Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) Review!!!

Synopsis – Fearing the actions of Superman are left unchecked, Batman takes on the man of steel, while the world wrestles with what kind of a hero it really needs. With Batman and Superman fighting each other, a new threat, Doomsday, is created by Lex Luthor. It’s up to Superman and Batman to set aside their differences along with Wonder Woman to stop Lex Luthor and Doomsday from destroying Metropolis.

My Take – So the most awaited & discussed film of our times has finally arrived! Pitting two of the most biggest icons of comic book history in one live action film was something which most of us only dreamed about during out childhood days. Let me get one thing out of the way here, the movie isn’t as bad as critics are saying instead its actually very entertaining and can easily be termed as ‘a good movie’. That being said, I am a DC fan but I’m also a realistic one and as a fan I hate to say it but the movie has its own set of flaws. I get it, critics have to be critical. But I am struggling to understand the severity of critics towards this movie. Personally, I think it was absolutely amazing. Granted, it has its flaws, but the highs of this movie far outrank the lows. Before I continue let me warn you, the review is filled with SPOILERS, so if you haven’t watched it, its best to avoid reading. The story follows Superman (Henry Cavill) about eighteen months after the events of Man of Steel (2013). While some consider him as a savior, others consider him as a threat. Billionaire Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck), who has covertly operated in Gotham City as vigilante “Batman” for nearly two decades, with help of his faithful butler Alfred (Jeremy Irons) blames Superman for the mass casualties that resulted from his fight with General Zod (Michael Shannon). While Superman, in his public identity as Daily Planet journalist Clark Kent, sees Batman as dangerous vigilante and seeks to expose him. Meanwhile, Lois Lane (Amy Adams) continues to investigate LexCorp’s mogul Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg) in order to expose his sinister plans against Superman. With Batman and Superman fighting each other, a new threat, arises and it’s up to Superman and Batman to set aside their differences along with the mysterious Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) to stop Lex Luthor and save Metropolis.

Now for the movie overall, I was impressed. It felt like a true comic book. The overall story is well woven and much better done than MOS, you can definitely breathe a sigh of relief in that as writer Chris Terrio (Argo) does a great job of crafting this all together. Some critics attacked the most minor issues like the re-enactment of the Waynes’ murder, yeah, a whole 5 minutes, whoopee! Some didn’t like the references to “non populated” areas preceding fight sequences. But to address the complaints people have made, i.e that it wasn’t funny, too dark, too melodramatic and too philosophical, it shows how used to people are now to Marvel films. As a fan to both companies, I think its wrong to compare them to each other, mainly as both are based as well as created on a different tangent. Plus, I disagree about the humor, I found myself laughing at the clever wit and rather blunt jokes. It wasn’t forced and just flowed naturally. For a hardcore DC fan, the humor was obvious; however, it wasn’t hard to understand for casual fans. As for the dark nature of the movie, admittedly it was there. However, it wasn’t excessive, especially since a majority of the scenes had the dark knight. The real dark moments, would have to be the sheer violence and brutality of Batman. But, if people paid attention, they would have known that Zack Synder modeled the movie after Frank Miller‘s Dark Knight comics and Injustice: Gods Among Us (the game & the web comic). The darkness is justifiable. As for the melodrama, the film clarifies that our leads are bound by emotions, leading to their current actions. The movie focused on the consequences of actions perfectly. Would you honestly let Superman destroy your city and walk free? No, you wouldn’t, and that is what the movie focuses on. And finally, the accusations of too much philosophy. I refuse to touch that, because honestly, that not even a complaint. Society was founded on philosophy, and is in everyone’s basic principles. It is a movie about two men questioning each others morals, thus sparking a war! One critic acted as if it was chauvinistic to see a woman being put in peril in 2016. For the record, 2 rescues are because she is being brave, the other is because of her relationship with Superman. Others criticized the soundtrack and music, when Batman and Superman meet on screen for the first time, it deserves a bombastic symphonic overture. It’s a big deal! And it’s too loud, yes, I agree it’s loud but didn’t trailers scream, “This is going to be loud!” Each reference was used in proper context, it wasn’t like Batman turned to Superman, “let’s fight here, this area is not populated”. Too grim, too grim! OK, fine, so if it had a lighter tone with more jokes, the critics would have said it just DC trying to be like Marvel films. All the issues about destruction and disregard for human life that fans raised are addressed here and the film retroactively makes Man of Steel a better film because of it. Witnessing the destruction of Metropolis through Bruce Wayne’s eyes is truly terrifying and one can completely sympathize with his distrust and paranoia regarding this embodiment of a Greek God. His reactionary response, while extreme, is understandable and perfectly fitting with Batman’s nature. The best part about the movie is the Trinity itself.

Henry Cavill continues to be a fantastic Superman. With the character more stylized on the New 52 version, Henry Cavill brings gravitas and bring something which we never thought we could think could give Superman – sympathy. Hands down, Ben Affleck is the Batman we’ve needed, been waiting for, and deserved. Never has a (cinema) Batman struck terror like this one, nor has any (cinema) Batman stayed true to comics. We saw his famed detective work, the charismatic mask of Bruce Wayne, and over all awesomness. While Michael Keaton brought an original and believable batman, and while Christian bale delivered a psychological and deep dark knight, Zach Snyder has brought to the screen a Batman who is truly frightening to behold and beyond entertaining to watch. Most of what Batman did, in my own terms, was overkill. But as we know, Batman’s purpose is to strike fear, which is exactly what he did. While Affleck‘s Bruce Wayne brought a different type of cynicism and apathy that you would expect from Ben, but as soon as the cape and cowl went on, he became a fierce, fast, ferocious, frightening and freaking awesome batman! The violence and vicious fear inducing presence of Batman in the film was greatly aided by Snyder‘s cinematography. As for Jeremy Irons as Alfred, I was well amused by his dry sarcastic humor and his overall role. Very enjoyable! Amy Adams as Lois Lane gets all of my applauds. It’s been awhile since Lois Lane has annoyed the sh*t out of me, like in the original cartoon and comics. However, before the fight with Batman and Superman ended, I was impressed with the character. I was really sold on Lois Lane, and for a moment I forgot how much she initially annoyed me. For those that hated on Gal Gadot, surprise, she owns the role in every way possible, she really has stepped up her acting game as well. The woman has presence as Diana, grace and beauty and as Wonder Woman, she is truly a Goddess. People were moaning about Gal‘s size, forget that nonsense, she proves she does not need bulking muscles to be a warrior and her fight scenes are exceptional. Jesse takes Lex Luthor to a whole new take that you probably have never seen from the character, I can understand why some hate him for being something that the Lex they’re waiting for completely isn’t, yet if you’re open to new takes on characters and willing to accept that he’s not your normal comic book Lex, then he was really good. Luthor is a genius, a socially awkward, daddy abused genius, but a genius nonetheless. He knows everything going on in the world, and uses his knowledge to move the chess pieces around the board to suit his needs. These heroes are not immune to being manipulated, they are flawed. Among the supporting roles, Laurence Fishburne, Diane Lane, Holly Hunter, Scoot McNairy and Callan Mulvey play their parts well.

Moving on the to the negatives. I agree Doomsday was not done right, his CGI was off putting. Plus if you have seen the second trailer, you have seen everything! No new surprises here. Yes! I agree the film had some pacing issues, especially for a run time of 151 minutes, its bound to take toll on the general audience. Yes! I agree with tone shifts in between. Remember the problem with Iron Man 2 & Amazing Spider-Man 2? The sudden shifts in focus and status of the current film in order to develop or pre introduce the next film? Well Zack Synder who seems very excited about his next job of bringing the Justice League to screen, shares his excitement by forcing lazy cameos of Flash (which looked kinda awesome), Aquaman & Cyborg along with some out place nightmare sequences setting up events for the 2017 film, leading to a mess in the first half of the film. Here’s what I suggest the main problem with the film is: director Zack Snyder (300, Man of Steel) himself! I agree he is a visionary, and no other director out there could provide such a good looking film, but alas he is also the worst thing to happen to DC. I honestly think he doesn’t understand comics. Sure, he loves them. That’s more than evident from his loyalty to the source material, his invariably bombastic character introductions, the way he amps up the scale. But he clearly doesn’t know how to translate them to screen. His popular works such as 300 and the widely debated Watchmen had the same issues, they are made as paper to screen. He does not make films for casual moviegoers. Having DC fans as your niche audience obliviously only satisfies us. But with a big budget and grand movie universe plan, an expansion to wider audience is needed whether WB wants it this way or not. I am not saying to copy Marvel, what they have done is brilliant and it works for them. But WB needs to expand a bit more for a true achievement. On the other hand (and in my opinion), I do like that, while this movie throws a lot of detail and DC lore at you, it still makes you think after you leave the theater. Like what was Flash talking about? Why is Batman getting these nightmares? Is Darkseid truly the big bad of this universe? There is a lot to take in for this movie and I think it gets a bit more appreciated the more you see it. Again, its just the pacing. Its too damn off at times. Some elements needed to be fleshed out. On the whole, ‘Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice’ is a solid superhero film with a handful of flaws that people will notice but forgive, or be unforgivable depending on who that person is. It’s not the greatest superhero film, but then again, it’s not the worst. I’m looking forward to seeing other films in the DC slate. I would suggest to avoid the critic’s reviews and go watch this to make an opinion yourself.