Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice – Review

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Movies, News, Review
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Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)
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INTRODUCTION

Fearing the actions of a god-like super hero left unchecked, Gotham City’s own formidable, forceful vigilante takes on Metropolis’s most revered, modern-day savior, while the world wrestles with what sort of hero it really needs. And with Batman and Superman at war with one another, a new threat quickly arises, putting mankind in greater danger than it’s ever known before.

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User Review
4.29 (21 votes)

DIRECTOR: Zack Snyder

WRITER: Chris Terrio

CAST:

Henry Cavill, Ben Affleck, Gal Gadot, Amy Adams, Diane Lane, Holly Hunter, Jeremy Irons, Jesse Eisenberg and Laurence Fishburne

REVIEW 

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is the film fans have waited for, for years. Not just counting from the moment it was officially announced over two years ago, but when fans were old enough to retain images in their heads of these characters.

Now after watching the film, it feels like a daydream, still very much in a daze. As I was fortunate to attended the IMAX fan screening (March 21st), which was filled to the brim, over 100 people were turned away from the showing I attended. With a full theater, the energy in the room was amazing to feed off of while viewing the film. Word of advice– watch this movie in a crowded theater or with a big group of people, it’ll works in your favor.

As soon as the Warner Bros. logo appeared on the screen the audiences went nuts, actually the audience went nuts during many key moments during the film, but the opening in itself set the tone of what we were getting ourselves into for the next 2 hours and 33 minutes, which for me didn’t feel remotely that long.

That’s how you know when I’ve enjoyed a film, when you can’t even feel the length of it and when it ends you’re saying to yourself afterwards: “That’s it?!”. When in reality you just sat in a theater for over two hours.

The dialogue and story structure didn’t feel like a standard comic book, yet the film felt like the pages of the comics were plastered on the screen. It felt very different in a way that was refreshing, but at the same time that might turn off the general audience who might enjoy the standard comic book film. But that’s pure speculation on my part.

That said, before going off listing what I enjoyed and didn’t care for in Batman v Superman, as my initial reaction to the film after watching it, I’m going to be completely transparent, I wasn’t and still am not a big fan of Man of Steel. Mainly due to the dialogue, pacing a handful of story elements that I simply didn’t care for. But that said, Man of Steel doesn’t define DC Comics for me, nor does it define the DC Extended Universe as a whole, and Batman v Superman ensured those sentiments.

Pros:

  • Ben Affleck as Batman and Bruce Wayne, any criticism he got will be wiped clean by many after watching the film, if not by everyone. At least by those who are actually familiar with the character of Batman/Bruce and won’t nitpick for the sake of it.
  • Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman and Diana Prince, like with Affleck, any criticism she’s received will be wiped clean by many after watching the film as well. The audience in my screening went nuts cheering when she appeared the screen as Wonder Woman.
  • Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor, personally wouldn’t be the Luthor I would had preferred to see on-screen, but in many ways it worked for this film in a very positive way, that even surprised me. Eisenberg was chilling as the character and had some of the best line of dialogue.
  • Henry Cavill as Superman and Clark Kent truly came into his own in this film as the character. Unlike with Man of Steel, which I felt numb towards Superman character, in this film as Superman had a handful of moments that truly made me sympathize over the situation he was in, which was played beautifully by Cavill.
  • Jeremy Irons as Alfred, hands down the character with the funniest lines in the film, he was the truly the comedic element a film like this needed to give a lightheartedness, among the heavy dark moments. The relationship between Alfred and Bruce also worked really well.
  • Amy Adams as Lois Lane in this film was a sigh of relief, as her placement in this film was much more organic in progressing the story and her dialogue which was a huge issue for me in Man of Steel, was greatly improved.
  • Laurence Fishburne as Perry White, was also a sigh of relief, as he was  forgettable character in Man of Steel. Meanwhile in this film he had some great moments as Perry White and exchanges with both Lois and Clark in the Daily Planet, that personally made me feel very nostalgic, as it reminded me so much of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.
  • The performances across the board were excellent, all the actors had a place and weren’t short changed on standing out for their craft.
  • The cameos of certain superheroes and characters were nicely done as well, even knowing they’ll eventually happen, it still left an impression when they finally appeared on-screen. There were at least two scenes that caused my jaw to drop and a foul word to come out of my mouth due to how the scene affected in a shocking way.
  • The cinematography by Larry Fong was excellent, felt very Watchmen like, which was a great improvement, of the shaky cam effect that was used in Man of Steel.
  • The overall story of the film worked and this is all thanks to Chris Terrio, who truly submitted a brilliant script for this film that left a lot for director Zack Snyder to bite into.

Cons:

  • One too many dream sequences, the first sequences worked really, really well, but then there was at least one that felt like overkill.
  • Lois Lane at one point felt like she was being shoe-horned into scenes towards the end of the film, much like she was in Man of Steel, for me personally. Humans with no real defense being put into scenes that are way too dangerous for them to exist in, is an issue for me, more so when it doesn’t feel like it’s greatly necessary for them to exist in them.
  • The reveal of Doomsday didn’t leave any real impression on me due it being spoiled for me by the second trailer. Desperately wished the unveiling of him was done while watching the film. The shock value of that would have been amazing!
  •  The destruction made me cringe at one point, more so after the events of Man of Steel and seeing something similar happen to Metropolis again in this film didn’t settle with me right, even though it was in a smaller scale, it still felt like a rehash.

Overall Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice was a positive movie experience for me, even though there was a standard that I held for it that may have led me to not care for aspects of it, a standard that I hold for every movie regardless if it’s DC or not.

That said, this is definitely a film that deserves a few more viewings, because so much takes place in the film (in a positive way), that I strongly believe with a few more viewings, it’ll only levitate the film.

Arelis
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