Batman v Superman: my (spoiler-free) review

Rating: 7/10 (26 March 2016)

Maybe the deluge of bad reviews sufficiently lowered my expectations, or maybe I'm just not enough of a fanboy to feel too outraged by Snyder's interpretation of these iconic heroes, but I did thoroughly enjoy the movie. Enough so that I would watch it again in the cinemas.
It was always going to be an uphill battle for Snyder to bring this "clash of the titans" to the big screen. Both Batman and Superman have such a huge fan base that a certain amount of expectation will permeate the audience. Add to that the mountain of hype surrounding its release and you get a summit that even Batman would find daunting to surmount.
In this case, perhaps all the negative reviews actually worked in the movie's favor. I went in expecting to be disappointed and came away feeling, if not 'blown away', then pleasantly surprised.
Ben Affleck did a good job holding up the torch that Christian Bale passed on, presenting a more mature and disenfranchised Bruce. Gal Gadot was likable as Wonder Woman, if a little two dimensional. Henry Cavill was Henry Cavill. But the supporting characters weren't given enough to work with. Laurence Fishburne felt unnecessary and Michael Caine was just better as Alfred.
There were moments I had to roll my eyes. I won't spoil anything but if you've seen the movie you know what I'm talking about. Too many clichÃ©s and lackluster character development. Luthor was basically Superman's Joker. The characters sometimes behave in incredulous ways. But there were also moments that were just gleefully fun to watch.
Finally, at roughly two and a half hours I still left the cinema feeling the movie was too short for what they wanted to do. Parts felt rushed and conflicts arose and ended too abruptly for the sake of pacing that if felt like the film could have benefited from another 30 minutes or so. However, the purpose of a movie of this type is first and foremost to entertain and, for me at least, I'd say it achieved its purpose. If you're on the fence because of all the naysayers out there I'd say go ahead and give it a try anyway. If you go in with an open mind and a light heart you might just be surprised.