On Friday I decided to go see Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice. Me, being a Batman fanatic and someone who knows a lot about the comics was very excited to see what the movie was going to bring to the table. I spent almost three years waiting for this movie, following every rumor, every theory and every reveal that was coming out. Once it did come out I had my likes and dislikes, from the characters to the plot of the movie.
Snyder’s cinematography was clean and well done. There were some shots that the movie could have done without because it just confused the audience as I heard many people say “what” “what is happening”, and even myself was a little confused until I looked it up after the movie and cleared up what happened. Then there were scenes where it almost felt like you were watching a comic book come to life, from the use of slow motion to dark faint music creeping upon the scene made your jaw drop from how perfect it all was. It felt like watching living pages spread on the screen and it was surreal.
One thing that I did not like, however, was the pacing of the movie. In some areas, the action dies down and you learn more about the motivation that drives each of our characters and the reason that they are battling one another. Nonetheless, in some instances the editor did a poor job in seamlessly streamlining the character’s stories so it doesn’t get lost in translation or long-winded in some way.
The movie also tried cramming a lot into something that was only two hours long. Not only do we get our first look at a new Batman, and all of his backstory, but also Lex Luthor, Wonderwoman, the Flash, Aquaman, and Cyborg; it all clearly felt like a rush to quickly leave an open space for the new Justice League movie. Though I did get excited about watching them, I noticed many around me had no idea who these people were and what was even happening, which is understandable because someone who has no idea about the animated show, movies, or comics only knows about the main characters but not Cyborg to say the least.
One thing that I did love, was Ben Affleck as Batman. He is the Batman, his acting was top notch and really acted like the comic book Batman would. Acting darker than Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight and being a man who suffers from his past and tries to hide all his pain and anger through what he does really shows how great Affleck did. Not to mention, he looked terrifying and monstrous like in the suit which really depicted how Batman would truly look. I was a little confused when Batman began killing people but then I began to think about the timeline and remembered considering the age of Bruce Wayne in the movie, this was after Robin dies which means Batman did start killing in the comics also, so that no longer disappointed me.
Many said that Gal Gadot was a poor choice for Wonderwoman, but she portrayed Diana Prince so perfectly there were no complaints from me. However, Jesse Eisenberg’s Lex Luthor, was far from Lex Luthor and more like the Joker. Comic wise Luthor is a wise cunning man who does not like anyone being above him power wise, and while Eisenberg tried portraying that he added an unnecessary psychotic attitude. I was not impressed and I was not happy at his portrayal.
I’d give the movie a 7.5/10, it isn’t my favorite superhero movie, but it isn’t the worst. However, you have to remember not to compare these movies to the Marvel movies. Both are completely different and have two different themes. In DC standards this movie wasn’t incredible but it wasn’t disastrous. I am hoping in the upcoming movies, they will do much better.
