Batman V Superman Review

I have sat and thought about this movie since seeing it on Saturday, I've slept it on, I've tried researching more into it, but nothing I do seems to make me feel better about this movie. I went into this movie a DC fan, frustrated that the only good movies to come out of this studio in the past ten years are movies about Batman.

Before the hate descends upon me, I'd like to make it clear that I love Batman, everything from his great gadgets to his awesome detective skills, my frustration has been from the lack of other great DC heroes on the big screen. I'm sure some of you out there think Man of Steel is a great movie, but I can't bring myself to love a darker Superman, maybe it's because I think Superman should represent the best of us all, but that's another argument for another day. 

Before going into see the movie I accepted that Superman was going to be dark, Batman was going to be killing a bunch of people, and Wonder Woman was going to just be some form of window dressing. I came out of the movie wondering what was going on and before you all say but you just didn't understand because you don't know enough about DC so you must have been confused about that specific scene I don't want to spoil. I was actually confused by the motivations between each of the characters, which could have been explained better without all the unnecessary fluff.

What I liked

Batman -

I think it's fair to say that Ben Afflecks role as both Bruce Wayne and Batman were great. When I first heard the casting I felt that it would be pretty hard to accept Affleck as Batman but to his credit the man crushed it. His chemistry with Alfred (Jeremy Irons) was great and I enjoyed their little quips at each other. I even liked and understood all of his dream sequences, even if they weren't properly explained to the wider audience. I am now really looking forward to seeing more of this Batman, even if he is pretty violent. 

Superman -

I actually would have liked to see more of this Superman (Henry Cavill) in the film, which I was rather surprised about after Man of Steel. I enjoyed his relationship with Lois Lane (Amy Adams), I was looking forward to hearing from him in that scene but that was cut short, I am actually looking forward to seeing more from this Superman.

Wonder Woman -

Same goes for what I said about Superman I would like to have seen more of her. During the action scenes Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) was great, she just appears (which is not a spoiler as it is in the trailer) out of nowhere in her armour and helps out. I had such big hopes for her, I really would have liked her to play a role in this movie, but what I got was great so I shouldn't moan too much. Only been waiting to see Wonder Woman on the big screen for well, my whole life. 

Batman V Superman -

The motivations were just lacking but the fight itself was pretty great. When they fight it's great to watch, Zack Snyder can really pull off some beautiful action sequences and this film is no different. I also didn't need an explanation as to how Superman's powers work when it came to him knowing a piece of information (I really am trying to make this spoiler free) but it would have took one line of dialogue and maybe it could have made sense to a greater audience.

What I disliked

Lex Luthor Jr -

What can I say about this character that hasn't been said by fans and critics alike? Jesse Eisenberg would have played a fantastic Riddler, but as Lex Luthor Jr he just fails to live up to the icon of his father. Maybe that's why we can't understand what he is trying to do, or maybe it's just because his motivations don't seem to make sense. Is it just me that thinks the motivations throughout this movie are lacking?

Motivations -

Maybe it's just because I'm too logical but the motivations in this film where pretty lacking. Yes I understood them, but all these motivations were razor thin. I wanted to see an ideological battle between both of our superheroes but that never happened, maybe because it's too similar to that of another movie coming out this year and they wanted to go another way. But the motivations just don't make sense or aren't explained enough.

Editing -

Yes I know this film had thirty-five minutes cut by the studio and yes I am quite well aware that the X-Rated Blu Ray version may well explain certain plot holes, but I cannot comment on a version of a film that I haven't seen. The version I saw jumped around the place, putting weird scenes before an action scene is not fun, even if I did happen to like that sequence. Having scenes which make no sense to a wider audience is not a great strategy for making a film, this films main problem is that it needs to be streamlined. Give us simple coherent explanations to stuff, trim the fat and somewhere in this jumbled up mess is a good movie.

Too Many Plots -

As Dan Murrell quite rightly pointed out over at Screenjunkies.com this film is five movies squeezed into one longish movie. This Batman is set up for his future stand alone movie, there's a sequel to Man of Steel which develops some (if not all) of Superman's relationships, an introduction and setup for future Justice League films is developed, Lex Luthor Jr is up to some shady stuff but he wants Batman and Superman to fight and lastly the Batman V Superman plot. It feels like this movie has got a few too many cooks in the kitchen.

Too Much Fluff -

By Fluff I mean that there is too many scenes used which don't need to be their. Do we really need to see Wonder Woman on a plane, no. We didn't even need this scene to be in the movie she could have spent more screen time actually doing something, she instead could have been doing some investigating into Lexcorp as an example, or actually stop Batman and Superman from fighting each other to focus on the bigger threat. Why wouldn't she be on her own invisible plane? It's not just this scene that this happened to me in but as this was in the trailer I decided it was the best example to use.

The Verdict

I'd give it maybe a 2.3/5. It has it's redeemable qualities, Batman is great, Superman when he's being used is surprisingly great, Wonder Woman should have been used a bit more but it's really nice to finally see her on the big screen. I didn't really mind how they introduced the Justice League, but overall the film was just too all over the place. It was edited in a way that didn't make it flow and Jesse Eisenberg would play a great Riddler but as Lex Luthor Jr it all just seemed to be too much for me.

What did you think? Am I am wrong? Don't be afraid to shout it from the rooftops in the comments section below. Just be polite about it. If you liked this post then you can check out a few of my other posts below.

Not Excited for Batman V Superman - http://mcqsviews.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/not-really-excited-for-batman-v-superman.html

Daredevil Recap - http://mcqsviews.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/daredevil-recap.html

P.S. Talking about DC, I LOVED the Supergirl and Flash crossover last night. Bravo CW and CBS!

Pictures courtesy of Warner Bros/CBS/Wikipedia