An engrossing, memorable experience.

Rating: 9/10 (3 April 2016)

The second film, following Man of Steel, of the DC Extended Universe which is DC Comics attempt to replicate the huge success of Marvel's Cinematic Universe which began in 2008 with Iron Man. The film draws much of it's inspiration from two comic book story lines, The Dark Knight Returns and The Death of Superman. It has so far garnered generally unfavourable reviews from critics and a backlash from long-time DC fans who felt that Snyder's take on the Dark Knight and the Man of Steel was in contradiction to their established roles in their respective comics. It's been said that the film is too dark and gritty which is one of the reasons it has failed to capture audiences in the same way as the more family friendly Marvel films have managed to do. Another criticism has been that the DCEU is trying to play catch up with Marvel and thus accelerated their timeline by jumping straight in to a sort of mini-Avengers story rather than build up their characters with standalone origin films, with the exception of Man of Steel's origin of Superman story. This means we're thrown in to an already established world without the backstory, this would be akin to releasing The Avengers before the standalone films that built the universe in which it exists. However, preceding this film Batman has already graced the big screen a total of 8 times and Superman, 6, not to mention the various television shows. Therefore the argument could be made that audience are already well acquainted with these characters and in some respects yet another Batman origin story would be redundant. Let's face it, even non comic book fans know who Batman and Superman are at this point.
Snyder has a flair for striking visuals and BvS is no exception. Visually, the film is stunning and well worth experiencing on the big screen. Ben Affleck's turn as the caped crusader may just be the best live action interpretation I've seen. I have a strong personal connection with Michael Keaton's Batman that is loaded with nostalgia which makes it difficult for me to rate Affleck's higher but it's certainly a strong contender. I've never been a big Superman fan but Henry Cavill certainly has classic good looks and physique to be believable in the role, incidentally this film has piqued my interested and I intend to check out the character's cinematic back catalogue. I was particularly excited for Wonder Woman's film debut and though Gal Gadot's screen time is minimal, her presentation certainly bodes well for her upcoming origin story in 2017. The film is loaded with religious iconography, with numerous references to Gods and Devils, something which contributes to the mature tone. The soundtrack, by Hans Zimmer and Junkie XL, is definitely worth mentioning as it perfectly accents the on screen drama and is instrumental, no pun intended, in moving the tone through from thoughtful drama to explosive action. It also may well be the only official soundtrack I've ever considered buying. Throughout it's 151 minute running length, which at no point felt too long, the action sequences are sporadic, a decision that received heavy criticism but which I felt actually served to accent the action rather than beat us over the head with it until we're desperately searching for a moment to catch our breath and reorient ourselves. The pacing moves quickly and it's easy to miss things on the first time around, I don't mind this as I enjoy films that offer something more with repeated viewings. I saw this twice at the cinemas, which is incredibly rare for me. This is a testament to the lasting impact of the experience that stayed with me for days before I finally gave in and bought a second ticket. While I certainly enjoy and own most of the MCU films and will revisit them multiple times, I felt like BvS had a deeper level of enjoyment that lingered for days after and will only get better with time. This leaves me very excited for both Wonder Woman and The Justice League which are both in production now, and has made me eager to revisit Man of Steel. Up until this point I was like warm about Suicide Squad but this film has done it's job of drawing me in to the wider DCEU that I'm now much more eagre to see the film, particularly since Affleck's Batman will cameo. I'm also very interested to see the blu-ray release which promises an R rated (MA15+ in Australia) version with around 30 minutes of extra footage, this is very similar to what Snyder did with the director's cut of Watchmen, which proved to be superior to the theatrical cut, in my opinion. All in all this is a strong beginning for the DCEU, I just hope the negative critical response won't hinder the production of future entries too much.