Low expectations = a good time

Rating: 7/10 (30 March 2016)

Disclaimer: Spoiler box ticked but know that I will be going into a lot of spoiler related detail. I went to see this movie after the first wave of reviews/opinions came through; there was a lot of negatives being used in both contexts so I wasn't expecting much from BvS (Batman vs Superman). What I found was a movie that had so many good things, or potential for so many good things, that I couldn't help but enjoy the experience.
The opening sequence was riveting and compelling, seeing the end of Man of Steel from Bruce Wayne's perspective added a level of emotion to the character while we simultaneously see his origins for becoming the Batman. Where the movie get slightly off track is when it starts establishing the other narrative elements of the story (Daily Planet/Louis Lane, Superman, disaster victim(s), Lex Luther). There are so many which the film tries to jump between whilst pushing the story towards the movie's name sake (Batman fighting Superman) that it loses out on engaging the audience with 1 of the 2 central characters (Superman).Bruce Wayne/Batman is fleshed out in a way which the audience can focus on, you know what his next move is and you understand the reasons behind his actions; Superman is left on the side-lines in terms of story progression. Stuff that happens with Lois Lane and Lex Luthor is choppy and you can't connect with their stories at all. What I'm getting at is the film loses focus when it jumps to any of the characters other than Batman.
I'm not gonna go into much detail about the acting because it was fine for the most part with Ben Affleck standing out (as Batman) as well as his on-screen counterpart Jeremy Irons (as Alfred). Jesse Eisenberg give a unique performance as Lex Luthor. I say unique because some people are going to like it and others are going to find it odd and annoying; I am in the former category however as I said before his sections of story are choppy so you can't engage with the character no matter how much you liked the actor's performance.
The main fight. Slightly annoying. You reach that part of the film and you know the fight is taking place (some plot holes but I'll get to that in my nagging section at the end) and it's heating up. Someone's going to get messed up. Then the fight ends, talk about anti- climaxes. It was kind of a wake- up call for me really, these are two characters that are essentially a force for good in their respective fashions so why would they fight? This is what I consider to be the movie's greatest mistake. It wants to be Batman taking on Superman but in the end all the motivation it tries to give the respective characters disappears (or gets re-directed). You ask yourself "well what was the point in all that build up?" The answer comes quickly, "oh that's right Lex Luthor was doing something in that spaceship". So now we come to what the film was really building to. Lex trying everything in his power to kill Superman because he didn't get much attention as a child? As you can tell from my poor exposition that this movie really is all over the place; great elements presented in the incorrect order or when they shouldn't have been presented at all (looking at you random Bruce Wayne e-mail).
Some quick positives before the nagging section. Visually a spectacular movie which really captures its environments and action beautifully (slightly too many cuts for my taste but never really to a point that it was distracting). Costume/set design on freaking point. Dream sequences (I always like the unexplained elements of a movie) although some random dude in a portal yelling something about Louis Lane was kind of crazy, like I get Batman having nightmares about Superman and all that but random portal guy was intense. Batman being brutal and accepting he's a criminal for justice; best fight in the movie is actually Batman vs warehouse goons after the BvS fight. Wonder Woman is bad-ass and beautiful (ticking all the Wonder Woman criteria) and I can't wait for her own movie.
Nagging section. We Brits love a good nag but I won't go on for too much longer. Plot hole the size of the Grand Canyon. Lex Luthor claims to be the one who helped push Batman to wanna take out Superman but already started making Doomsday before Batman v Superman actually takes place. Did he know Batman would fail? Louis Lane, love Amy Adams so I blame the script. Some of her lines feel forced and mostly she just feels useless in the movie, her side story is something I feel could have been left out for a more cohesive plot. The freaking e-mail. Like I know that end credits scenes are a Marvel thing but having something like that in the middle of a movie is nonsensical, have it right at the end after everything's gone down. Finally if you're going to kill a character, kill them. Don't fake it or something, that doesn't work and people don't like it (looking at you Dark Knight Rises).
Conclusion: I thoroughly enjoyed BvS even though there are some story elements that are choppy and others which are out of place. I know that I've focused in on negatives for the film but you can't ignore that kind of stuff in a review, just know that I felt a lot of positives came from this film and you can definitely have a good time watching it. Just don't expect the second coming of superhero movies. 68/100 (rounded up to 7 for the IMDb rating system).