brooding

Rating: 7/10 (28 March 2016)

Metropolis is recovering from the Kryptonian invasion and has a guarded attitude to its new alien protector. Gotham criminals are hunted down by a bat-like vigilante who brands them, a mark that is as good as a death sentence. Batman versus Superman does a decent job of meshing these two characters in a plausible narrative that foregrounds the inner demons both men carry. Affleck's gritty, slightly creaky Batman is a more psychotic, sadistic iteration than Bale's. His drinking is more problematic, even if it is ChÃ¢teau Margaux, and his womanising a sordid footnote. Superman is more moral, upstanding, and in a monogamous relationship with Lois Lane. That naivety (he isn't human, after all) makes him fall victim to the machinations of Lex Luthor, Eisenberg at his quirky, irascible best. The film overtly evokes post 9/11 sensibilities and there is a clear motif of Christian iconography threaded through the images. Critics will hate it simply because it is another superhero film in a seemingly endless conveyor belt of them. That's a valid concern, but putting that element aside, this one works with complex characters that do not always get overwhelmed by the CGI, not until the final 20 minutes anyway. You'll have to tolerate some heavy-handed moments as they set up the coming films in the DC Comics/Warner Bros franchise, but these do not intrude too much on a narrative that is intriguing and, despite all the fantasy and machismo on display, all too human. Go with it, and you won't be disappointed.