‘Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice’ Review: Well, At Least It Looks Pretty

'Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice'

Movie Rating:

2.5

After three years of studio hype and internet hate, ‘Batman v. Superman’ is finally here. Predictably, the first wave of reviews have been overwhelmingly harsh. However, for the most part, that reaction has been a little overblown. ‘Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice’ (just rolls off the tongue, don’t it?) is neither as good as the fanboys and fangirls might have hoped, nor as dire as internet pre-hate predicted.

In fact, chunks of the film (normally involving punching) are truly thrilling. The problems are those that have become obvious for anyone following the project. The thing is just too overstuffed and conceived by committee in an attempt to jump-start an entire universe worth of sequels. The movie is also impossibly earnest and serious for a flick that climaxes with multiple characters shooting lasers out of their faces. Surely there were better ways for the movie to be dark and self-aware, but we’ll never know. This is the ‘Batman v. Superman’ that we’re stuck with. At least it’s not a total failure, even if it’s far from a total success.

Things kick off with a retelling of Batman’s origin story, because you’ve never seen that in a motion picture before. Then we jump ahead to see Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) running around the wreckage of Metropolis from the ending of ‘Man of Steel‘. As a result of all those unnecessary deaths, Bruce isn’t too thrilled about this Superman character. In fact, he’s downright sceptical about having a being on the planet with so much power.

You know who else doesn’t care for that concept? Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg). He’s a youngster billionaire wiseass who has a big plan brewing in his brain about making Batman and Superman fight. (To be fair, the guy knows what we all want to see.)

Meanwhile, Clark Kent (Henry Cavill) is researching this Batman vigilante who beats the crap out of criminals in neighboring Gotham City. In fact, he’s starting to think that he might have to take a break from his globe-hopping and human-saving to punch a little sense into that Bat guy’s head. Oh boy! I smell a fight.

That’s the gist of the setup, but it’s barely scratching the surface of all the ground that Zack Snyder and his writers David Goyer and Chris Terrio need to cover. Also in the mix are a military conspiracy, an American government terrified by the existence of Superman, Luthor’s obsession with the corpse of Zod, the discovery of big chunks of kryptonite, Lois Lane (Amy Adams) getting up to all sorts of investigative reporting trouble, the mysteriously wondrous woman played by Gal Godot, and a bunch of pipe to lay for the upcoming ‘Justice League’ flicks.

That’s a whole lotta plot, and even at 2.5 hours the film can barely contain it all. It feels at least half an hour too long for a movie about a pair dudes in rubber suits bashing each other silly, and it lurches awkwardly from one overly serious sequence to the next. On a scene-by-scene basis, the movie flies by at a tight clip, but often while sacrificing logic, consistency and flow. The first 90 minutes or so just feel like a rush of stuff happening that’s only kind-of connected. Weirdly, Superman barely ever speaks even though he’s in the title and this is technically a ‘Man of Steel’ follow-up. I get that Batman is more popular and ‘Man of Steel’ is routinely mocked, but the last thing I expected I’d have to say about ‘Batman v. Superman’ is that there isn’t nearly enough Superman. Yet, here we are.

As for the big fight we’ve all been waiting for? It’s pretty “Meh.” The biggest moments are stolen right out of ‘The Dark Knight Returns’ graphic novel, but the overall fight is somehow less satisfying than the one that appeared in the recent direct-to-video animated adaptation of Frank Miller’s Batsterpiece. It’s also oddly too contained to a single location.

The main reason the fight is so lackluster is because the real climax comes when Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman team up to fight mutual foe Doomsday. Sadly, Doomsday looks like a cave troll from the ‘Harry Potter’ franchise. (Perhaps Warner Bros. also plans to combine these cinematic universes eventually?) Still, I can’t pretend it didn’t do my geeky heart good to see DC’s holy trinity together on the big screen for the first time. Gal Godot is also quite good in her role, even though she isn’t on screen that much and should have been kept out of the trailers for maximum impact.

For all Zack Snyder’s flaws as a storyteller, the guy knows how to craft pretty pictures and vast cinematic spectacle. The po-faced sincerity and heavy-handed “darkness” will get snickers at times (it was tough to keep a straight face when Superman walked into Congress in his silly suit and everything was treated ominously), but the smashy-smashy beat ’em ups deliver the goods on the big screen as well as any contemporary blockbuster. When Snyder’s cooking, he has a way of bringing splash panels to life that’s hugely effective (especially in IMAX), and that often makes up for the fact that you might not care why the big action scenes are even happening.

It also has to be said that Snyder and Ben Affleck have delivered a very satisfying Batman. This is the first time the character has felt fully at home as both Bruce Wayne and Batman (the playboy image came across as little more than a disguise in both the Burton and Nolan editions) and also the first time that Batman feels like a genuine threat and a beast when he fights. The costume isn’t too stiff to move and (unlike the Nolan trilogy) the film hasn’t been shot so that you can never quite see what Batman is doing. He’s a force to be reckoned with and master of misdirection in a manner that’s very amusing. Affleck even does a good job of portraying the depressed and damaged elder statesman Batman, enough so that a solo spinoff might actually be welcome. However, it must be noted that purists will be irritated by the sheer volumes of bullets Batman fires from a variety of vehicles and guns. Apparently this Batman is over that “no guns” policy and might even keep a NRA membership in his Bat-wallet.

There are certainly things to enjoy in ‘Batman v. Superman’ (although Eisenberg’s painfully over-the-top portrayal of Lex Luthor is NOT one of them). I’d imagine the tentpole will even match the studio’s high expectations at the box office based purely on the IMAX eye candy alone. However, the movie is deeply flawed on a variety of levels, and all of them are ones that most fans saw coming from miles away.

Batman aside, the DC characters are tough to do in live action because they were created so many years before the concept of psychological complexity in superheroes, and are very much the dated myths of another age. They’re both earnest and goofy in a manner that’s incredibly difficult to get right with actual human beings in the costumes. Zack Snyder’s “Darker is better” approach kind of works as a means of contemporizing things, but feels a little too one-note. That’s especially a problem when you consider this film as a pilot project for the studio’s entire DC Universe. It’s going to be tough to watch these things roll out one dour film at a time without Batman around to justify all the sadness.

Sigh… Why can’t we just be Super Friends?

What Did You Think of 'Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice'?

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105 comments

  1. Elizabeth

    Aaahhh…the smell of desperation.

    I think the poll should have options for waiting until Redbox and waiting for it to be added to Netflix. I have movie cash for $8 off a ticket for this movie but still have almost no interest in seeing it in a theater.

  2. Csm101

    Mr. Phil, was your screening in 2d or 3d? Did it have that same drab appearance as the first one? It doesn’t seem like it from the trailers, but then again most of the stuff I’ve seen takes place at night.

    I think I’m going tonight. My wife is picking up tickets this afternoon while I’m at work. I have the movie cash as well, which came with Gotham and The Flash season 1, which were very reasonably priced, but the movie cash validity starts March 25th. The reviews from my favorite sites haven’t been too encouraging so far, but I’m a strong believer in that one has to see this sort of spectacle (or trainwreck) for one’s self.

  3. Got tickets for tommorow afternoon. Batman is my all/time favorite comic book character and as such, I’m pretty much helpless to resist seeing a new Batman movie on the big screen. Personally,. I enjoy DC’s more serious approach to superhero films as opposed to Marvel’s light-hearted one. I enjoyed Man of Steel and thought the filmmakers had done a pretty good job of updating a character from the 1930’s for a contemporary audience. There are far worse ways to spend a friday afternoon than seeing this movie I’d bet, most likely worth the price of admission.

    • Csm101

      Chris,
      I love how you called this a new Batman movie, and not a Superman sequel.😂
      Maybe when the movie makes it to the home market Warner will pull a Live Die Repeat and call it, ‘Justice League Origins: Batman Begins Again’.

      • Lol, yeah no kiddin eh. Although it’s technically supposed to be a new superman movie, I’m guessing 75% of people or more are turning out to see bats. Hell his name even comes first in the title, how can we NOT call it the new Batman movie right?

      • Timcharger

        “Justice League Origins: Batman Begins Again”

        While I agree we’ve seen his origin story enough times,
        from Phil’s review, it sounds like it’s just the first 5
        minutes of the film.

  4. I don’t know if I even agree with this movie looking good. Snyder pushes up the camera into everyone’s noses and shakes it violently. This is a departure from his usual controlled step-back approach to filming action scenes. Never once does he decide to back up and take in any sort of coherent whole. The action scenes were messy and unmemorable.

    • I don’t think so. He’d have to make about 5 more of these, which I guess isn’t out of the realm of possibility. The problem is here he loses his aesthetic. What makes him interesting as a filmmaker (his visual acumen and understanding how to frame/diagram an action scene) is wholly lost.

      • It will be interesting to see the fan reaction over the weekend. Despite mostly negative reviews from critics, early buzz says audiences are overwhelming positive towards the film. If that turns out to be false and fans dislike it immensely, DC is put in an awkward position as Snyder is helming the JLA movie due out next November. Could they scrap him at this point or would they be forced stay the course?

        • Bolo

          These DC movies are too big to fail, too stubborn to succeed. It’s good news if you like them, because it seems that no amount of bad reviews, box office bombs, or chilly fan reception is going to cause them to waver from their approach.

    • Timcharger

      If you mean box office gross = loved by fans, okay.
      But there are more members in the Michael Bay
      hate club than any fan club of his.

      Whatever a critic’s opinion is of Snyder, it is clear
      that Snyder loves the source material. Snyder is a
      huge fan himself of the comics and the original
      works. Michael Bay was the bully that picked on
      those fan-nerds.

      • Yeah, what I meant was: fans who love Michael Bay fucking LOVE Michael Bay. When you meet someone who is a fan of his stuff they will argue with you so fervently and passionately in his defense you’d think they were in some kind of cult.

        I agree with you that the number of people who love his stuff as opposed to those who hate it is pretty skewed towards the negative side. For those who DO love the guy though, his movies are critic-proof. He’s sort of like The Nickelback of filmmakers.

    • CC

      Zack Snyder is loved by fans?!!!😆
      Not in the film circles I hang out in! (and they are unpretentious ones).
      He doesn’t fit the “loved by fans, hated by critics” category, because he splits fanboys pretty good.

  5. Timcharger

    Phil: “Frank Miller’s Batsterpiece.”

    While I agree that Miller’s Dark Knight Returns is a
    masterpiece, did you just invent this word play? If
    you did, it’s not a terrible pun, but speaking of a
    film (or film review) being overstuffed with too
    many references.

    • Timcharger

      I take it back. It’s a terrible pun.
      Batsterpiece sounds like what the costume
      designer calls the sock that’s stuffed down
      Batman’s pants to make him appear more
      manly. As a leading Presidential candidate
      says, to guarantee there’s no problem
      down there.

  6. Timcharger

    “The po-faced sincerity and heavy-handed “darkness” will get snickers at times…”

    That sentence gave me snickers. 🙂

    Thanks for throwing in a Phil easter egg.
    Did I win the the No-Prize?

    • Csm101

      Thanks for the trip down memory lane. 10 bucks says Freaky will be the first guy you see at the queue for the 6:00 screenings tonightwearing a Batman shirt.

    • David Staschke

      The only people who assumed Ben Affleck would make a terrible Batman/Bruce Wayne are people who don’t see a lot of movies or any good movies. My sister’s boyfriend said Affleck is a bad actor, so I asked:
      “Have you seen Hollywoodland?”
      Him: “No.”
      Me: “What about The Town?”
      Him: ‘No”
      Me: “Argo? State of Play? The Company Men?”
      Him: “No.”
      Me: “What have you see him in that makes you think he sucks?”
      Him: “Daredevil and Pearl Harbor”
      Me: “………… those were over a decade ago before he took his job seriously.”

    • I was concerned Affleck is too recognizable. He’s talented and can give a good performance, but no other actor who has played Batman prior to this has had Affleck-level of fame. Will I be able to suspend my disbelief and buy i to him being Batman? Never mind Bruce Wayne? (which is way harder because he’s not wearing a mask)…I hope so…

        • I’m not trying to be argumentative just for the sake of it, but I’ve heard people point to Keaton before as an example of why notoriety shouldn’t be a concern and I don’t think his fame was near the same level of Affleck’s when he was cast as Batman. He had appeared in a bunch of smaller films in the eighties but was still somewhat under the radar. Mr. Mom was released several years before Batman, and although Beetlejuice brought him increased fame he was still essentially wearing a costume the entire time.

          Affleck has been in the public eye for 15+ years, has won Oscars gor writing and directing etc. He’s probably one of the ten most famous people in Hollywood.

          I don’t mean to sound negative, I’m an optimist by nature and am really hoping to enjoy the movie. I just think Affleck was a pretty big risk to take with the part.

          • Beetlejuice was a pretty big hit movie, and Keaton was well known as a comedic actor. The amount of skepticism surrounding his casting was huge. People simply could not believe they were expected to take him seriously.

            For all the baggage that Affleck brings with him (and I agree that he brings plenty), at least he has a history of doing dramatic roles and starring in other tentpole blockbuster movies of this nature (Armageddon, Pearl Harbor).

          • Hmmmm that’s true…Keaton was mostly known for comedy. Like I said I hope it all works.

            Are you gonna try and catch this one in theatres Josh? Or wait for BD?

          • “Affleck has been in the public eye for 15+ years, has won Oscars gor writing and directing”

            Affleck is crying silent tears thanks to your statement. The Academy didn’t even nominate him as director.

          • He won an Oscar with Matt Damon for writing Good Will Hunting and Argo (which he directed) won best picture. He may not have won the best director Oscar that year but you get my point right?

      • David Staschke

        Now that’s argument that makes more sense to me. However, I don’t really follow celebrity gossip, who’s dating who in Hollywood, talk shows, or any of the other TMZ nonsense. So to me he’s just an actor. But I can definitely see how a lot of people feel like he’s too famous. Personally, I would’ve preferred a lesser known actor, but I’m OK with the choice they made because at least they got someone who knows how to act.

      • David Staschke

        I was very concerned about Gal Gadot’s acting ability, but from what I’ve been hearing, it seems like there’s nothing to worry about. I’ll find out for myself tonight at 9:30 in IMAX 2D. I’m so f’in glad my theater gave us a 2D option on their IMAX screen!

      • Todd A.

        George Clooney and (arguably) Val Kilmer were A-list “hot” actors at the time they were cast as Batman. Affleck’s has earned respectability over the years, but he’s not considered to be a hot property to headline a major blockbuster anymore the way Clooney and Kilmer were when they were cast. And Clooney was probably the most famous person in Hollywood when he was tapped to play Batman. The controversy with Keaton was he was a comedic actor and hadn’t done much of anything dramatic before Batman, but he certainly was on the rise going from modest hit in Mr. Mom to huge hit in Beetlejuice.

        • Uh, no. Clooney was not A-list material when he played Batman. He had one previous role under his belt, ‘From Dusk Till Dawn’. Clooney was a TV actor when he played Batman. Kilmer and Keaton were way more famous.

    • Timcharger

      “Alright, about 4 out of 10 of you, need to eat crow.
      Own up. Pay homage to Ben Batfleck.”

      Just watched the first minute of this Screen Junkies video:
      https://youtu.be/Yu8u65ZxlaE

      “Eat crow,” “Batfleck,” for the record I posted my comments
      6 hours before the Youtube video was released.

  7. Timcharger

    Phil: “will get snickers at times (it was tough to keep a straight face when Superman walked into Congress in his silly suit and everything was treated ominously)”

    That is not a fair complaint. Christopher Reeve
    walked into the White House, into the United
    Nations, and Reeve wore his underwear on the
    outside. If Cavill’s suit is silly, then you must
    have chuckled endlessly during Reeve’s films.

    A flying “god” walks into Phil’s house, and your
    reaction is to laugh at his robes and sandals?

    So you need Superman to put on a business
    suit to go to the Congress? I question your geek-
    credentials to be bothered by that.

    Seriously, wouldn’t Superman wearing a suit (a
    blue and red suit with a touch of yellow, right?),
    be much harder to keep a straight face?

    So your complaint is not just unfair, it’s the
    exact opposite.

    • Timcharger

      Seriously, wouldn’t Superman wearing a
      BUSINESS suit (a blue and red suit with a touch of
      yellow MAYBE A YELLOW TIE, right?), be much
      harder to keep a straight face?

      • NJScorpio

        I do very much like the idea of Superman dressing like a normal person…though it gets a bit too close to his Clark Kent “disguise”.

    • Phil

      Yeah but when Christopher Reeve did those things, we weren’t supposed to buy it as dark, super serious reality that Mom and Dad just won’t understand, man!

      • Timcharger

        Yeah, no one said Reeve’s Superman was dark.
        But his Superman suit was treated seriously when
        Reeves went to the White House or the United Nations.
        We didn’t laugh at that.

        There’s certain rules you have to accept when walking
        into superhero movies. Superman’s suit is iconic, if
        you can’t get over that and need to chuckle and mock
        his suit, your geek card is revoked.

        And let me understand your logic, because Superman
        is walking into the REVERED, HALLOWED HALLS OF
        CONGRESS?! He needs to be in formal attire? Jacket
        and tie? You know what our Congress is like now right?
        Superman should have worn his super boardshorts
        and super flip-flops instead.

  8. Timcharger

    Phil: “it must be noted that purists will be irritated by the sheer volumes of bullets Batman fires from a variety of vehicles and guns. Apparently this Batman is over that “no guns” policy and might even keep a NRA membership in his Bat-wallet.”

    Yeah, I’m interested in seeing Batman really rip
    apart some bad guys in a fury that comes from
    someone derived from darkness (v Superman
    gets his power from the sun), but it does bother
    me that the purist, no-murder policy is gone from
    this version.

    That scene in Dark Knight where the Joker “fights”
    Batman by simply standing in front of the Batpod,
    daring Batman to kill him, that was great. Or
    Batman Begins’ “I won’t kill you, but I don’t have
    to save you,” I gonna miss that Batman.

    Maybe the no-murder, no-guns policy really only
    applies to the marketable kingpins. Grunt
    henchmen, Batman’s gonna kill ya.

  9. Timcharger

    Phil: “Sigh… Why can’t we just be Super Friends?”

    Tell that to the generally hated first 2 Fantastic Four
    films. That embodied the super/fantastic friends
    approach.

    Super Friends is great, until you turned 10 years old.

    It’s fair to ask for more humor, a touch more light-
    heartedness. But Deadpool can be 100% satire and
    humor, Bats and Supes can’t do that. A Youtube
    parody clip, sure, I’m game. A Super Friends
    feature film? No thanks.

    Phil, you want Bond to be Kingsman’s silly. (And
    Kingsman’s great, if it’s Kingsman.) And now you
    want Batman and Superman to target a Super
    Friends’ 6, 8 year old demographic?

    • Phil

      Hey Tim, I’m not going to reply to all of your comments (because whew!), but obviously that was a joke to end the review. I recognize that Superfriends isn’t exactly a high watermark of quality.

      • Timcharger

        You ended your review in the context of
        complaining about the seriousness, the dark tone,
        and pivoted towards Super Friends. And Super
        Friends has the opposite jovial, sunny tone. But
        okay, it’s a joke, you say.

        But please do reply if you came up with
        “Batsterpiece?” If you found it, blame the source.
        If you made it up, own it. Own the terrible pun.
        🙂

  10. David Staschke

    How can a movie with “chunks that are truly thrilling” only get 2.5 stars? You how many movies have absolutely no thrills in them? I value thrills. #thrillsmatter

  11. Csm101

    Almost three years ago when I left the cinemas after watching Man of Steel, I thought it wasn’t perfect, but I was entertained and satisfied. Leaving the theater tonight after Batman v Superman was a very disappointing and unsatisfactory experience, even after tempering my expectations. I was afraid of this all along, but man was this ever a Batman movie. Superman totally takes the sidelines warming up the bench. Even Wonder Woman in the few minutes we get of her, manages to upstage Superman. I’ve definitely lost a lot of excitement for seeing Snyder’s justice league, I don’t think he’s the right guy for this. I don’t think he’s a bad director, but maybe he needs a break from the superhero genre. I enjoyed his Dawn of the Dead remake. Maybe he could do another horror flick. The 3d for this one was better than MOS.

    • Shannon Nutt

      Warners seems to have given up on making Superman popular again. Not only is he a co-star in what’s supposed to be “his” movie, but there’s no future Superman stand-alone films on the Warners’ movie slate either. 🙁

      Guess I’ll have to keep watching ‘Supergirl’ for my fix…she’s not the Man of Steel, but the closest Warners has come to getting that character right in recent memory. Superman isn’t supposed to be all dark and angst ridden – that’s Batman.

      • Csm101

        I didn’t know that Shannon, which is truly upsetting. If there’s one thing this movie made me do, is crave a proper Superman sequel. Cavill’s starting to grow on me and he deserves better.
        Affleck is going to be the Downey Jr. of the DC universe and hog up all the Justice League screen time. Maybe I should start watching Supergirl.

  12. Boston007

    Passing on this garbage. I thought casting Affleck for Batman was awful but as soon as I saw who they picked for Luthor AND how he acted in the trailers, it become clear this movie was going to be a stinker!

    Saw Deadpool last night in the theaters, I’ll see that again, a REAL comic book movie!

  13. Ralph Tricoche

    There is absolutely nothing wrong darker movies. I dont know where all the hate came from making your movie noir or “dark” and to use that as an example as to why the movie is not great smells of Marvel- love.
    I will agree its hard to make DC characters more contemporary but given that and understating this, then one must know what a monumental task it is to do.
    The film is well made and covers lots of ground. Zack knows his fans and knows how to make movies.
    Lets put things in perspective.
    What of Suicide Squad? that looks just as dark, even Wonder Woman. We cant all live in a Marvel Universe.
    Lets stop using “dark” as an excuse and talk about the movies faults not the aesthetic they chose to use.

    • Phil

      Nothing wrong with darkness. I love dark movies. Snyder’s approach is ponderously dour, which I don’t quite like with these characters (except Batman of course). They needn’t all be that way. If WB wants to get into the dark n’ R rated comic book movie business, they should be going through the Vertigo archives and adapting the books/characters designed to work that way. Give Guillermo Del Toro $150 million dollars to make a twisted blockbuster out of Alan Moore’s version of Swamp Thing and minds will be blown. Gothic Aquaman on the other hand, I could do without.

      • Guess it just depends on what you want to see, I’m actually all for the dark and serious tone they’ve went for, even with Superman, Superman is shown in these films as if he actually came down to planet earth in real life. People react to him in different ways, can you imagine what our world would do if someone like that came here and proved so many things wrong, religion would probably go out the window or it could become more of an issue for people, some look up to him as a god, others hate him and call him false…..its a completely new take, especially on the big screen for a hero like this and I personally love it. I like what they are doing with all of their planned characters so far, Aquaman has always been pretty stupid, bright orange and bright green, so they’ve decided to take him in a different direction and I’m all for it, somethings I just dont want to see on the big screen, in cartoon form, fine…..its like the original X-Men and Wolverines comment on yellow spandex, it would have been extremely dumb to see up there and I’m glad they didnt do it, even in 2000, even Marvel with their lighter tone has made much more realistic versions of their characters and much better costumes and I watch Marvel for the FUN Super Hero movies, even Civil War, which looks very serious, will probably be loaded with some great comedy, DC isnt going that route for the most part and I’m down with it 🙂

        Seeing this in a few hours from now, cant wait 🙂

      • I agree Phil, the DC vertigo archives are an untapped gold mine of story ideas for feature films. And with the exception of Constantine, I’m not sure if any of them have been made into films. There is a Preacher tv series coming to AMC though. Hopefully it’ll be a huge hit like The Walking Dead and the value of all my preacher comics will spike in value…here’s hopin’…

  14. I hate to say it, but I don’t really think the movie worked. I’m ok with dark, but this was almost completely devoid of fun of any kind. Strangely enough, the batman sequences are the weakest parts. The superman stuff was pretty good and Wonder Woman was the lone bright spot. Overall my fears were realized, Affleck is too well-known to pass himself off as batman and Snyder’s approach is just too damn grim for these types of movies. Ironically the biggest thing it accomplishes is demonstrate what an amazing job Christopher Nolan did with his trilogy. I can only hope JLA is at least slightly better.

    • Completely disagree here, the tone of the film is serious and dramatic, I have no idea why people keep complaining about it not being FUN enough, Marvel is doing fun, DC isnt….its not the end of the world, not once did I think the film was TOO dark or TOO brooding, it was a serious drama with super heroes in it. Affleck was awesome and honestly, he’s the best Batman to date, his action scenes were spectacular and some of the best on screen Batman action that we’ve ever seen, none of Nolan’s you cant see me and bad fight choreography or Bale’s smoker Batman voice, this was Batman the way he was supposed to be, smart, relentless, using many gadgets, traps, just so much better than anything we’ve gotten before. Sorry but I’m all invested in Batfleck, I really hope he gets his own solo movie out of this now and hate to say it, but you’re in the minority on this view, he’s seen as the best part from most people that have seen the film.

      I was extremely happy with this movie overall, had some weird cuts and edits and they did cram in maybe a bit too much, but I think that 3 hour Directors Cut will help make that flow better, some great surprises and setups for future films and I cant wait to see what DC is going to do next, after only two films, I’m as invested in what they are going to do as I am with Marvel and thats a major feat. IMO, Snyder did a great job with what he HAD to bring to the theater, highly impressed and I’m happy to get a more realistic and serious more dramatic take on DCs super heroes, their latest batch of cartoon movies have been this way too, much more mature with violence and language and serious story lines, really glad the movies are doing the same and something DIFFERENT from Marvel 🙂

      • Chaz, when I say “fun” I don’t mean that I want the material to be presented the same way as Marvel, I just mean that there should be some level of enjoyment. It’s just a superhero movie after all, not a holocaust documentary. Batman Begins was dark and took the material seriously, and it was still a hell of a lot of fun at the same time. That’t the difference between Nolan and Snyder I guess.

        I don’t get why people are going ape-shit over bat-fleck. As Bruce Wayne he was no better than Bale, and as Batman he was passable
        but I wouldn’t say anything special. That oversized mech-batsuit they put him in to fighy Supes looked sill as hell. The best action sequence in the film is when he takes on a whole room full of
        Russian mercenaries in that warehouse. That’s the Batman I know and love, I’m just said it was such a short scene in the movie. Like I feared, Affleck is just too damn famous to convincingly play the part, he should never have been cast in the first place.

        • Ryan

          I don’t understand any of the people who pull the “it isn’t fun” card. How isn’t it fun to see this awesome heroes on screen finally? yes THEY act very serious…so what? it’s an amazing spectacle and VERY fun for me watching!

          Hell, Wonder Woman’s entrance into the fight was fun enough to make me forget about every Marvel movie not called Guardians

        • Shane B

          No better then Bale as Batman? In this version Batman was actually like he is in the comics. The Dark Knight Detective. He didn’t have a Lucius Fox to help him solve most of his problems or build his gadgets. I always felt he didn’t do enough problem solving on his own in the Nolan films.
          His portrayal as Bruce Wayne was spot on. He’s older more cynical and just tired of all the BS criminals. He’s womanizing and even cocky and doesn’t come off like he’s pretending to be as Bale has done in the past films. This is the Batman from Frank Miller’s books. Read them and you’ll see where Batman gets his silly as you say mechsuit. Which was awesome to see finally in live action. I don’t get the hate for this film. Yes he did try to put a few different comic story lines together all in one movie but I didn’t mind that. I’ve loved comics as long as I can remember and loved seeing how all these stories are now being told.

          • I don’t know what’s happened and why people are declaring Affleck the best Batman ever. Strictly from a costume standpoint, Bale’s Batsuit was waaaaaayyyyy fuckin cooler. And I get that they took the mech-suit from TDKR, some things work better on the page than they do on a movie screen (hell I always thought it looked kinda silly in the comic even). Shit even Tim Burton’s Batman had a cooler costume….I don’t get it at all.

            As far as collaborating with Lucius, it honestly never really bothered me, but I guess I could see how it might annoy some.

  15. Shannon Nutt

    I finally saw this today.

    I expected to hate it – I did not. Actually, I liked it quite a bit. It’s not “great”, but it is good – heck, edit about 30 minutes out of this (just trimming down some of the fight sequences would accomplish that) and it would be really good.

    The movie really doesn’t need Wonder Woman at all, but I didn’t mind finally seeing the character on screen. There’s also a little TOO much Batman and TOO LITTLE Superman – but the film does seem very much like the ‘Man of Steel’ sequel it was always intended to be.

    But there’s much more good here than bad – I think the big fights at the end are probably the least entertaining parts of the movie, which may be why so many critics are panning the film. But the first hour is pretty darn good, and dare I say the first 20 minutes is fantastic. The movie’s biggest flaws could have/should have been fixed in the editing room – I’d love to see a two-hour cut of this that trimmed down/tighted up many of the scenes.

    • I agree the opening sequence is killer, the whole Metropolis being destroyed felt dangerous and the fear of the people onscreen was palpable. Credit where credit is due.

  16. Ryan

    I actually really liked it, maybe even loved it.
    Two things up front….1) Man of Steel IS my favorite modern super hero film (TDK being a close second). and 2) I avoided all the trailers, so EVERYTHING was a surprise.

    I get that there are plenty of things you can nitpick in the film, but if you can show a superhero film that you can’t tear apart fairly easily (just go to CinemaSins for proof on that one) I’d be shocked. I loved Superman’s arc (but I’m worried how they’ll write their way out of his ending….moreso for Clark’s story). Batman was actually pretty awesome. Wonder Woman was just so freaking cool…I loved her! She stole the show in the end.

    I need to see it again before I make a final judgement, but I walked into the theater expecting a major letdown….and left it extremely happy.

    BEST: Wonder Woman (I have heard some people hated her theme and thought it was cheesy…but I loved it!).
    WORST: Aquaman!
    HMMMMM?: Why did Superman call his mother Martha? Need to rewatch, but I think there was a better way to bring those two together

  17. Charles M

    Marvel made the exact same mistake as this film early in their franchise. Remember Iron Man 2? It has almost the exact same problem as BvS.

      • Ryan

        Yeah, I also like Iron Man 2 (even more than part 3). Except for the ending where the shattered glass ceiling literally would have killed 100s of people….yet no one really cares in the movie. (side note…i don’t remember any critics crying about either…but I guess Marvel gets a pass that DC doesn’t because they are…FUN. ugh)

  18. William Henley

    Normally, I would have seen this on Friday or Saturday, but its Easter weekend, we had church, my mom was in town, we had family get togethers…. But that is okay, my job is sending the entire IT department to see it Tuesday

    • William Henley

      Well, I guess I won’t be seeing it Tuesday – I messed up my back really bad, and have an appointment with my doctor during that time.

      However, I am looking at maybe on my offday going and seeing it at the AMC Prime with Dolby Vision theater near me.

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