The Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice Review

I must admit, I am a little late in watching this film. I was not a fan of Man of Steel so I was not in a rush to get to the movie theater to see this one for I was afraid that it was going to be a jumbled mess moving at nauseating speeds while at the same time dragging for more than 2 and a half hours, and I was right.

Director Zack Snyder continues to prove that he is a one hit wonder with his only good film 300, as he manages to insult us with this sad excuse of a movie. It was mash up of dark images not telling a compelling or cohesive story what-so-ever, managing to keep us confused and bored at the same time. Every character has questionable actions despite the fact that they are portrayed as smart people. There is no real point in the end for our two main characters to fight. It was a marketing gimmick to get fans excited while they picked our wallets. When we do get to the final showdown, I was hoping for an amazing spectacle despite the fact that there was no real reason for it, and it was a let down in that sense too. Batman and Superman awkwardly exchange punches in a dull, uninteresting, dimly lit scene without any emotion neither conveying fun, or sadness that our two heroes are fighting. The filmmakers tried to incorporate complex, and politic themes into a superhero movie that made it dreary and bland. In an age when we are trying to get as far away as we can from the kid friendly superhero movies of the past, we have now gone to the extreme end of the spectrum instead of finding a balance in-between.

Ben Affleck plays the most violent Batman in film history. His character, Bruce Wayne fears Superman and the destruction he could cause if he were to turn on planet earth. Understandable. What would the implications be of an all powerful alien living among us? But when Bruce starts to investigate a more suspicious character in Lex Luther played by, Jesse Esienberg, who is immediately portrayed as evil instead of letting his personality unfold in dramatic fashion, Bruce Wayne casts all his suspicions, and investigating aside to kill Superman, although not realizing that his alter-ego in Batman is also causing the same destruction and fear. Clark Kent on the other hand, played by, Henry Cavill is not to happy with Batman thinking he's above the law stating that civil liberties are being trampled over in Gotham City. Yet he also fails to realize that he is doing THE EXACT SAME THING as Batman! These two heroes from the start should have said, "Hey, we're the same. I have a suspicion of Lex Luthor. Lets go see what he is up too." Instead the screenwriters are just trying to figure out ways to make these two figures fight one another that they try to distract you with pointless sub-plots, political hearings, and theological discussions to make up for the lack of story. Warner Brothers even came out before the movie was released and said, "We believe the film may be too complex for some viewers." Most people were insulted thinking the studio was trying to say we were too dumb, but I feel they were trying to warn us. I think they were trying to say, "This is a convoluted mess."

Then, in an attempt to form the Justice League to catch up to Marvel Studios, this movie shoves, Wonder Woman, and footage of Aqua Man, The Flash, and Cyborg into this film. We are also treated multiple villains, Lex Luthor, his mutated creation, Doomsday, a mercenary, and even Batman and Superman act like antagonist to each other. It was all over the place.

I am still curious where the DC universe goes from here. The Suicide Squad film looks promising, and Wonder Woman looks fun. As far as Zack Snyder returning to write and direct I say, NO! The few best parts of this movie was Ben Affleck as Batman, and I have high hopes for his solo movie even though I shouldn't. Marvel is leading by a mile, and I just don't think DC can catch up at this point.