Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

Tonight, I finally got a chance to see “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice,” which came out last month. If you remember my “Batman and Robin” review, I said that this was in the works but was scrapped immediately. However, this was in talks forever. Now we finally got it, and how does the end result fair out? 

Allan Hunter started his review out by saying, “In Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice, it’s fisticuffs at 20 paces as the Caped Crusader and the Man Of Steel decide that humanity can only survive if one of them doesn’t. It’s billed as the greatest gladiator fight in the history of the planet, the result of which is a chaotic comic book extravaganza that careers between exhilaration and exasperation.”

A combination of death and destruction built around moral dilemmas, ethical issues and observational fear, this makes the cheerful innocence of the Christopher Reeve time feels like so long. Even if you were paying attention at the end of “Man of Steel,” you might not have noticed the final fight between Superman and General Zod ended in the destruction of Wayne Enterprises and many people died in that.

Worrying, grief-stricken Bruce Wayne, played by Casey Affleck’s older brother, Ben Affleck, can neither forgive nor forget, continuing to think of Superman as a reckless enemy of the human race who must be destroyed. The trouble-making Alexander “Lex” Luther, played by an enjoyably crazy Jesse Eisenberg, has his own sneakiness plan to kill a superhero, requiring a huge amount of Kryptonite.

As the fight between Superman and Wayne’s crime-fighting alter ego Batman heats up, other elements get mixed in, including the arrival of Wonder Woman (the hot Gal Gadot), the death-daring experiences of reporter Lois Lane (Amy Adams) and the campaign by Senator Finch (Holly Hunter) to make Superman accountable for his actions.

There is enough going on in “Batman v Superman” to fill a handful of films. Director Zack Snyder keeps it moving at a decent pace but between the flashbacks, fantasy orders and loads of characters the film feels like it is exploding at the climax.

Hunter stated in his review, “The violence and spectacle easily outshine the soul-searching dilemmas and there is a thunderous score by Hans Zimmer. Everything is big, bombastic and overwrought and by the end it feels amazing anything or anyone is left standing or that the film only secured a 12 certificate.” Affleck is correctly tortured and heartless as a grouchy old Batman but Cavill is still on the boring side as Superman.

Jeremy Irons is a nice addition as a sarcastic, long-suffering Alfred, telling Bruce Wayne: “You’ve got too old to die young.” Hunter is right when he said, “Despite its flaws this film works on its own terms as the inky black visuals and cliff-hanging plot create something that feels true to its comic book origins.” It also leaves enough up in the air to keep the franchise running for many years.

Now, I know that this film has been getting bad reviews from critics. However, I do not think this is a great movie by any means, or even one of the best. Still, I don’t think this is as bad as everyone says it is, and is not even anywhere close to being one of the worse comic book adaptations or one of the worst movies. I thought that it was fine and there was plenty in it that kept me engaged.

In the end, if you want to see this movie, you can see it if you like. Otherwise, if you think it is better to just rent it when it comes out on Blu-Ray, then go right ahead. I personally am happy I saw this, and it was a fine first entry in the Justice League build-up movies.

Hopefully I gave everyone a good recommendation. I won’t spoil anything since I don’t like doing that, especially since this movie came out a few weeks ago. Check in next Friday for the third entry in “Karate Kid Month.”