Truly magnificent action-fantasy scenes that just barely stay grounded in a dark story

Rating: 7/10 (10 May 2020)

I don't write a lot of reviews but I think this one is thorough and fair. It has no spoilers.
To say that Snyder used the confusing plot as an excuse to hit us with some of the best eye candy on the market would be a lie. There is definitely a story being told. Theres even reasons behind some of the confusing elements. Yet at the end of the day, it's just a little too hard to follow. For me the characters come across as underdeveloped, even though they DO show a LOT of emotion on screen. I think the film would've benefitted from a bit more quality small talk to make us fall in love with each character, which the film had almost none of. It makes sense though that every line had to be plot oriented when the biggest issue with a film like this is connecting the fantasy to the "real" storyline. I will say that the main female cast is nothing short of excellent both in the action and in the acting departments, and you will easily connect to them even without the exposition I wanted. You could totally argue that it's more realistic with how the characters interact with real emotion and they just don't explain why they are how they are because by the time we see the film they already know each other. That argument would be perfectly fair. The film probably just needed to be a little longer, and there's a good chance that the 18 minutes of extended footage in the Blu-ray cut make a big impact on the completeness of the experience. The fantasy sequences REALLY deliver, while the real world scenes feel like they don't get enough storytelling done. Seriously tho, the action is so damn good. Some of the camera work you just won't be able to find anywhere else, the slow-mo is used both generously and effectively, and the girls are incredibly acrobatic and absolutely ooze dramatic flair. It's bad ass. The real world plot feels like it takes too long to confusingly explain a simple plan. It was strange to me how the dialogue was often on the flat side, yet the narration at the end was so deep. The music is consistently bad ass and effectively adds to the atmosphere.
There were a couple moments where they failed to maintain ultra realism, like when a bad guy walks in on the gang plotting. Right after he leaves, 4-5 seconds later, they resume their full volume conversation. This vibe lingered throughout the movie too much and dropped it from 8 to 7 for me.
Bottom line: if you have a taste for things dark and bad ass AND you think you're pretty good at reading between the lines, this is 100% a must-see movie. The story really is there, it just takes a lot of effort to fully grasp with what's shown on screen. If you're a Shakespearean-style critic who only cares for intricate dialogue and thurough plot development, skip it. If you're an action junkie and love seeing hot girls twirling through the air shooting guns and swinging swords at often truly formidable foes in well-shot slow-mo, it should be on your bucket list. If you enjoy quality action portrayed with emotional actors, this is worth picking up.