Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) ★★☆☆☆

And we thought Man of Steel was a mediocre superhero film… 

Directed by Zack Snyder, the film centrals on Superman’s (Henry Cavill) battle against General Zod (Michael Shannon). Batman (Ben Affleck) soon decides to take on the Man of Steel himself, killing lots of innocent people in the process. With Batman and Superman fighting each other, a new threat, Doomsday, is created by Lex Luthor.

Considering the hype was building for quite some time, you’d think that after several script re-writes and having been pushed back a year, that Batman V Superman would not disappoint. Instead, it’s filled tight with B-plots, side characters, and violence without explanation, proving to be too heavy-handed. The narrative serves as a huge downfall of the film; it’s complexity simply becomes too much, resulting in a dull storyline and confusion.And for those of you who liked the many building collisions in Man of Steel? Well, you’re in for a treat, as there’s plenty more of that here!! Not to mention its sloppy ending…Audiences also expect this film to be action-packed, and considering its genre, this aspect was also disappointing. As for the long awaited fight between the two; it is over and done with in less than 5 minutes. Considering the build-up, it was as exciting as watching paint dry.

Another fault is the editing – the jump cuts in particular were frustrating – one second we’re viewing an action scene, the next minute, we’re faced with a slow romantic scene. This resulted in the film feeling all the more unprofessional and just an overall mess. Though his performance wasn’t anything special, Ben Affleck should not be blamed for Batman v. Superman’s failure. This film suffers due to a poor script and direction. Perhaps with a better script, we could have seen more to his character. Henry Cavill is good as Superman/Clark Kent, but once again, his appearance prevails his acting. However, this film centrals more on Batman than Superman. As for Jesse Eisenberg’s portrayal of Lex Luthor – he did a decent job, bringing eccentricity to a dreary picture.

What an incoherent mess! Considering Batman and Superman are two of the most iconic comic book heroes to date, this film doesn’t pay homage to them, but results in an embarrassing representation of the two. Fancy seeing Batman at his best? Watch the 1989 classic, or The Dark Knight, you won’t regret it. As for Superman, the classics are your best bet. Don’t waste your precious money on this, it’s merely an avalanche of CGI.

 

20 thoughts on “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) ★★☆☆☆

  1. Thanks for this review. Couldn’t agree more. CGI avalanche, choppy scenes and more about Batman than Superman. For some reason, I felt that the story did not justify Batman’s hatred. He was just bored and looking for a new enemy. He, of all people should have been able to associate with Superman and the fact that a certain section of the population WILL hate a superhero. He’s been in the same boat himself. Also, I kept comparing BvS to The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises. The Joker and Bane we such well developed characters compared to Lex Luther. Couldn’t not get myself to comapre it to the Man of Steel because I felt both fell in the same ‘watch it forget it’ category. Not sure how the DC comic movie franchise will recover from this. I heard they have more than 2 movies planned already. Ouch!

    Liked by 1 person

    • No worries at all. And Thank You! It most certainly didn’t justify Batman’s hatred – another narrative fall. I agree, The Dark Knight was very well done, exactly how a film should be executed. Tell me about it…Affleck has already been confirmed to direct and star in his own Batman movie. I dread to even think…

      Like

  2. It’s amazing! I mean your review not Movie! Your review is Honest as well as spoiler-free.
    As I said in my review, I wanted to love it, but I cannot! I also agree with you about The Dark Knight, For me The Dark Knight is best and classic superhero movie!
    I also recommend you to watch “Concussion(2015)”, I would like to see your review on it.

    Liked by 1 person

  3. I didn’t mind it. It delivered what you’d expect but not much more. I definitely agree that it’s confusing and has a poor script. It falls apart if you think about it too much, but it’s hardly the first comic book movie to suffer from that flaw!

    Liked by 1 person

  4. You echoed my thoughts precisely. I love Batman as a character, but this was so much of a letdown that I almost regret seeing it. Great work, Georgina!

    Liked by 1 person

  5. Personally I thought the film was fine, didn’t love it didn’t hate it. I think the biggest problem was trying to put far too much into the film, that left storylines half developed or, in the case of Wonder Woman (who I loved), completely unjustified as to why she was there. Completely agree about the editing, the first 2 thirds or so and so poorly put together. But I actually think that the future DC films without Snyder at the helm will be better, I’m hugely excited for Wonder Woman and James Wan’s Aquaman. But nothing has me more hyped than Ben Affleck, who I thought may well have been the best live action batman ever (all be it in a mediocre film) directing a stand alone batman film. His record as a director, and his and Jeremy Iron’s work in this film are great, so I’m looking forward to that.

    Like

  6. I agree with almost all of your criticisms…yet saw past them and enjoyed the film! Probably wouldn’t on second viewing, though.
    Also, accidentally unfollowed you, but I can’t seem to follow back…So will follow you as soon as I am able to! Sorry!

    Liked by 1 person

  7. I too felt the length was a bit much and it just seemed they tried to pack too much into it. As in my review, I thought the Wonder Woman character was rushed and there didn’t appear to be sufficient enough reason for her existence in the film. Nice review.

    Liked by 1 person

  8. Pingback: Top Ten: Worst Films of 2016 | Film Reviews

Leave a Reply!

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out /  Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out /  Change )

Connecting to %s