Review Tuesday: BATMAN v SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE [2016]

Before the next glut of blockbuster films come out, I should finally get around to discussing the the ones from 2016.

BATMAN v SUPERMAN

DAWN OF JUSTICE

A masked vigilante doesn't trust another vigilante endowed with super powers.

When Christopher Nolan decided to bring his BATMAN Trilogy to the big screens he chose to base them on some well known story lines. The logical conclusion was THE DARK KNIGHT, as Batmen comes out of retirement to overcome a foe who would destroy his beloved city. However, in the original comic book version, Batman had to fight Superman to the death in order to make his escape to obscurity. Somehow, the writers of BATMAN vs. SUPERMAN thought this concept would make a better introduction for the two legendary heroes. 

I don't mind if movie studios do not keep 100% to the source material. It's film and you can have all the artistic liberty you want, as long as the basic concepts are left, relatively, intact. Therefore, the concepts in this movie weren't too bad. The execution, however, contained the problems. 

Let's go over some of the problems. 

A good super hero movie needs a good villain. Lex Luthor has always been an evil force to be reckoned with, so choosing him for this movie was a good choice. Selecting Jesse Eisenberg for the role was a terrible idea. He just doesn't ever deliver the goods. He doesn't seem formidable, he doesn't seem clever, he just comes across as an annoying brat. 

Ben Affleck is the worst Batman of all time. He's the bigger, bulkier Batman from the DARK KNIGHT comics, but doesn't come off as intimidating. His acting is awful. When he figured out that Diana Prince was likely at least a century old, they close-up on him making goofy faces. Isn't Batman supposed to be a great detective? Figuring out a mystery like that wouldn't force him to make faces like he's suffering from severe constipation. He made plenty of goofy faces during the movie. They made fun of Christian Bale's Batman for grunting and speaking in a changed voice, but when Affleck did EXACTLY THE SAME THING no one brought it up. 

BAT-CEPTION? There were some really cool looking scenes in the trailers, but they were all long-winded Batman dream sequences. One was a dream within a dream.  These scenes had no bearing on the movie at, essentially throw away action sequences. Worthless and annoying. 

MARTHA?!?! Are you fucking kidding me?!?!

I didn't have a problem with Henry Cavill as Superman. He was pretty good, but was so serious for all of his on-screen time, even when taking a bath with his Lois Lane (Amy Adams). He couldn't crack a smile for that?

I was okay with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle that evolved into Doomsday. The way they showed it happening and the battle was pretty good. 

Wonder Woman was possibly the best part of the film. Gal Gadot is PERFECT as Wonder Woman. Being Israeli, she was that Mediterranean / Persian look that finally made the character look GREEK on screen, like she should! Add that she has a nearly six foot frame and she truly seems like an Amazon towering over most people. I wonder if her character was so good because she had so little screen time? At nearly three hours of BvS, Wonder Woman / Diana Prince was hardly on, but when she was she was used to her fullest potential.

All in all I would call this movie mediocre at best. If you have three hours that you need to do something and would like a movie to play in the background, this might not be too offensive. Otherwise, I would suggest that you should be prepared for disappointment.

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