number grades do not mean the same thing. Just because I give a film an A does not mean it gets a 9.5 or above. They do not line up like a traditional school grading system To see specifics, see below.
A- to A+: Amazing
B- to B+: Enjoyable, but Flawed
C- to C+: Redeemable in some cases, but heavily Flawed
D- to D+: Nothing but Flaws
F: A Failure of a Film
9-10: Nearly Perfect to Perfect
8-9: Very Good
7-8: Good
6-7: Okay
5-6: Average/Mediocre
4-5: Apparently Flawed
3-4: Heavily Flawed
2-3: A complete and utter mess
0-2: A Failure of a Film
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