Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)

So the family and I went to see the latest Batman and Superman (and Wonder Woman and I guess Cyborg, Flash and Aquaman) outing last night. I had all intentions of not going to see it on opening weekend, as the movie honestly did not interest me too much. I'm a Marvel fan and only like to dabble in DC from time to time, but it is not what I would run to see. But, my son wanted to go on opening night (he is a DC fan to a degree) and my wife was heading out of town for the weekend so we decided to go right away. Luckily we could only get tickets to the latest showing, which worked out well considering this is a very slow moving and fairly boring film. 

The film takes a very long time to get moving. Then there is a wonderful action sequence, aside from the massive amount of Bat-killing, which turns out to be a very confusing nightmare. But then after that sequence we move back to the boring angry Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent material. 

It is hard to believe that in a 2 hour and 33 minute movie things can feel rushed, but this one does have rushed moments. I have no idea how we got to the Luthor party, but suddenly we are finding out Bats is invited and for some reason Kent is also. One never gets the idea, by the way, that people don't know who Superman is. It seems like everybody knows, they just wish to play dumb. 

Is it well made? Yes, wonderfully acted and filmed. Affleck is good, better than a massive Affleck disliker like me would have expected. He carries the role well, if not a little too angry about everything. I read another reviewer who stated that for being so angry about Superman accidentally killing people, Batman sure does his own share of accidental and purposeful killing. This is a brutal killing machine of a Batman. 

Lucky for us we do get a little backstory on Bruce losing his parents. That was something that was helpful, as I am sure most people have not heard that story before. With any luck Civil War will clear up confusion on what happened to Spidey's Uncle Ben.

Caville is still a good Superman, the script just nothing to actually make him a likable Superman. From what I can tell, he loves Lois Lane and his mom, and expects the rest of us to bow down and worship him. He spends all of his Superman time walking around in his suit looking like a ruler, and at times like a scary demon guy with red blazing eyes that show the veins around the sockets. He really does look creepy. One really does get the idea that Snyder is not a huge fan of Superman. 

Gal Gadot is good as Wonder Woman, while she is Wonder Woman. When she is Diana Prince she just shows up in fancy dresses as some form of burglar. I don't even think she gets her name mentioned until she is running off a plane towards the end. 

This wasn't a bad movie. It was a decent movie, and that makes it that much worse in one's mind. Kind of like how Age of Ultron isn't as bad as it seems. We have seen lesser movies be so great, accomplish so much, that when one with characters such as Batman and Superman achieves only middling success it hurts that much more. The film doesn't have to be a complete love letter to the fanboys, but it should draw from and respect what has made these characters timeless and iconic. These characters are ingrained into our culture, they have endured and continue to be loved by all. To carry an attitude of "this isn't for the fanboys, it is for everybody else" is excluding the aspects of the character that created the character, that created the fanboy, that created the lasting appeal. 

So while this is not a bad movie, it is not the movie that these characters deserve.