The Start of Something

Rating: 6/10 (21 June 2016)

Arguably one of the most anticipated blockbusters of the decade, Zack Snyder's Batman vs Superman (2016) had a lot to live up to, for fans and critics alike. The first two thirds of the film are strong which is mostly due to the interesting subplots involving Scoot McNairy's character - an ex-employee of Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) who lost his legs in the attack on Metropolis in Man of Steel (2013) - and Holly Hunter's Senator Finch. However, once these are wrapped up the film loses a lot of momentum and then seems to sacrifice any coherent, structured narrative. It seems blatantly clear that the film is missing an extra half hour, which won't be seen until the extended cut is released on DVD in the near future. There is a struggle to work out how some scenes relate, whereas a handful of scenes just don't make sense at all. For example, when Lex Luthor (a disappointing Jesse Eisenberg) enters the crashed Kryptonian spaceship, he seems to know exactly how to control everything, including how to build a giant CGI monster called Doomsday. In regards to the superheroes, Affleck and Cavill nailed their parts. Affleck is possibly the grittiest incarnation of the caped crusader seen on screen, which is epitomised in a scene where he takes on a building full of goons in order to rescue a vital character. Cavill has matured in the costume and is easily believable as Superman. Wonder Woman, however, didn't have a big enough chance to make an impression and almost felt unnecessary. Perhaps the film would've benefited more if Snyder had instead focused more on Gal Gadot as Diana Prince and left Wonder Woman for the upcoming Justice League movies. The Justice League itself was set up too much, which detracted from the narrative. There was a cameo from Ezra Miller's version of the Flash which worked effectively until Bruce discovered a file that had footage of all the metahumans on it, thus giving Snyder a chance to show off all his new superheroes in a ridiculous and unbelievable manner. More groundwork for the Justice League movies appear to be Bruce's grim visions, which may have been induced by another major DC villain, Darkseid. The vision at his parents grave was unsettling and shocking, but the desert sequence seemed to be forced and, again, it didn't make much sense. Although it didn't live up to everyone's expectations and was often needlessly confusing, the film still managed to have some good, entertaining moments.
7/10