Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice Review

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is Zack Snyder's follow up to his controversial Superman flick, "Man of Steel". Let's just say this sequel

will be even controversial than its predecessor, from its quality to its comic faithfulness, someone will have something to say about this huge blockbuster.

I actually enjoyed Man of Steel and thought it was the first live action movie that captured just how badass Superman is, while it was CGI heavy and the story wasn't what was advertised, it was enjoyable nonetheless. More importantly it was a perfect start for the new DC Universe. And of course I was excited for Batman v Superman, the biggest thing ever in terms of a comic book movie. Sadly, sadly, Batman v Superman is an average blockbuster with glimpses of what could have been the most epic movie ever.

We have grown accustomed to expecting good entertaining films when it comes to comic book movies, with the likes of every Marvel/Disney movie, most of the X-Men flicks, The Dark Knight Trilogy, and most recently Deadpool. I would go as far as saying we are spoiled as fans. We expect a deeper story with emotional moments, filled with grand breathtaking action sequences. Batman v Superman tries to be all of the above and more, but it just wasn't up to the task. Before I go any further, I want to say I thought the movie was okay and want to watch a hundred more times. I mean, it's Batman fighting Superman! I just thought I was getting something completely different in terms of content and found the movie to be extremely average. SPOILERS AHEAD.

**SPOILERS**

Batman v Superman relies heavily on setting up the next thing, whether that is the next set piece or film. It never just tells the story that it should. You're dealing with the aftermath of Man of Steel and Superman fitting into the world, Bruce Wayne/Batman stuff, Wonder Woman, Lex Luthor, Lois Lane, and building the universe. There's just so many moving parts that's it's hard to even care about what's going on. The movie could be loads better if they just focus in on something. In fact, if Zack Snyder just focused in on Batman and Superman learning about each other and not seeing eye to eye, bringing about conflict, that would have been a much more personal and enjoyable story.

Instead we are left with a jumbled mess that tries so desperately to set up the next film. Wonder Woman has no purpose in the film other than saving Batman from a shoehorned in Doomsday and of course teasing fans of what's to come. There's literally a scene in the movie that has Wonder Woman clicking on four different links with convenient video footage of other Justice League members. The scene is pointless and does nothing for the plot. I just think they took the wrong direction with the movie and missed an opportunity to make a fantastic movie about to legends clashing.

Ben Affleck's Batman is certainly the star of the show here. He has the most to do and actually falls into the "versus" storyline, believing Superman is a threat. His Batman is bruting and just awesome to watch on the screen. Henry Cavill is more of the same as Superman and in the movie far less than Batman. He has a muddled storyline that tries to continue things from Man of Steel, but it feels so tacked on, that it just doesn't work. Lois Lane is the biggest crutch in the movie. She makes the film crawl to a complete halt when she is on the screen. Amy Adams isn't bad, she just isn't given anything interesting to do.

Lex Luthor is the biggest wildcard in the movie though. He is the main villain and is just a mixed bag. At some points Jesse Eisenberg plays the role really good, but most of the time he is a goofy cartoon character that completely throws the tone on it's side.

The action is the only fantastic part of this movie and sadly it's mostly in the last 45 minutes of the flick. Seeing Batman fight superman was truly great to see on screen. Batman fighting a warehouse of thugs is intense and satisfying. And seeing Trinity fight Doomsday together was a dream come true. The only thing bringing these moments back is the CGI, which is overused, especially in a chase scene involving the new batmobile.

The score is from Hans Zimmer and assisted by Junkie XL. I have to believe even through Zimmer's worse, he couldn't deliver some of the themes in this movie. Superman's themes are used straight from Man of Steel and are the best scores in the film. Lex Luthor and Wonder Woman on the other hand have the most distracting and actually bad scores. They don't work for the tone of the movie or any scene they appear in.

In the end there is a lot to be desired with Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Somehow I am still excited for Justice League though, with or without Snyder involved. I say that because I strongly believe Warner Brothers will consider removing Snyder from the director's chair after this movie is panned by critics. This is a fun superhero movie that has too much on it's plate for it's own good. Batman v Superman isn't the movie we wanted or deserved, but it's still a good time. I give it a 3 out of 5.

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