I have kept up with this film since it was first announced and went in with an open mind. As I sat down in my local theater, I thought to myself "finally, something that is different in the superhero genre!" and after 2 and a half hours, I can say that unique doesn't always equate to good.
The Highlights:
Brutal Batman
Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne/Batman is one of the best highlights of the film. Using Frank Miller's "The Dark Knight Returns" for the source material we see a more brutal Batman, and at times, a very psychotic Batman. His fight scene against Lex Luthor's henchmen was one of the best Batman scenes of all time and what made it work for me is that it at the end of the day he's still just a man and that he won't fight 9 guys and not get touched. He will get punched, kicked, and stabbed, but that won't stop him from winning. Another thing I enjoyed was the back and forth between Bruce Wayne and Alfred Pennyworth (played by Jeremy Irons) which makes me genuinely excited for a solo Batman film.
Wonder Woman Wows
Wonder Woman (played by Gal Gadot) is shoehorned into the film there is no doubt about that, but it's one of the most successful shoe horns of all time. What I mean by that is her presence in the film isn't needed, but the film doesn't suffer from it and actually benefits the film greatly. Given her small amount of screen time, Gal Gadot made the best of every scene she was in and it paid off huge. Based on this performance alone, the hype for Wonder Woman has gone through the roof.
Lowlights:
Batman's Motivation
Even though Affleck pulls off Batman stunningly, there are still some issues I have. I enjoyed Batman's brutality, but I didn't buy into what drove him there in the first place. Yes you can
TELL me that the death of Robin was big for him and what drove him down this dark path but there is no emotional impact there. What makes Frank Miller's comic work, is that you have a ton of Batman & Robin stories from years past and you see their relationship build and grow. In this film it's all talk and no show. Also the big showdown between him and Superman was just bad. If Batman waited twenty whole seconds before going after Superman, you would have avoided the fight entirely as it came down to a misunderstanding. Hell, if Superman just pinned Batman down and said "Lex Luthor has my mother and I need your help stopping him" that would have saved them (and myself) twenty minutes. Also one last thing, shooting the tank of a flamethrower with Superman's mom 2 feet away? Really?
Supermeh
Henry Cavill's Superman is a piece of work isn't he? He literally
CAN'T stop killing people. Even after the backlash that was
Man of Steel this guy starts the movie off by plowing an African Warlord through 3 concrete walls at the speed of light. Then he flies home and tells his girlfriend Lois Lane (played by Amy Adams) that "he didn't kill those men". Along with questioning whether or not he should kill Batman this guy hasn't learned a thing in over a year since
Man of Steel and must have a super bloodlust. Another thing is the Superman had super little screen time which if I was a Superman fan I would be kind of upset that he takes a backseat in a movie that he's supposed to be front and center in. Also two films in and both Cavill and Adams have
ZERO chemistry with one another. Also nice try on convincing me the
ENITRE DOWNTOWN of Metropolis was cleared out because everyone got out of work by 5.
Editing/Snyder/Eisenberg
The editing for this film was very poor and there was little flow in the film. Scene transitions were abrupt (what's the deal with no establishing shots of Gotham?) and the pacing was pretty lackluster as there was little to no build up to the finale. Don't get me wrong, Zack Snyder is VERY good at visuals, which is why he can take a comic and bring it to life (I'm lookin at you Watchmen) but with this film, the story isn't a very good one as the story was made around these key comic panels from other stories. Using the "Dark Knight Returns" is one thing, but using "Death of Superman" as well? Cmon man you've got to be better than that. Not only did it waste a good story, but it had no build up so there was no pay off and before we can even mourn Superman he's already coming back to life. When Superman died in the comics he achieved so much, and has been through alot that when he dies, you can feel it because of all of the memories you created with this character. Cavill's Superman's legacy wasn't good enough to warrant the "Death of Superman" storyline. Also Eisenberg's Lex Luthor was laughable. I don't know if that was the intent or what, but it was laughable (The jollyrancher scene was hysterical). I mean he isn't what Lex Luthor is generally portrayed as, so I am just not as open to such a drastically different interpretation
as some of you may be. His motivation for why he hated Superman started off strong, and then soured in the end. He hated Superman because he's all powerful, yet he's genuinely excited Darkseid is on his way? Okay.
Bonus Letdowns
This portion will be very short but the "Knightmare" sequences along with the Justice League cameos should have been saved for another day as they didn't fit in the film. Those sequences would have been better used as extras on the Blu-Ray. The design for Flash should be thrown into the trash along with the guy who thought using Doomsday was a good idea. I wanted this movie and these characters to succeed, but it doesn't look like it will start with this film and that was a huge letdown for me. One las thing, Jimmy Olsen deserved better.
The Verdict
Don't let the "biggest opening for a superhero film ever!" fool you, because this film is not very good. However, if you're just looking to see two of your favorite superheroes on the big screen just punch each other, then this film may just be for you.