Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice Review

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)

Batman v Superman - Ten pounds of crap in a five pound bag.

Buy Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
Written by:  Chris Terrio and David S. Goyer (written by), Bob Kane and Bill Finger (Batman created by), Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster (Superman created by)
Directed by: Zack Snyder
Starring: Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Jesse Eisenberg, Diane Lane, Laurence Fishburne, Jeremy Irons, Holly Hunter, Gal Gadot
Rated: PG-13

Plot:
Fearing a world where Superman reigns uninhibited, Batman plans to stop him.

Verdict:
This has an interesting premise, but it quickly flies off the rails at it tries to one up itself constantly. Spectacle overtakes story completely. The eponymous fight between Batman and Superman is overshadowed as this movie just doesn't know when to stop.
Skip it.

Review:
This has a good introduction, that retells the Batman origin yet again, making me think the reviews might have been too harsh. They weren't. So many things in this movie don't make sense, from plot points to story structure. We even get commercials for future DC Comics movies Aquaman and the Flash, while Wonder Woman has an extended cameo. This movie throws too many characters at us, and all that does is diminish the fact that Batman and Superman are in a movie together.

I like the premise. Batman is mad at the collateral damage Superman caused in Man of Steel (2013). Batman has always been the vigilante that refuses to kill. Yet his reaction to this damage is a plan to kill Superman with a Kryptonite spear. Batman creates bullets that release Kryptonite gas, but overlooks the idea to create actual Kryptonite bullets. Why not make a Kryptonite knife at least? I won't even get into what ultimately happens to this spear due to spoilers. That could have been handled a few different ways that would have been better.

I surprisingly like Affleck as an older Batman, but this movie suffers from excess of every facet.

There are numerous dream sequences throughout the film, and I wish they had all been cut out. Most are too long and trick you into wondering if it's a dream or is this just a new level of crazy for the movie. They add nothing but run time and this movie is two and a half hours long already. This movie proves that success isn't based on actors, the director, or even the characters. Good stories reign supreme. This tries to do too much and achieves nothing, throwing everything at you concurrently.

There are scenes that only serve to flaunt the excess budget and blow things up for no good reason. The action scenes are largely forgettable, because budget can't solve problems.

The main impetus of this movie had to be a fight between Batman and Superman, but even that is robbed of impact because the movie doesn't end there. The conclusion of the fight was lampooned, and with good reason. I get what the writers were trying to do, but it lacked subtlety much like this entire movie. After the fight, we get a new bigger and badder villain. This movie keeps getting crazier to the point where nothing matters. I'm not watching a movie, I'm just watching flashing lights and explosion on the screen.

Batman's issue with Superman is collateral damage with a hint of jealousy, but the collateral damage in this movie looks like it's enough to level Metropolis and Gotham both.

I wonder if during the pitch meeting when the writers said 'and Batman and Superman fight.', someone jokingly asked, 'And then what happened?' Instead of replying that's the end of the movie, the writers scrambled for an idea and said 'we introduce a bigger bad guy.' This created a back and forth of 'and then what happened' with crazier responses like a nuclear explosion, kidnappings, and Superman tempted to kill Batman. I'll let you figure out which of those actually happened. The jokes on us unfortunately.

I can't help but think about Captain America: Civil War (2016) (read my review). It made the title fight meaningful. It also created neat moments between the characters and used special power in the fights cleverly. Batman v Superman feels like an imposter to the Marvel throne. It misses the essence of these characters, instead too focused on creating a franchise.