It’s been an interesting 2-3 years since the release of
Man of Steel. The first film polarized both critics and audiences alike; many of whom have carried mixed feelings going into
BvS. If you’ve been a regular on this site, you should know my stance on
Man of Steel, and so it should go without saying that I was going to be more critical than the average movie goer going in.
Even with my standards, it’s hard not to view
BvS as a massive disappointment. Not only does the film inherent the issues of
Man of Steel, but it also adds new issues.
Many people were excited when Chris Terrio (Argo, The Town) was brought on board as many assumed that the writing problems of the original were a result of David Goyer’s involvement. While I was partial to that idea, now I’m not too sure!
The main issue with
BvS is it’s writing. There’s poor characterization, massive plot holes, and pacing issues galore. While there are action set pieces, none really have any emotional weight to them, and for my issues with the writing, it’s also a reflection of the end product that this film is just plain dull! Considering that this is essentially the origin story for the Justice League, it’s nothing more than bland characters, bland dialogue, and bland motivations.
For many people watching the film with me (and to a certain extent, myself included) I was eagerly looking forward to seeing the Trinity battle Doomsday. I’m thinking, at the very least it would be a cool action set with these characters together finally. Unlike
The Avengers where there was this bombastic excitement to seeing the team together finally, I never got that. Doomsday looked terrible, and the characters never really do have this bond that forms. It actually felt more like three random strangers more than people bonding over this shared fight.
Speaking of villains, Doomsday is lackluster, as is Eisenberg’s Lex Luthor. While there are some interesting ideas behind Luthor’s world view, it’s never explained properly, and even worse, it’s muddled by poor attempts at humor. So whatever glimmer of characterization is there is muddled by ridiculous acting and writing.
Speaking of poor characterization, I still am not a fan of Cavill’s Superman. He still is brash, moronic, and naïve. There’s plenty of times the film makes fun of this as if it’s some sort of joke, but it’s kind of not. The film writes him into a corner and then mocks him. Like, what!?
I will say that probably the highlight of the film was Affleck’s Batman/Bruce Wayne. For once, I felt this analog for the conflict within Bruce. I learned to dislike him, sympathize with him, and even see his logic. All within two-and-a-half hours! Affleck will be hotly debated as to how good of a Batman he is, but he’s definitely up there for me. My only issue is that this Batman crosses lines that no other Batman would cross, and that’s something that bothered me immensely (I’m crossing my fingers it’s fixed in a solo Batman film)
Jeremy Irons was also a lot of fun as Alfred. If I had to wager, he’s probably my favorite Alfred thus far in terms of live-action.
Gal Gadot is OK in the few scenes she’s in; never really makes an impression either way.
All in all, this film is extremely inconsistent. There’s parts that work (Batman and Alfred) and everything else doesn’t work. I’m interested to see where Batman goes next in this universe, but I can’t say the same for Superman, Wonder Woman, or any of the other characters. This film took
Man of Steel and amplified what was wrong with that film, while adding Batman. I’ll say that before this film I was not interested in the DC Cinematic Universe, but seeing what was done with Batman, I now have a small glimmer of hope. Still doesn’t save this movie.
I award
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice…
300,000/1,000,000
Uncle Joey’s