Rating of
1.5/4
Colossal Mess of Disappointment
Unknown - wrote on 05/25/16
'Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice' is not the film which many were hoping for. I was left disappointed in the lack of a coherent plot/story, as well as the absence of conflict between the two title characters. This movie should've been retitled: 'Justice League Setup: The Movie', cause that's all that was really accomplished. Well, poorly so. It starts with a strong opening series of scenes that setup our new Bruce Wayne/Batman quite easily. We immediately find the exact tone and nature with this incarnation of the character and see his reaction/loss during the events of the finale of 'Man of Steel'. Then we check in with Superman... and nothing new is worth reporting. He's the same as where we left him in the last movie; brooding over the choice in use for his god-like powers and briefly interacting with Lois. He really has no other purpose in the plot until the finale. In fact, he is sidelined for most of the film by Batman and all the other new characters. There is never a reason established for his dislike for Batman, nor are there more than one scene apiece between their two personas before their eventual fight. This is a major flaw in the continued poor use of the character. He becomes completely overshadowed by Batman - the one continued shining light of the film. Ben Affleck's portrayal of the vigilante is both fresh and comic book accurate. All of his scenes had proper development. He was the only character worth investing in, as he was literally the only one shown to have actual motives in his actions and give reasonings for plot advancement. Eisenberg's Lex Luthor was just an odd eccentric billionaire asshole. So many puzzling decisions attribute his character. His needlessly convoluted 'evil' plan had zero logic and relied on random conveniences. The editing was way off balance. A handful of out of place dream sequences are spliced in at random, entire subplots are forgotten about, Lois is wasted, Wonder Woman's appearance (while impressive) felt forced, and the multitude of references to famous comics grew tiresome. The movie's major flaw is apparent; it's a cluster f*** that spends more time setting up future films that it forgets to tell it's own complete story. So many scenes felt completely unnecessary to the point of frustration. The title fight between the two icons is a letdown; a short one sided bout with little-to-no reasoning established. It immediately leads into a forced climax with a team-up against a giant threat that is literally created within that very scene. The ending emulates yet another famous comic storyline to very little effect. This movie is one big bloated mess. Was I still entertained? Only in certain individual moments. I really liked Affleck's Batman and there were more than enough great comic-book inspired visuals. These positives were really strong, but they were minor parts of a broken whole. I'd be more forgiving if the film were actually joyful. You know, that thing all superhero movies should strive to be.
