A Great, Misunderstood Superhero Movie

Rating: 10/10 (1 April 2016)

It seems as if I'm caught in another Deadpool situation. While many others really loved this movies others have trashed it and hated it. I ignored both sides and cleared my head before watching this movie. I set my expectations at 0. I wasn't expecting a masterpiece or a piece of crap. I was middle ground and after being burned with a recent rewatch of Man of Steel which really was a jar of Granny Smith's Peaches I didn't know what to expect from this movie. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice was really great. I liked it a lot and it had some great moments but a few missteps. It's things that may make or break the film for others but didn't bother me in the long run.
First let's start with the good. Ben Affleck as Batman was awesome. I thought I'd always think of Ben Affleck being Ben Affleck in this film but I sincerely believed him as Batman. He was epic, scary, dark, tormented, sassy and many other adjectives. The way they introduced him was excellent. I also didn't mind that he killed people. I could honestly care less about Batman killing people. But enough Batfleck talk, let's talk about the main character himself, Superman. Henry Cavill was great in the film, especially near the middle and the end. He actually portrayed emotion and empathy for humans which was lacking in Man of Steel. Everyone else was great but the 2 performances I got to mention in this review are Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman and Jessie Eisenberg as Lex Luthor. They were both great. I don't get why people said Eisenberg was annoying because he did a phenomenal job as Lex Luthor Jr. When I first heard the casting I was skeptical but after finding out he was playing Lex Luthor's son I was okay with him having Eisenberg tendencies throughout the film. He can off as menacing and fun. He isn't as annoying as other people have said he is. Gadot did a great job and had a excellent take on her. I like the cockiness of the character and how awesome she was. It also shouldn't go without saying how great the rest of the cast is. It seems as if Snyder finally brought life to the lifeless characters from Man of Steel because I was so happy with how Fishburne played Perry White and Amy Adams as Lois Lane and especially Jeremy Irons as Alfred. Phenomenonal job from a great cast that never disappoints.
But I can't blame Zack Snyder for Man of Steel because I completely blame David S. Goyer's script. It was extremely weak and had some pretty terrible dialogue scenes and poorly written scenarios. It didn't come as a surprise to me when they added Chris Terrio to the screenplay. It seems he took control over all of the screen writing because this movie is written very well. Sadly it seems Goyer did get a crack at how this film should be structured because that's something that fell flat in this film. The story structures its events in a Goyer way where they'll constantly keep moving back and forth, back and forth, back and forth and made the film stagger at points. But it didn't stop from some great scenes in the movie and some awesome dialogue from Affleck and Cavill. Honestly Snyder isn't the problem with the DCCU. The problem is Goyer. If anyone needs to be taken out of this franchise it's Goyer who needs the boot.
Snyder's direction is fantastic on this film. He's able to direct these shots that seem to come out of a Malick film. There also seemed to be a lot of Malick influence in the film, especially in the amazing opening. Snyder really knows how to open a film. It's breathtakingly beautiful and was very nice to watch the intense, stylized and different. That's the biggest compliment I can give Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is that it isn't the typical Marvel film. This is a bold and visionary superhero film from DC that goes against the grain like these films should instead of feeling the same.
As I've already mentioned the biggest problem with Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is its structure. It breaks the flow of the film at points and gets really annoying. Another problem was one shot of CGI at the beginning. It's in an ocean scene and I honestly was stunned that this made the final cut for how shitty it looked. Luckily the CGI improved as the film progressed.
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice gives Superman the redemption needed after Man of Steel and shows us what we wanted as an intro to a larger DC Cinematic Universe. The cast was great, the direction was great, the writing was sloppy at points but was also great, and the fight scenes were amazing. Definitely see this film. It's not for everyone but for someone who loves comics and film in general this was a treat.