Not For Children!

Rating: 3/10 (5 November 2016)

First of all. Spoiler Alert. Do Not Read if you need to be surprised to enjoy a film.
Superman Dies. Granted it takes almost two long hours but the man of steel kills himself in the midst of epileptic blinding cgi explosions (i think no less than three nuclear bombs go off) to kill a big green monster that's half Jesse Eisenberg and half Michael Shannon so I guess it's an Unbreakable Irish Jew. The movie which was already about 20 minutes too long added another 20 in the aftermath of an unnecessary and unearned death of the title character. For nearly the first hour I loved it and my internal comic geek and film buff were rapt. But while early on there were some intelligent and beautiful visuals that honored the legacy of the characters after the first 40 minutes or so (much like Zack Snyder's Man of Steel) you feel the horrible notes of the studio forcing video game-like unrealistic and overlong action sequences designed to supposedly feed the already jello brained screen addicts in the audience. I think they may literally have jumped several sharks in the Batmobile sequences. You get nods back to character and story in the second and third hours of the movie but none woven into real satisfaction. Much like Man of Steel the actual casting and acting plays very well in moments. There is decent chemistry between all the actors and the dialogue is nicely crafted with the unfortunate exception of the very talented but strangely misguided or ill written Lex Luthor. Unless it was Jesse Eisenberg who felt the need to play Lex as the Joker or rather a generic loon instead of a megalomaniac/narcissist which would have been much more interesting coming from this actor. Perhaps it's all Snyder's fault and yet he's paid millions and millions and the movie still grossed almost a billion dollars. What is wrong with the folks at Warners Film when across the way Greg Berlanti is doing a better job of creating a DC universe on TV for less money? Sadly, Snyder is not at all Christoper Nolan who did such an extraordinary job with the Dark Knight series or even a Tim Burton. If he has a vision it's either being screwed with by the studio or it is a Lex Luthor like sabotage of the legacy and a cruel let down to anyone who grew up loving these characters in the many incarnations they have been previously given (yes even Clooney's attempt at camp). Finally and to my first point do not take a child under 12 or even let your child see it if he or she is sensitive. Maybe if your kid is a video game addict he or she is already desensitized to life and death and will be fine. But more likely your kid will lose interest in the first hour which plays best for an audience of continuing education film students or comic geeks who haven't showered for a few days. If you have a child who loves Batman and Superman stick to the Lego movies.