Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

Rating: 8/10 (26 March 2016)

Well, after all these years, it has finally come to this; Day vs. Night, Black vs. Blue, the Son of Krypton vs. the Bat of Gotham, and so on. So, how does it hold up? Let me tell you:
Pretty damn good. I know a lot of critics have been slamming the crap out of this film; so, here is a change of pace with a positive one. The film is set 18 months after Metropolis and the rest of the World were introduced to Henry Cavill's Superman, and the Man of Steel has come under fire after the horrific tragedies that took place during the hero's battle with Michael Shannon's General Zod. The entirety of Superman's storyline revolves around the repercussions of his actions and his power, and Henry Cavill does a superb job as a defeated Superman coming to terms with his own powers that he doesn't fully understand, against power that he doesn't fully understand, and we are treated to a very interesting and thought- provoking political story that asks an important question; do we need a "Superman?" One of the best things about this film that makes it far superior to 2013's 'Man of Steel' is that it replaces irritating flashbacks (that, I thought were unnecessary and removed any chance of actual character development) with story. A pretty good one, too.
It's always good when movies like this ask questions and have the character's think about what they've done and what they can do to improve on themselves. And, yes, I know that this can make things seem very down and gloomy, but, hey, none of you were complaining when 'The Dark Knight' did it, so suck it! Anyway, yes, it is very gloomy. But, it's good to have adult conversations in comic- book movies that don't have any quirky joke interrupt the drama (Marvel Studios, anyone?) I guess what I'm trying to say isÂ… a bit of politics never hurt anyone. Holly Hunter appears in the film as US Senator Finch, who asks these questions about Superman and whether or not we really need him to solve our problems (after all, he does provide a lot of collateral damage) and she does a good job as the politics side of the fight against Supes, (we all know who does the actual fighting, but we'll save him for last). She acts as a good foil to Jesse Eisenberg's Lex Luthor.
Speaking of Lex LuthorÂ… he's a mixed bag, a really, really mixed bag of a dangerous threat andÂ… some quirky kid. Are we ever going to get a cinematic Lex Luthor who is actually depicted how he is in the comic- books? Cold, dominant and downright evil? That's not to say that I didn't enjoy Eisenberg's performance, he really went for it, and I applaud him for that. He was a very good villain, I might add, and entertaining as all Hell. I got a "Rich Kids of Instagram" vibe from him who thinks he can do all this diabolical stuff because of Daddy. As I write this, I am warming to this version of the character more and more. I just wish he toned it down a little, but there is still room for improvement.
Speaking of improvement, this film has some of the best action scenes I've ever seen in a comic- book film, most of it coming from Batman and the Batmobile. However, towards the end of the film, it does go back to the CGI filled spectacle of 'Man of Steel'. My auditory and visual senses were both ringing when I left the theatre to get a burger.
The intense build up to the fight of the Century, I felt, was unnecessarily lengthy. The fight should have been somewhere in the middle of the film, and then one at the end. And their final fight should have been way longer. Having said that, it was quite a fight (albeit, VERY one sided)
Whilst we're here, let's talk about the Bat in the room. Ben Affleck may just be the best Batman we've ever seen on screen (sorry Clooney). He is a much angrier and cynical Batman than ever before, much like Kevin Conroy's Batman from the 'Arkham' series of games. He's still the great detective that we know and love, but also more of a 'break necks, ask questions later' kind of guy. As Bruce Wayne, he's smooth, cool and charming, and as BatmanÂ… he's a force to be reckoned with. I look forward to seeing more of him.
Gal Gadot is great as our first cinematic Wonder Woman, and actually outshines the rest of the supporting players. She isn't given much to do for most of the film (why would she? Ain't her movie), until the very end when she assists the boys in an intense and explosive battle against Doomsday, which I enjoyed watching.
The culmination of the climactic battle against Doomsday resulted in THE ballsiest of endings, and took a huge, huge risk that I was not expecting, and I say 'kudos' to the film- makers for doing what they did.
My Verdict: this was a historical epic of 'Ben Hur' proportions. A great story, fascinating questions, excellent performances, pulse racing actions and overall, a damn good time.