Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice review

Rating: 4/10 (25 March 2016)

Mild Spoilers:
I am one of those (few) people who actually loved Man of Steel. I thought Zack Snyder's vision for what a Christ like figure walking among us was excellently portrayed. Of course, the movie has it's many flaws, but that never bothered me. Every time I watch it, its positives always outweighed the negatives. That is exactly how I feel with Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice.
First of all, the movies entire title is false advertising. The fight between Batman and Superman goes by so quickly that it leaves you wanting more. You would think that a movie 3 years in the making would give the viewer an incredible physical battle with these titans, but no. Most of the fighting takes place after these two duke it out. The Justice League don't "Dawn" either. 3 of them make an appearance and the other 3 make subtle cameos in a forced set up scene that was placed poorly in the middle of a fight. Speaking of a fight, the last 3rd of this movie was a CGI powerhouse that was fun while it lasted and might have memorable for some, but overall not as "good" as the last 3rd act in Man of Steel. Doomsday was horrible to look at and his new "Dragon Ball Z Energy Shield" power was extremely stupid. This movie was delayed for almost a year and they really couldn't make him look any better?
The Zack Snyder-ism's of slow motion and flashbacks make a return as well, but this time he adds dream sequences, AND hallucinations. Besides one dream sequence that was ripped directly out of one of my favorite DC comics, and the Wayne family murder flashback, these were poorly executed and made little to no sense to the overall story. Speaking of story this movie really couldn't decided what it wanted to be. So many things were going on throughout and it may confuse casual audience members who have never read a DC comic. There are also 3 endings.
Now it may sound like I absolutely hated this movie but I didn't. The truth is besides it's flaws, this movie is DC heaven. It was everything I needed it to be in terms up set up for future films, and had perfect adaptations of some very classic Superman and Batman stories. What stood out the most to me was Bruce Wayne's motivation. I might be biased because I will always be #TeamBatman, but you could really feel for the guy. He is just trying to protect what he cares for most. On a side note, besides actually committing straight up murder for the entire film, Ben Affleck's Batman is the definitive on screen Batman. He is so brutal and menacing that he may end up frightening little children, and that is the Batman we have needed for years to be put on screen. There is a certain shot of Batman in this movie that is just "So Batman" It'll make grown men giddy like a school girl. Fans have been praising Gal Gadot as Diana Prince/Wonder Woman when in reality, she barely got any screen time, and it is to soon for her to be judged. Jesse Eisenberg's take on Lex Luthor started off very cartoon-y, but as the film went along I loved him. His motivation was genius and without spoiling anything, how he becomes bald was extremely clever. The returning cast was just fine. Henry Cavill is a great Superman, Amy Adams is a great Lois LaneÂ… etc. This film is made for an IMAX viewing. I recommend seeing it in IMAX first before or instead of seeing it on a regular screen.
Overall this movie was what I needed it to be. Currently it is sitting at a 31% on Rotten Tomatoes and that is not a fair grade to judge it on. This is the movie DC fans have been waiting for since Batman and Superman first shared a comic together. It might not be perfect, but it sure as hell isn't a 31%. My grade for Man of Steel always changes between a 7 and an 8 and I feel this will too with each viewing. For now, I have only seen it once and as I left the theater I was thinking 8, but as I am writing this I am thinking 6.5-7. Whatever the grade I highly recommend you see this film and judge for yourself what you think of it. Either way I promise you will have a good time.
Lastly: Don't let anyone spoil this movie for you. It is full of surprises, Double Lastly: Granny's Peach Tea