Watchmen 2 - Dawn Of Justice

Rating: 9/10 (26 March 2016)

I saw the film last night at BFI IMAX theatre in London, and I was so eager to stand up and get out as soon as the film finished. Not because of the film but my seat was extremely uncomfortable, get better chairs BFI!!!!
This film is good! Not perfect but also certainly not bad either, it's just a good film with many memorable moments. My main gripe with the film overall is it doesn't know what it wants to be, is it a political drama? is it a batman film? is it a superman film? or Justice League prologue? I say that because the two title characters are very different. Requiring different elements to really work properly on screen, but as they jump to the next character to quickly it feels the main characters are underdeveloped. There was a rumour a while back that it was going to split into two films and I wish that actually did happen. The first film could of been all Batman viewing Superman from a distance, then ending just before their battle. Then the second could be all Superman, they could have spent time with each character and learnt more about them.
So the cast, I was unsure of Ben Afleck as Bruce Wayne/Batman but he did a decent job. He's improved as a actor over the past few years, it was a solid performance. Henry Cavill was born to be Clark Kent/Superman, he was the heart and soul of the film. The supporting cast are all brilliant, Jemery Irons in particular who had some funny moments. Now Lex Luther, Jesse Eisenburg did a amazing job, I really enjoyed his take on the character. He was funny and sinister at the same time, a very memorable villain. Now I would like to mention the cameos, Diana Prince/Wonder Woman was very good but served no purpose to the plot or overall film. Barry Allen/The Flash, Victor Stone/Cyborg and Arther Curry/Aquaman cameos should have not been in the film at all, saving it for later films! As for the nightmare scenes they felt misplaced, and was only really there for the hardcore fans.
Everything else was absolutely fine, and being very enjoyable. Some batman scenes really reminded me of Batman Begins and Dark Knight. Also a lot of the film really reminded me of Watchmen (which I love) for some reason. The style and tone are very similar, and fight choreography is also similar. Actually I think it's because they killed Jeffery Dean Morgan in the opening scene and the villains plan is to blame the death and destruction of civilians on the industructable man when someone means to murder him. Sounds familiar right?
And finally I wish to address the director Zack Synder and the editing issues, the critical reviews have highlighted it as the films biggest problem. Now I really like Zack Synder, he has made some of my favourite films. I know he has the ability to tell great story's with multiple characters, but he didn't quite hit the mark this time. Was it studio intervention? Maybe but I admit I'm worried this could be his last film in DC universe, I hope that doesn't happen. The editing is not great but like I said this film doesn't know what it wants to be and tries to do much. But it is a good film and it's just one in a long line of DC films. If I remember correctly Iron Man 2 had the same issue and look how then films turned out.
The Ulitmate Edition with extra 30mins will probably correct my issues, so the film will probably become a 10/10
And finally for all the haters out there WB/DC will give the people a film to strive towards. They will race behind it, they will stumble, they will fall. But in time, they will join Marvel in the sun. In time, they will accomplish wonders. I believe, you should too!