Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice - The Ultimate Edition (2016) Movie Review
Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Director: Zack Snyder
Writer: Chris Terrio & David S. Goyer
Stars: Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Gal Gadot, Amy Adams, Jesse Eisenberg, Jeremy Irons
Plot: 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.
I initially chose to skip watching the theatrical cut of Batman v Superman not only because of the large amount of criticism it was getting but also because I just wasn't all that interested in the movie. Man of Steel wasn't a good movie and other than the first couple of teasers everything seemed to be shown in the trailers released. When I heard that there would be an extended edition released around the time of the Blu-ray release I decided I would just wait and watch that version just to avoid all the problems that was in the theatrical cut. So going into this movie I didn't have any reference to compare to as this was my first viewing of the film.
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is perfect example of throwing to many ideas into a movie that was already to crowded as it is. From setting up the fight for Batman and Superman to setting up the Justice League and the future sequels and spin off to come from this film. Too much going on is what I was thinking throughout the entire run time as I noticed that nothing specific was focused on. The film just throws idea after idea at you without diving more into any of them. I kept thinking how much better of film this would've been if they had just stopped everything and focused on one single idea or theme to stay on target with.
That is just the overall problem with the films story, really when you go to individual scenes and look at them placed back to back, they don't make much sense. For an extended cut I would've assumed that this would be fixed but I can only see that it didn't change anything. The films feels like its all over the place because it just jumps from scene to scene and in most cases there aren't any establishing shots to let you know where you are at. I notice how one scene would be focuses on one thing only to jump to something completely different that you would guess take place at a different time only to jump back again as if nothing had happened?....
I honestly feel like you can break this movie down so much as to how much it gets wrong about the characters it is portraying. From Batman origins being butchered in the opening credits to Lex Joker Luther Jr. to the fight between Batman and Superman having no weight to it at all. What makes all theses aspects even worse is that the overall design of the film is tailored toward the comic book versions. From the iconic shots and scenes that happen they are straight up taken out of the comic books but the way there are executed is the complete wrong way to do this.
As an experience this just wasn't fun at all, not all superhero movies need to be but when you are this bleak with no weight to anything it just becomes boring and exhausting. Superman is supposed to be the contrast to Batman who is dark and by creating that contrast between them creates the interesting dynamic. Not having both of them be dark and depressed and on top of that not true to their characters you are just left with empty holo characters.
I can't see myself ever wanting to watch this movie again. There was just nothing to return too and for being a three hour long movie, I can easily watch other films that are much more enjoyable. I would say this film was a misstep but it isn't like Man of Steel was a great starting point either. With so much more already planned for on the way I don't see how I can be exciting for any of the films that are connected to this universe. Me personally, I would rather see this universe started over from scratch and with a stronger creative team behind it.
It is very clear that DC wants to catch up to Marvel but it is a race that isn't even achievable, especially when they are making films that are doing the opposite of getting you excited for whats to come. I would say it will be best to skip this one and instead watch some of the previous incarnations of these characters.
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