The Best Comic Book Film In The Last 5 Years.

Rating: 8/10 (23 March 2016)

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
The film opens beautifully that I won't spoil but gives a great starting point in that you're watching not just a comic book film but an EVENT. You then see Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne at the events at the end of Man of Steel being heroic and saving peoples life's and seeing his point of view of Superman. Ben Affleck is Great as Batman/Bruce Wayne. Haters be damned he's a definitive Batman. He reminded me a lot of Michael Keaton's Batman '89 mixed with a little bit of Christain Bale's Batman Begins & Batman: The Dark Knight Returns from the comics. I have to say though that This IS a Superman film. Clark is now trying to save the world from itself but not everyone is liking how he interferes with the worlds problems. He doesn't know if he should be Superman like his father said. Lois & Clark are a great couple & I loved seeing them together interacting. Lois Lane played by Amy Adams is great. She is the definitive Lois Lane. Always looking for scoops and trying to find the truth. There's so much to say about Jesse Eisenberg as Lex. He almost stole the show. He plays Lex so maniacal and Evil that it feels he wants to kill everyone and everything. All because of humanity's love for Superman. I honestly never seen Jesse play a character so menacing before. In terms of villains, he made one of the best Villains of all comic book films. On par with Heath Ledger's Joker. Ruthless, Crazy. I want more from him in Justice League. The execution is phenomenal. Eisenberg IS Lex Luthor. Yet Gal Gadot is the one who stole the show. She plays Wonder Woman so incredible and mysterious that when she's first revealed by someone who she really is, it's magical. When we finally see Wonder Woman the audience cheered and clapped and you knew this moment was special. She's not in the film a lot but she made a huge impact. I cannot wait to see the Wonder Woman movie. There is so many Easter Eggs in this film. People love End Credit scenes (there's not one in this film) but this movie has the most Easter Eggs in any comic book film ever. There's a reason why you should see this on Easter. I caught 5 MAJOR nods to different classic Batman and Superman stories from the comics. It feels like they mashed them all together into a tight 2 hour plus movie. This film sets up DC Films Universe perfectly. Not crowding the film but hinting at the possibility of more. It's a serious film. I wouldn't call it dark though. I always question when people call CBM's dark because nothing has been as dark as Watchmen but it's a Hard PG-13. Yet there is still a significant amount of well-placed humor. This film feels more like a comic book film than a Reality Based Comic Movie like Nolan did with Batman: The Dark Knight or even what Zack Snyder tried to emulate with Man of Steel. If you want to know about the cameos well they were all well done. There's a HUGE one that no one knew about. Really a cool scene. It's a well-paced film. Does not feel its length at all. Can't wait to see that extra 30 min in the Ultimate Home Release. You will leave loving Superman even more. He gets his due. The movie doesn't feel crowded. Ben Affleck and Henry Cavill get the most screen time as they should. The other supporting roles were clearly reduced to more than acceptable amounts. Every Supporting Character is great. I haven't even gotten to Jeremy Irons or Holly Hunter. It feels like a different movie than how the trailers set it up. And I consider that to be a good thing. They left out enough and did a lot of clever editing. The ending is not spoiled in anything released so far. I have to say just from one screening, it lived up to the hype but it isn't perfect. There's better comic book films out there but not many. This is certainly in my top 10 comic book films of all time. I'll see it again Thursday and I'll edit this review if I change my score but as of right now. It's the Best Comic Book film of the last 5 years. ★★★★.5/ ★★★★★