A Fitting Continuation to Man of Steel and the Dawn of a Cinematic Universe

Rating: 8/10 (23 March 2016)

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice has had its' fair share of scrutiny since it was first announced at the San Diego Comic Con in 2013. Originally scheduled for a 2015 release, was the movie worth the wait?
I was lucky enough to win tickets to a preview screening on Tuesday 22/03/16, two days before the official Australian release date. It has now been about 24 hours since I saw the movie and I spent that time letting what I had just witnessed sink in. Before I start, I must say that Zack Snyder has done it again on the visual side of things, once again proving that he is more than capable of filming beautiful movies.
Firstly, the story. As we were told in the trailers, the events of Man of Steel have finally caught up with Kal-El as the U.S Government doesn't know what to do with him as he has the potential to wipe out the entire human race. Meanwhile, Bruce Wayne, who by complete coincidence happens to be in Metropolis during the events of Man of Steel, sees Superman as a threat and decides that he needs to stop him in case he ever went rogue. And as a result of that, we have our movie. Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice. All of the promotional material hyped up the big fight that audiences would see unfold before them. God vs Man is what we were promised and God vs Man is what was delivered, and boy was it something. As a fan of the Arkahm series of video games it was thrilling to see the combat ripped straight out of the games. To see these titans go up against each other is something that comic book fans have waited for years to see. Sure, the trailers revealed that there is someone that would come in later to fight these titans but in that moment all you think about is the fight between Batman and Superman. And that is all I'll say about the story as the rest could be considered spoilers by some.
Secondly, the characters. When this movie was first announced, everyone was asking "Who will be the Batman?" When Warner Brothers revealed that it would be Ben Affleck, the internet ran wild with hate. But let me tell you, Affleck may just be the definitive cinematic Batman. He is everything that Batman should be; a brooding hero, a charismatic playboy, a dark knight. In my opinion, he was the stand-out of the movie. Henry Cavill has now settled into his role as the son of Krypton and delivers a great performance to oppose Affleck's Batman. It was overall a good continuation of his character. Other notable performances of the movie were Amy Adams as Lois Lane and Laurence Fishburne as Perry White. Gal Gadot is also in this movie and is good for what she had to do, which is gather interest for her solo movie coming next year. Besides the controversy that Affleck stirred up, the second most questioned casting was undoubtedly Jesse Eisenburg. He was a great character and great for the movie but not a great Lex Luthor. It seems that Eisenburg plays the same character in every movie. This is no different except for the fact that he had a more sinister role then what audiences are used to seeing him play.
Thirdly, my problems with the movie. The pacing of this movie was clunky at places and I felt that the movie was slow at times. There are also some cameos in the movie that feel forced in. They were good to see but also cheesy at parts. Besides that, there wasn't much wrong with this movie.
Overall, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice was well worth the wait and delivered. This movie will appeal to all hero loving audiences who want a fun way to kill two and a half hours of their time. This was a fitting continuation to Man of Steel and a good way to launch the DC Cinematic Universe. Watch out Marvel, DC is catching up!
8/10