DC finally catches up to Marvel

Rating: 10/10 (24 March 2016)

Right, so where to start. I'm poor at reviewing movies, so i'll just share some of my thoughts. I have not read any "critics" reviews, only the few posted on IMDb from viewers that managed to attend early screenings of this movie. I managed to catch this at one of the first screenings here in South Africa.
So far Marvel have pretty much had it their own way in the battle of WATCHABLE comics to screen. From a Marvel universe perspective, the X-Men series, Wolverine, 2 versions of Spiderman, Ironman, Avengers, Thor, Antman, Captain America, Guardians of the Galaxy and the recent Deadpool, to name a few, have all been pretty good. It was only the 2 Hulk movies that were Luke warm and Daredevil that was a complete disaster. DC on the other hand have been through quite a rough patch with lemons such as Green Lantern, Catwoman, Jonah Hex, Superman returns and some pretty bad Batman movies especially Batman vs Robin. Their only saving graces after the Reeve version of Superman in the 1980's were the Dark Night series (mostly thanks to Nolan), a semi decent Watchmen movie and a return to form for Superman in the Man of Steel - although this one generated many split opinions.
Batman v Superman - Dawn of Justice pits the "Alien" against the "Bat of Gotham" in a battle to the death all carefully planned and executed by Lex Luther. The movies starts off with a brief overview of Batman's' history all through a series of flashbacks and dream sequences. It introduces Bruce Wayne as a caring business man and employer and goes to great length to show that he really cares for the people of Gotham and that he is a war weary vigilante that has made peace with his alter ego. It then introduces him into the Superman Man of Steel time line at the exact time that the Krypton Terraforming Machine starts its destruction of earth and then shows the following events from his perspective. Meanwhile, the intro depicts how humanity is battling to digest Superman's superior powers and the possible threat that he poses should he abuse his powers. Lex Luther is then also thrown into the mix for good measure, an evil genius hungry to cause destruction. This "intro" takes up around 40 minutes of the movie and it makes use of a pretty strange movie making methodology. The story telling is not linear and it consists of, what feels like, independent segments all sewn together. Only once the scene is set, does the movie start to follow a more traditional linear time line. Oddly it works, and manages to portray a lot of history and story in a pretty concise manner. Once the story starts to take shape, it shows the battle between the 2 super powers and, without spilling the beans, the fight thereafter and the aftermath events .
One of the key successes for me of the Nolan directed Dark Night series was the dark and dreary tone of the movies. Well, B v S takes that and multiplies it exponentially. There are no jokes (even Luther's wise cracks have dark undertones) and no lighter moments. The only moments that give the viewers some time to unclench their sweaty fists are those that portray the love between Kent and Lois Lane. For rest of it, the tone is pretty depressing. The CGI, effects and fight scenes are fantastically done, although there is one scene where the bat mobile returns to the cave that is not that convincing.
Although the story, CGI and Hans Zimmer score are all superb, the standout in the movie is the acting. Affleck simply kills it as Batman. I've never been a big fan of his work, but my word the man is astonishing in this role. He underplays Batman and portrays him as a cool and calculating, but ultimately caring bloke. He is without a doubt, the best Batman to date. Then there is Jesse Eisenberg. His portrayal of Luther rivals that of the Ledger Joker and the psychosis drips from his pores. All the other actors were superb as well.
Sure, the movie is not perfect, but is well done, has a great and believable story to tell, has a great score (for the music lover) and the acting is first class. With a single movie DC has managed to claw back most of the ground on Marvel. It also introduces WonderWoman and has a quick reference to the other Justice League members. If B v S is anything to go by, I'm looking forward to many more superhero movies.
Well worth watching (forget about the critics).